Local Electric Buses are Encouraged to Enter the Region, Prabowo asks the Regional Government to Spend Indonesian Products

MAGELANG - President Prabowo Subianto encourages local governments to buy domestically produced electric buses and trucks. He made the appeal when he inaugurated the electric commercial vehicle assembly facility of PT VKTR Sakti Industries in Magelang, Thursday, April 9.

Prabowo said Indonesia now has the ability to produce electric buses and trucks. He said VKTR's production capacity could reach 10 thousand units of electric buses, with a domestic component or TKDN rate that has currently reached 40 percent.

According to Prabowo, the figure is targeted to rise to 60 percent in the next two years, then 80 percent in the next two years.

He welcomed the steps of the Central Java Provincial Government which was said to have ordered dozens of buses. Prabowo also mentioned the order from DKI Jakarta through Transjakarta.

"We hope that other provincial governments will also behave and buy our own national products," said Prabowo.

He even asked the Minister of State Secretary to record the regional heads who did not order domestic products. Prabowo also asked the TNI to buy domestically produced vehicles.

For the President, industrialization does not stop at mastering technology. Technology must be processed into an industry to provide direct benefits to the nation.

He called the inauguration of the VKTR facility an important milestone in Indonesia's move to abandon fossil energy and enter into transportation electrification. Electric vehicles are expected to no longer be merely an industrial project, but rather a part of the country's policy direction.

Prabowo also said that the government is targeting mass production of electric sedans in 2028. Therefore, the presence of an electric bus and truck factory is considered as an initial foundation.

He hopes that VKTR can grow into one of Indonesia's national champions. Prabowo compared it to major vehicle brands in Japan and South Korea.