Minister Of Industry Agus Gumiwang: Indonesian Manufacturing Surpasses China And Thailand

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The activity of the manufacturing industry sector in the country is still quite stretched until the end of 2021, in line with increasing production and demand for the export market. This is reflected in the achievement of the Indonesian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in December 2021. Based on the results of the IHS Markit survey, the Indonesian Manufacturing PMI in December 2021 managed to reach 53.5. This realization surpassed the Manufacturing PMI of ASEAN countries such as Thailand (50.6), the Philippines (51.8), Vietnam (52.2), and Malaysia (52.8). It is even able to excel against the Manufacturing PMI of South Korea (51.9), Russia (51.6), and China (49.9). The Minister of Industry (Minister of Industry) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said that although the PMI continues to improve, his party remains focused on spurring industrial downstreaming. to increase the added value of natural resources in the country. Agus assesses that this effort has made a major contribution to the national economy, including the creation of job opportunities and foreign exchange earnings from exports, which leads to people's welfare. "The national economy has started to recover and is strong again. This is indicated by our trade balance which is a surplus of 34.4 billion dollars, and the surplus condition can be maintained for 19 months. Our exports also rose y-on-y to 49.7 percent," he said. in a written statement, quoted, Wednesday, January 5.

According to Agus, so far the manufacturing industry sector has consistently provided the largest contribution to the achievement of the national export value. In January-November 2021, the export value from the manufacturing industry reached 160 billion US dollars or contributed 76.51 percent of total national exports. in 2019," he said. When compared to January-November 2020, said Agus, the export performance of the manufacturing industry in January-November 2021 increased by 35.36 percent. The export performance of the manufacturing sector at the same time maintains the trade balance surplus that has been printed since May 2020. "Why can our exports rise that high? One of them is because we dare to stop the export of raw materials, such as raw materials from mineral and coal, namely nickel. From the beginning, exports around 1-2 billion US dollars, now it has almost reached 21 billion US dollars," he said. Therefore, Agus said Jokowi had given directions to continue to stop exports of bauxite, copper, tin, and others, because downstreaming is the key in increasing Indonesia's exports. Meanwhile, imports of raw materials and auxiliary materials also rose by 52.6 percent. These raw materials and auxiliary materials are needed to be processed by domestic industries so that they can produce products that have a higher selling value. Agus said that the indicator of the recovery of the national economy is also shown by Indonesia's competitiveness rating which continues to increase, both from the business aspect. and digital. "In a very difficult position in 2021 due to the impact of the pandemic, we are still able to move up the rankings. In the business and digital aspects, all three ranks up," he said. Along with improving national economic conditions, Agus targets the manufacturing industry to grow by 4 ,5-5 percent in 2022. "We are focused on continuing to build a manufacturing industry sector that is sovereign, independent, competitive, and inclusive," he explained.