Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) continues to strengthen efforts to bring its research-based innovations into the industrial sector for broader societal benefit. As part of its downstream initiative, UGM has partnered with various industry players, including PT Martina Berto and PT Global Edukasi Talenta Inkubator (GeTI)/ExportHub Ecosystem. The partnerships were formalized during a signing ceremony at the Innovation and Creativity Center (GIK UGM) on Tuesday, June 11, 2025.
The memorandum of understanding, covering education, research, and community service, was signed by UGM Rector Professor Ova Emilia, President Director of PT Martina Berto Bryan David Emil, and President Director of PT GeTI and Managing Director of ExportHub.id, Amalia Susilowati.
The event was also attended by the CEO of Martha Tilaar Group, Dr. Kilala Tilaar, and the Founder of ExportHub.id, Siswadhi Pranoto.
Rector Emilia hopes that the partnership among the three institutions would help UGM’s innovative products become more impactful and competitive, both nationally and internationally.
She emphasized UGM’s commitment to ensuring that research outcomes are not confined to laboratories but can be harnessed by industries and the broader community.
“We are very pleased with this collaboration. This is a tremendous opportunity for UGM. Thank you for the trust extended to us. This reflects the transformation UGM has undergone over the past three years, where universities must establish strong linkages with industry,” she remarked.
Through this industry-academia linkage, UGM aims to bridge its inventors, both students and faculty, with entities focused on downstream production.
The partnership is expected to accelerate the commercialization of research outputs into the market.
“I believe the more industrial players come to UGM, the faster this link and match will happen. UGM has already developed numerous herbal and cosmetic products, but this collaboration will allow even greater progress,” Rector Emilia added.
Dr. Kilala Tilaar, CEO of Martha Tilaar Group, acknowledged the long-standing challenges in bridging academia and industry.
He noted that while academics often worry about how to make their research relevant for stakeholders, businesses are concerned about how to collaborate with academia to expedite innovation.
“In 2017, we discussed this issue. And today, we are still discussing it. But this time, I promise it will be different. I hope this marks the beginning of a shared effort to build our nation,” said Dr. Tilaar.
He highlighted that Indonesia is a resource-rich country, home to over 33,000 plant species, many of which could be valuable for a variety of industries.
However, only about 27,000 species have been identified to date.
“This presents a real challenge. We must fully utilize the wealth God has given us, especially since 95 percent of pharmaceutical raw materials and 85 percent of cosmetic ingredients are still imported. Though we are a rich country, we remain poor. This is a shared challenge that both UGM and Martha Tilaar must confront together to achieve self-sufficiency,” he explained.
Amalia Susilowati added that PT GeTI is part of ExportHub.id, a company dedicated to supporting Indonesia’s global trade ecosystem and export initiatives.
ExportHub.id provides trusted partner networks, logistics services, and business consultancy to facilitate exports.
“GeTI focuses on developing export-oriented digital entrepreneurs. Through this collaboration, we will provide training and digital marketing and e-commerce incubation for UGM students and SMEs, and we will assist in the export of UGM’s innovative products as well as those from UGM’s fostered SMEs. The focus will be on the downstream and global marketing,” she explained.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Lintang Andwyna
Photographer: Firsto Adi