President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has promised United States-based technology company Microsoft it will create a simple regulation to allow the tech giant to invest in a data center in the country.

“Microsoft would like to immediately invest in Indonesia, so we will decide within a week to issue a simple regulation to support investment in a data center,” Jokowi said after a meeting with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in Jakarta on Thursday.

The decision to issue a new regulation was made as the House of Representatives' deliberation of a data protection bill continues to lag.

The bill mandates the formation of an independent data protection authority (DPA) to monitor and analyze personal data usage by corporations. The DPA must also ensure data regulations do not interfere with technological developments.

Read also: Google, Facebook to set up data centers in Indonesia: Minister

The President said Nadella wanted to push the country’s businesses to be more efficient and effective in line with the government’s vision.

“We predict that [businesses] will continue improving after the development of our telecommunication infrastructure, namely the Palapa Ring,” said Jokowi, referring to a billion-dollar fiber optic development project to connect all corners of the country.

He explained that the government would continue improving internet network across the country, adding that the development of the country’s digital economy was crucial to boost the marketing of local products.

Indonesia’s digital economy is expected to dominate Southeast Asia, with its market expected to triple in value to US$130 billion by 2025 from $40 billion in 2019, according to the annual e-Conomy Southeast Asia study published last year by American tech giant Google, Singaporean holding company Temasek and management consulting firm Bain & Company. (awa)