Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani hopes the banking industry will be able to bring creative and innovative culture through the vision of its leaders and the courage to integrate with a completely different business model.

In the Indonesia Banking Expo (IBEX) 2018 event in Jakarta on Thursday, Sri Mulyani stated that interaction between banks and financial technology industries (tekfin) was needed to support creative and innovative cultures.

"At IBEX 2018, different types of industries are invited. I think this is a good interaction to understand other industries that might have success stories," she noted.

The minister of finance also asked members of the National Bank Association (Perbanas) to become institutions that invest in human resources and are ready to work in the digital era.

Sri Mulyani remarked that the government also continued to try to interact with the industry, so that it would not only spend money but also produce human resources that are ready to enter the digital era.

"We know that many ministries seek vocational assistance, such as the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro-, Small- and Medium- Enterprises, and the Ministry of Agriculture," she revealed.

On the same occasion, President Director of PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk Kartika Wirjoatmodjo explained that the banking industry must act as a catalyst and be a driver of innovative processes and activities, both externally related to customers, products, and services, as well as internally, such as automation and analysis processes data.

"This transformation is beneficial for both the community and the bank. People can make transactions without the need to go to branches or ATMs, so that they can save transaction costs. On the other hand, banks also benefit because online channel transactions have a much lower cost," noted Kartika, who also serves as General Chairperson of Perbanas.

She believes the Perbanas member banks understand the challenges and try to answer the questions related to technological development, while at the same time maintain the principle of prudence and compliance with regulations and risk management.

Reporting by Calvin Basuki
Editing by Eliswan Azaly, Rahmad Nasution

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Andi Abdussalam
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