Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesian official outlines three key directives to strengthen Indonesia's startup ecosystem, aiming to ensure startups not only increase in number but also remain sustainable, grow, and address the real needs of the country's industrial sector.”Consider this a call to action for the development of Indonesia's startup ecosystem, not only for myself and my colleagues, but also for startup founders and all stakeholders in the ecosystem,” Industry Minister, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, said at the official launch of the Indo Startup Expo and Forum 2026 in Jakarta on Thursday.The first directive is to position the national industrial sector as the primary market for Indonesian startups. Agus instructed all units within the Ministry of Industry to shift their approach from merely fostering startups to creating demand by identifying industrial challenges that can be addressed through technological solutions.The second directive is to improve the quality and investment readiness of startups rather than focusing solely on increasing their numbers.According to Agus, future success should be measured not by the number of new startups established but by the number that survive, are adopted by industry, and attract investment.The third directive is to master key technologies while integrating the country's fragmented startup ecosystem.He emphasized that every global technology partnership should generate measurable benefits, including enhanced human resource capacity and stronger domestic design and manufacturing capabilities.Agus noted that, according to Startup Ranking, Indonesia is currently home to more than 3,100 active startups, making it the sixth-largest startup hub in the world.The figure also places Indonesia as the country with the largest startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia.However, he said the quality of the ecosystem still requires significant improvement.According to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026, Indonesia ranks 45th globally, while Jakarta ranks 30th among startup cities worldwide.The country's main challenge, says Agus, is no longer creating more startups but ensuring they can survive, scale up, secure funding, and solve concrete problems faced by domestic industries.He said strengthening startups is an integral part of Indonesia's industrialization agenda, as the manufacturing sector increasingly depends on technological innovation to improve productivity and create higher value-added products.In the second quarter of 2026, the manufacturing industry expanded 5.32 percent year-on-year, outperforming the national economic growth rate while remaining the largest contributor to Indonesia's economy.From the investment perspective, the manufacturing sector accounted for 39.7 percent of total realized investment and employed more than 20 million workers as of February 2026.During the first half of 2026, the sector also contributed 82 percent of Indonesia's exports, valued at US$115.50 billion.The minister noted that higher value-added output cannot be achieved merely by expanding production capacity but requires technological innovation.In this regard, he said startups play a strategic role as providers of technology-based solutions for the national industry.He also highlighted the financing challenges facing Indonesian startups, as recorded by the Indonesia Startup Report 2026, that startup funding totaled US$355 million in 2025, down 49 percent from US$695 million in 2024.He said the decline underscores the need to improve startup quality so that Indonesian startups become more attractive to investors.Agus said that Indonesia's large domestic market provides a significant competitive advantage.For technology startups, he said, the large domestic market presents enormous opportunities as many small and medium industries require solutions to improve production efficiency, quality control, inventory management, supply chain traceability, and market access.