Minister Of Industry Agus Gumiwang: PC-PEN Program Accelerates Performance Recovery Of Manufacturing Sector

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. (Photo: Doc. Kemenperin)

JAKARTA - The government is making efforts to restore the performance of the manufacturing industry sector due to COVID-19 through the Covid-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (PC-PEN) program.

"We appreciate the hard work of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN) under the leadership of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr. Airlangga Hartarto," said Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita at the launch of the Covid-19 Handling Book and National Economic Recovery in Jakarta, Tuesday, December 20.

Agus said, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the manufacturing industry was a sector with relatively higher resilience and was proven to be able to recover faster than other sectors.

"This whole recovery and good performance have continued to this day. This reflects the strong industry community's confidence in efforts to recover the national economy and the effectiveness of PC-PEN programs," he said.

Agus said, since the beginning of the pandemic, economic recovery was a basic issue, in addition to the issue of handling public health.

"The PC-PEN program has proven to be right on target, by prioritizing the balance between health care and national economic recovery in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, which is like a suitable combination of brakes and gas," he explained.

In order to maintain the continuity of manufacturing sector activities, Agus said, his party has coordinated with KPC-PEN to implement a policy of licensing industrial activities during a public health emergency through a Circular Letter of the Minister of Industry Number 7 of 2020 concerning Operational Permits for Industrial Activity Mobility (IOMKI).

Through the issuance of IOMKI, industrial companies and industrial estate companies can still carry out their business activities during the public health emergency period while still complying with health protocols.

"The supervision of the implementation of IOMKI involves various parties at large," he said.

In addition, the Ministry of Industry also supports the COVID-19 vaccination program coordinated by KPC-PEN, with the issuance of a third dose of vaccination circular (vaccine booster) for industrial and industrial workers through the Circular Letter of the Minister of Industry Number 2 of 2022, in the context of accelerating booster vaccines in the industrial sector gradually until the end of 2022.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Industry initiated an incentive policy, in the form of a discount on the Sales Tax on Luxury Goods Borne by the Government (PPnBM DTP) for cars.

This stems from the understanding that the automotive industry is one of the important sub-sectors that has a large reward and forward linkage, so that it can be a buffer for economic recovery.

The Ministry of Industry noted that during the pandemic, the performance of car sales for PPnBM DTP participants in March-December 2021 was 519,000 units, an increase of 113 percent (275,000 units) from the same period the previous year.

This increase contributed quite a large amount to the growth of the transportation equipment industry in the second and third quarters of 2021, namely 45.2 percent (yoy) and 27.8 percent (yoy), respectively.

"In addition, in the manufacturing process, participants in the PPnBM DTP program have involved as many as 319 Tier 1 component industry companies and of course this encourages an increase in the performance of the Tier 2 and 3 component industries, most of which fall into the category of small and medium industries (IKM)," added Agus.