By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil
JAKARTA: Five ASEAN member states, including Malaysia and Indonesia, joined hands with 24 other countries to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO), an intergovernmental body that aims to strengthen international cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI).
The founding agreement was signed during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026 in Shanghai, China, on Thursday.
“WAICO is an independent intergovernmental organisation that focuses on cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) in the civilian domain in an inclusive and non-discriminatory manner,” the ministry said in a statement.
Besides Malaysia and Indonesia, the other founding members from the ASEAN grouping are Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
The remaining founding members are China, Algeria, Belarus, Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Cuba, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zambia.
Meanwhile, the statement quoting Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said Indonesia’s participation reflected its commitment to strengthen international cooperation in AI development and governance.
He said Indonesia also aims to contribute to a global AI governance framework that is human-centric and ensures equitable benefits for all countries, particularly developing economies.
“As a country that joined from the organisation’s founding stage, Indonesia has a highly strategic opportunity to make a tangible contribution to shaping WAICO’s policy direction and institutional structure.
“The Indonesian government has also ensured that every form of cooperation and technical alignment undertaken through WAICO will remain consistent with national regulations and interests, AI ethics principles, data sovereignty, and Indonesia’s various strategic economic cooperation commitments,” he said.
The ministry said Indonesia will strengthen coordination among ministries and government agencies to leverage WAICO to accelerate the country’s digital transformation, enhance data centre readiness, develop AI talent and expand international cooperation in support of national economic growth.
— BERNAMA
