India and Indonesia Move Toward Formal Statistical Partnership After New Delhi Talks

Download IPFS

Senior officials from India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and a high-level delegation from Indonesia met in the capital this week to chart a new path for bilateral cooperation in official statistics. The July 16 session at Khurshid Lal Bhawan brought together Dr. Saurabh Garg, MoSPI Secretary, and Dr. Sonny Harry B. Harmadi, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Statistics, to explore joint projects aimed at modernizing data systems in both countries.

The Indonesian side, accompanied by Ambassador Ina H. Krisnamurthi, sought practical insight into India’s methods for compiling Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the National Statistical Office (NSO), and shortening the publication lag for key indicators. Indian officials, for their part, highlighted recent reforms that integrate administrative datasets and cloud-based survey platforms, arguing that credible, timely numbers reinforce investor confidence and support evidence-driven policymaking.
Devdiscourse

“Indian statisticians have cut release times while expanding coverage, and those gains are transferable,” Dr. Garg told the gathering, according to an official readout. “A robust statistical backbone is as essential to growth as roads or power lines.”

Indonesia’s Dr. Harmadi called the discussion “a valuable opportunity to learn from India’s experience in harmonizing diverse datasets,” adding that Jakarta is keen to co-develop protocols on trade statistics, digital agriculture records, and advanced sampling techniques.

Both economies are pushing to raise their export share and attract supply chain investment. Reliable national statistics underpin credit ratings, budget planning, and corporate strategy; discrepancies can discourage capital flows. With global markets unsettled, accurate GDP readings and productivity metrics help policymakers calibrate interest rates and tax incentives, while granular employment data guide targeted skilling programs.

Officials discussed faculty exchanges, joint research on AI-ready data architectures, and a possible memorandum of understanding later this year. The agenda also included

Quality assurance frameworks to align with International Monetary Fund guidelines.
Integrated data dashboards that would allow real-time monitoring of inflation and labor trends.
Technical workshops for provincial statisticians are a pressing need in both geographically vast nations.

MoSPI and Indonesia’s Badan Pusat Statistik plan quarterly virtual check-ins to keep the initiative on track. A pilot project on harmonizing manufacturing productivity statistics is expected to launch by early 2026, laying the groundwork for deeper cooperation across Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific.

As global investors scrutinize economic fundamentals more closely, New Delhi and Jakarta appear committed to putting hard numbers and the credibility behind them at the center of their growth strategies.