Car Export Targets Are Deemed Difficult To Achieve Due To COVID-19

Car export illustration. (Photo: Gaikindo)

JAKARTA - The outbreak of the corona virus or COVID-19 has disrupted the world economy, including Indonesia. Indonesia's trade has also decreased by 30 percent from January to February. One of those affected is the automotive sector.

Automotive observer Bebin Djuana assessed that the car export target announced by the government this year would be difficult to achieve amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Because according to him, not only are the raw materials hampered, but also the logistics of shipping to the destination country will depend on the country's conditions.

Bebin explained that even large factories in South Korea had to lay off their employees and stopped temporarily to produce because they ran out of raw materials.

"What are we like in us? Assume that our factories are still able to produce. When they become finished goods, what are the conditions for the destination country? Then how about the logistics? Logistics can be ships, planes. Is that disturbed or not? So if the conditions are like that, Indonesia. "It does not stand alone," he said, when contacted by VOI, in Jakarta, Friday, March 6.

As is known, the Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto is optimistic that 1 million units of car exports are in 2024. Meanwhile in 2019, the realization of Complete Built Up (CBU) car exports reached 332,023 units, and exports of cars in the form of broken down or Complete Knock Down (CKD) reached 511,425 sets, for a total of 843,448.

However, Bebin said, the target of 1 million units really depends on how the world is recovering from COVID-19. If the recovery occurs in mid-2020, exports may still be catching up. However, to be able to reach the target is considered quite difficult.

"Yes, maybe it can still be pursued. But is it possible to achieve 100 percent as expected? This is an additional story. Incidentally, if we think optimistically this incident happened at the beginning of the year, meaning that we are not even one quarter," he explained.

Bebin predicts that the achievement of car exports in 2020 amid the COVID-19 outbreak will not be as much as in 2019. However, he hopes, however bad the conditions are, at least the export achievements this year will be the same as in 2019.