Indonesia is stepping up its push to become a stronger player in the regional business events market, with the upcoming Southeast Asia Business Events Forum (SEABEF) 2025 serving as a key platform for this initiative.
Organised by Indonesia Ministry of Tourism (MoT) from October 10 to 11, 2025, at the newly opened Nusantara International Convention Exhibition, in Banten, the forum will gather industry leaders, policymakers and media to discuss the future of business events in South-east Asia.
Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, Indonesia’s minister of tourism, said: “SEABEF 2025 is more than a conference. It is a space to share ideas, build partnerships and present Indonesia’s vision for sustainable business events. We believe this will strengthen our position in the regional economy.”
This year’s forum carries the theme Strengthening Southeast Asia’s Event Industry through Sustainability Practice, Strategic Investment and Collaborative Efforts.
“This forum will explore how sustainability and collaboration can become drivers of growth for South-east Asia’s business events sector. It is about creating value not just for the industry, but for the communities and destinations that host these events,” explained Vinsensius Jemadu, deputy for event management Development at MoT.
Beyond sustainability, “SEABEF is a space to build partnerships and advance shared solutions that will benefit the region”, added Widiyanti.
The Indonesian government is specifically targeting a climb from fourth to at least third place in South-east Asian’s business events rankings, benchmarking against Singapore.
According to Vinsensius, business events and other man-made tourism make up just 10 per cent of the tourism portfolio, dominated by culture (60 per cent) and nature (30 per cent). The goal is to grow the business events segment to 12 to 15 per cent through deliberate investment in high-value events.
The economic potential is significant. In 2025 alone, 134 government supported events generated 11.3 trillion rupiah (US$720 million) in economic benefits. Across some 3,000 events held annually in Indonesia, the sector could be worth between US$10 and US$13 billion, he elaborated.
To turn this ambition into reality, Indonesia is preparing to host the Indonesia Business Event Mart, in partnership with TTG Asia Media, in July next year.
“While SEABEF is a dialogue forum to share ideas, IBEM will be a B2B mart,” Vinsensius said. Together, the two initiatives form a clear roadmap for Indonesia to elevate its business events sector and strengthen its role in the regional business events market.
