ILMATE Industry Grows 14.23% YoY in Q1 2023, Outpacing National Economic Growth

INTI,- ILMATE Industry Group, which includes metal, machinery, transportation, and electronics industries, recorded a remarkable growth of 14.23 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2023. This outstanding achievement far surpassed the national economic performance, which grew by only 5.03 percent during the same period.

"ILMATE sector remains the main contributor to support the growth of the manufacturing industry in the first quarter of 2023, with its contribution reaching 25.96 percent year on year, an increase from the previous period (Q4-2022) at 25.16 percent," said Yan Sibarang Tandiele, the Secretary of the Directorate General of ILMATE at the Ministry of Industry, in Jakarta on Monday (8/5).

Almost all ILMATE subsectors grew by double digits, with the highest growth in the transportation equipment industry at 17.27 percent, followed by the basic metal industry (15.51 percent), and the industry of metal goods, computers, electronic goods, and electrical equipment (12.78 percent).

Yan explained that the transportation equipment industry has grown significantly above the national economic growth since Q2-2022. This is due to the success of the luxury goods sales tax discount incentive program borne by the government (PPnBM-DTP) for four-wheeled vehicles, which can provide a stimulus for improving the performance of supporting industries, especially those in the automotive component industry.

"In addition, the growth of the transportation equipment industry in Q1-2023 grew significantly and contributed 9.67 percent to the non-oil and gas processing industry, driven by an increase in vehicle production to meet the demand for new vehicles ahead of Eid al-Fitr and an increase in electric vehicle production," he said.

Furthermore, the performance of the basic metal industry, including its consistent growth above the national economic growth since 2020, shows that it is one of the sectors that can withstand the Covid-19 pandemic.

"In Q1-2023, the double-digit growth in the basic metal industry was driven by a surge in foreign demand, especially for processed nickel ore products such as ferro-nickel, nickel matte, and nickel pig iron," said Yan. The growth of the basic metal industry is in line with the government's program in implementing industrial downstreaming policies to increase the added value of domestic raw materials, which has a broad impact on the national economy.

"We will continue to make efforts to increase the growth of the manufacturing industry, especially in the ILMATE sector, with policies that support Industry 4.0 transformation, increase competitiveness, and increase industrial productivity such as green transportation policies through the development of electric motor vehicles and industrial downstreaming," he concluded. ***.Hans