"The monitoring will be conducted at the central government, regional authorities, and state-owned enterprises levels to ensure (commitment to) prioritize domestic-made products would encourage economic growth as expected by the president," BPKP Head Muhammad Yusuf Ateh noted in his statement here on Wednesday.
Ateh confirmed that the recent BPKP research concluded that the total transactions for domestic-made products by government ministries and institutions, regional authorities, and state-owned enterprises were valued at Rp506.57 trillion (US$34.4 billion).
"The ministries have committed Rp240.32 trillion (for domestic-made products), while regional authorities committed Rp266.5 trillion, and state-owned enterprises committed Rp296 trillion," he noted.
The BPKP head called to bolster the commitment of stakeholders to prioritize domestic-made products, as the agency detected three principal issues that should be addressed to improve the program's quality.
Ateh called to promptly address issues on the overly liberal definition of domestic-made products that can cause multiple interpretations and lack of comprehensive product commodity listing and reference.
"The Industry Ministry, State-owned Ministry, Co-operatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, Investment Ministry, and other ministries must also continue to encourage growth in domestic industries to produce local products that can replace imported products," Ateh remarked.
Related news: Committed value for domestic products reaches Rp800 trillion: gov't
Earlier, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had instructed to prioritize state and regional budgets for domestic-made products to replace imported items.
"This is because it is the people's money and the state, regional, and state-owned enterprises budgets are from the people, so we must not use the budget to purchase foreign products. It is a huge mistake if we (purchase imported products)," Jokowi cautioned.
The president also reminded regional leaders to ensure local products are included in local e-catalogues, as affirmative action will be evaluated routinely.
Related news: Affirmative action will drive domestic production: Minister Plate
Translator: Boyke Ledy Watra, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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