Economist: Synergy Protects Key Industry To Increase Manufacturing PMI

JAKARTA - Economist of the Institute for Economic Research, Education and Information, and Social Affairs (LP3ES) Fahmi Wibawa said that the synergy of domestic industrial protection policies is important to restore the position of the manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) which fell to 49.3 points in July 2024.

"Protecting domestic industries is the key to the success of the manufacturing industry in the future," Fahmi said as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, August 1.

He reminded the government to be united in protecting domestic industries, because the task of protecting the sustainability of one of the backbones of the Indonesian economy is not carried out by just one ministry.

Fahmi said that the policy that protects the development of domestic industry is a form of government confidence in the competitiveness of the domestic industry.

In addition, he highlighted the polemic related to prolonged import rules, so that directly President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) gave instructions to continue to prioritize the progress of the domestic industry. Fahmi assessed that the condition of import relaxation that was applied did not benefit the domestic industry, so it had an impact on the perception of the level of concern for entrepreneurs to be higher.

This, according to him, is one of the reasons why the manufacturing PMI has dropped 1.4 points on a monthly basis (month to month) to a contraction position.

"The relaxation policy must consider the views and aspirations of the affected stakeholders. So that it is hoped that the Indonesian manufacturing industry can reach a position point that can compete with the global manufacturing industry both in terms of price and quality," concluded Fahmi.

Previously, the Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita emphasized the importance of policy synergy between ministries and institutions to restore the value of the Indonesian manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), which in July 2024 contracted to 49.3 points.

"The Ministry of Industry cannot do this alone in this regard. Maintaining the performance of the manufacturing sector, not only to maintain that added value remains generated domestically, but also to protect the availability of employment opportunities for the Indonesian people," said the Minister of Industry, in Jakarta, Thursday.