Indeed, this is because the (domestic) sales achievement was quite high.Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Thursday encouraged the domestic automotive industry to become more export-oriented to help reduce traffic jams across Indonesia, as domestic sales of vehicles had surged.
He said the domestic sales of cars reached 1,048,000 units in 2022, while that of motorcycles grew 3.3 percent to 5,221,000 units.
“Hence, we are having traffic jams everywhere,” he noted while opening the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) 2023 at JIEXPO Kemayoran, here, on the same day.
Jokowi highlighted that currently, traffic jams not only occurred in Jakarta but also in other regions, as he noticed during his visits to Surabaya City, East Java Province; Bandung City, West Java Province; and Medan City, North Sumatra Province.
“Indeed, this is because the (domestic) sales achievement was quite high,” the president stated.
Nonetheless, he lauded the domestic automotive industry players for their success in increasing vehicular exports, from 300 thousand vehicles in 2021 to 600 thousand vehicles in 2022.
However, he noted that the figure is lower than the achievement recorded by Thailand.
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) recorded that 1,000,256 vehicles were exported during the period from January to December 2022.
“Thus, I expect the export (of vehicles of Indonesia) to also keep increasing every year,” Jokowi said.
The president also expected the local automotive industry players to start shifting their focus to the production of electric vehicles (EVs).
He said the government was encouraging the development of electric vehicles from the downstream to upstream sectors.
“Thus, we can get into the global supply chain soon, including for EVs and lithium batteries. We encourage all of these (developments) to be completed,” he remarked.
He also invited investors to focus on supporting the development of EV manufacturing.
Earlier, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia had expressed optimism that the government would achieve its target of developing an electric car battery ecosystem in Indonesia, with the first production planned to start in early 2024.
The government targets to produce 600 thousand electric vehicles, with four or more wheels, and 2.45 million two-wheeled electric vehicles by 2030.
Jokowi also noted that the automotive industry in Indonesia has huge prospects, as it had grown 18 percent in 2022.
The IIMS is being held on February 16-26, 2023. Some 45 automotive brands are participating in the event.
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Translator: Rangga Jingga, Fitra Ashari, Uyu Liman
Editor: Anton Santoso
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