Industries

Free meal for schoolchildren is the single largest project in Indonesia under Prabowo administration. It will start next year with a modest Rp71 trillion budget, but with ‘funding commitment’ from China, the government might scale up the program faster than planned. 

Budi Arie Setiadi, minister of cooperatives, blamed free trade agreements with Australia behind the difficulties of local dairy farmers to compete. The Indonesia-Australia free trade (IA-CEPA) was signed on March 4, 2019 by Jokowi’s cabinet. Budi Arie, leader of Pro-Jokowi (Projo) volunteers group, should have known that. 

State defense manufacturer firm PT Pindad is preparing to begin ‘commercial’ production of MV3 Maung SUVs as the official vehicles, replacing Alphard from Toyota. As quoted from Antara, Pindad CEO Abraham Mose stated that the company will continue to coordinate with the Government before producing the third generation of Maung.

The electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem in Indonesia continues to expand and drive supporting investments for EV and battery production in Southeast Asia, as we already inaugurated the first EV battery manufacturing plant of a joint venture between Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solutions with US$1.1 billion of investment in West Java province. Meanwhile, Wuling also plans to start producing Wuling EV batteries in Indonesia by the end of 2024.

Faisol Riza, a deputy chairman of the Islamic party PKB, has been appointed by President Prabowo Subianto as the Vice Minister of Industry. Faisol, who is a former 1998 activist, is assisting the Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, a senior Golkar politician.

Crude oil has fallen 16% year-on-year, but naphtha, main raw material for petrochemical industry, gains 0.96%. Polymers, particularly polyethylene and polypropylene, two of the most popular raw material for plastic industry, were mostly flat. Profit margin of...

Stimulus package to revive property sector in China contributed to improvement of steel price in recent weeks, but year to date, the commodity, where Indonesia is now a net exporter, has lost nearly 20% due to a combination of oversupply and weakened demand. Major...

So, Agus Harimurti Yudhono (AHY, who often criticised the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train (HST), has taken over portion of Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan’s role in his new position as coordinating minister for infrastructure. It is now in his hand the future of Bandung-Surabaya HST.

Food security or self-sufficiency is said main theme of Prabowo Subianto presidency. In order to meet self-sufficiency target within five years, which is doubted by many, investments in the food chain might get a boost. Some, however, have long started expansion in the food chain simply because the market is big enough.

Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) and the world’s largest EV battery manufacturer CATL, through its subsidiary CBL International Development, have formed a joint venture (JV) firm to establish a battery cell manufacturing plant for South East Asia market.