Rachmat Gobel: The Government Must Support And Protect The National Defense Industry

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rachmat Gobel. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Coordinator for Industry and Development (Korinbang) Rachmat Gobel said the government must support and protect the national defense industry because it has strategic meaning for the country's sovereignty. "We must support and protect it for Indonesia's national resilience and also provide foreign exchange for Indonesia," he said while reviewing a privately developed and superior technology defense industry factory in Banyuwangi, East Java on August 29, 2022, as stated in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, August 30. Rachmat Gobel inspected the defense industry owned by PT Lundin Industry Invest and saw one product, namely a 60-man ship equipped with bullet-proof technology and rocket launchers belonging to the TNI. Industry has exported products to various countries such as Australia, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei Darussalam, Russia, and others. The technology used is also mentioned according to NATO and NASA standards. "It's not easy to have a superior defense industry because military technology is usually very difficult to transfer from developed countries. But now there are private companies that can already make it," said Rachmat Gobel. As a politician with an industrial background, he said it was not easy to build an industry, especially this is the military industry. Therefore, he asked the government to provide support to the industry. Currently, there are around 16 private companies in Indonesia engaged in the defense industry, one of which belongs to Tommy Winata which produces tactical vehicles. In addition, a number of SOEs are also engaged in the defense industry such as Pindad, Bomba Bisma, Dahana, PT PAL, and Dirgantara Indonesia. This strategic SOE is because of him, it has been pioneered since the Sukarno era, then developed during the Suharto era, and still exists today. "In the past, our state budget was still small, now it is quite large. So it is time for the national defense industry, which is a strategic industry to get protection and priority," said Gobel. According to him, Indonesia is developing to become a developed country that can be seen from Indonesia's GDP which continues to increase and enter 20 countries in the world with the largest GDP in the world (G20 Group). "This means that our defense budget is also relatively large. Don't let the large enough budget be wasted on advancing the defense industry of other countries. We have also experienced the embargo of military weapons so that we become weak. Now we already have a superior defense industry. So don't waste it," said Rachmat Gobel. Moreover, he said, Indonesia is a maritime country so it will need many ships to protect the Indonesian sea. "Besides the military, boats are also needed to protect our marine wealth from fishing theft by foreign fishermen," he said. He admitted that he had been invited by Turkey to see the country's defense industry which was moving up. "Initially they were imported. Now they are slowly starting to be independent, including building the component industry," said Rachmat Gobel. He said Indonesia should move in such a direction. "The defense spending in addition to sucking up a large enough budget also has a strategic meaning because it involves sovereignty and state secrets. So it cannot depend on imports," he said.