Fajarasia.co – The Ministry of Industry is collaborating with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to encourage the growth of the automotive industry in the country.
“We really appreciate the in-depth study by JICA that is needed by the automotive sector,” said the Ministry of Industry’s Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (Dirjen ILMATE) Taufiek Bawazier in a statement in Jakarta, Monday (30/5/2022).
Through this collaboration, the results of studies in the automotive sector from JICA are expected to be applied in the Indonesian automotive industry.
The Ministry of Industry and JICA will cooperate within the framework of the 2022-2025 Automotive Industry Development Program.
Taufiek said that there are three pilot projects that will be carried out as the implementation of the cooperation program. The three are the matching hub program, the R&D&D assistance program, and the export strategy development program for the Indonesian automotive industry.
“Research and studies are important assets for the formulation of automotive industry development policies. We are very grateful to JICA for carrying out studies to take the best policy,” he said.
The Director General of ILMATE explained that the project is related to the automotive sector development policies pursued by the government, such as the 300 percent Super Deduction Tax for the manufacturing industry that invests in research and development (R&D).
Some time ago, the Ministry of Industry held a Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) Meeting in Jakarta, as a kick-off for the cooperation program.
JICA Representative, Mr. Tomoyuki Yamada said that the three pilot projects of the Ministry of Industry-JICA cooperation would be carried out simultaneously in the 2022-2025 period by three working groups.
The first project is the implementation of digitalization through a matching hub of component business entities and system integrators which aims to improve production processes and factory management in the local automotive industry.
The second project is research, development, and design (R&D&D) assistance for the use of Super Deduction Tax incentives in accordance with PMK 153/2020.
This project will be implemented in the form of developing guidelines for implementing R&D&D so that it can be utilized by more business entities.
“The target participants for this project are industries that are doing or are interested in developing technology, innovating in the design process, and other R&D & D activities,” said Yamada.
The third project is the development of an export strategy carried out in the form of research related to market structure, safety standards, product acceptability, production capacity, regulation, tax system, and business practices of the automotive industry in Indonesia.
From there, a formulation of the best export strategy that can be carried out in the context of developing the national automotive industry will be made.
“The JICA team also conveyed the targeted outputs, detailed timelines per working group, as well as stakeholders who are expected to participate to make the cooperation program between the Ministry of Industry and JICA successful,” added Yamada.
The JCC Meeting was also attended by representatives of the Japanese Ambassador in Indonesia, representatives of the Nomura Research Institute (NRI), representatives of ministries and institutions, vocational schools, and Indonesian motor vehicle associations.
Senior advisor to the Association of Automobile and Motorcycle Equipment Industries (GIAMM) Rachmat Basuki said that the cooperation program was very useful for the industry. According to him, the matching hub is very important and his party agrees to the implementation of the program.
“In addition, local suppliers are also the key to competitiveness, so we need to encourage association members to increase exports,” said Rachmat.
The same thing was conveyed by the General Secretary of the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo) Kukuh Kumara. According to him, Indonesia needs to increase automotive exports according to the target achieved by 2035.
The President of the Indonesian Automotive Institute (IOI) I Made Dana Tangkas also gave a positive response to the collaboration. According to him, Indonesia has potential in the automotive industry, so he expects this sector to be the best in ASEAN.****
