The Ministry Of Industry For The Acceleration Of Building Semiconductor Industry Ecosystems

The Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (ILMATE) of the Ministry of Industry, Taufiek Bawazier. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Industry)

JAKARTA - Indonesia needs to accelerate the development of a semiconductor industrial ecosystem in an effort to meet the increasing needs of the domestic market.

The construction of this semiconductor industrial ecosystem is in line with the Indonesian Making 4.0 target.

This strategic step is believed to support the increased productivity and competitiveness of a number of manufacturing industry sectors that require semiconductors as its main components.

"Therefore, we have mobilized the nation's capabilities from electronics experts to microelectronics," said the Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (ILMATE) of the Ministry of Industry, Taufiek Bawazier in Jakarta, Thursday, December 8.

Taufiek said that Indonesia once owned a semiconductor factory in 1986, which was able to produce exports in the form of semiconductor chips until the value reached Rp135 million at that time.

Taufiek said, the effort to rebuild the semiconductor industry in the era of artificial intelligence is a very big opportunity.

"Because, we need a roadmap for the next 10-20 years regarding semiconductor industries that can fill domestic needs," he added.

According to Taufiek, the Ministry of Industry is preparing a semiconductor design center in Bandung, West Java.

"All universities and academics will be included in the ecosystem scheme," he said.

On the other hand, Acting Director General of Pharmaceutical and Textile Chemical Industry (IKFT) Ignatius Warsito said the semiconductor industry produces vital components of technology in the middle of megatrends, such as remote working, artificial intelligence (AI), and electric vehicles (EV).

"Semiconductors are produced as components of electrical/electronic equipment, such as diodes, integrated circuits (IC), and transistors," he said.

The silicon is a building block material for the semiconductor industry. Silicon can be produced from the processing of silica raw materials (SiO2), namely silica sand, quartics, and quartz with various processes.

"But currently there is no silica processing industry to silicon wafer (1-5) in Indonesia," said Warsito.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry continues to strive to dominate strategic industries ranging from the upstream, intermediate, to downstream sectors, including in the development of semiconductor industries.

This step needs to be followed by strategic policies to support a conducive business climate.