Indonesia's domestic steel industry faces intense pressure from a flood of imported products. The government is opening doors for foreign investment to build factories locally. However, a local entrepreneur urges the creation of new domestic business leaders to strengthen manufacturing.
Jakarta, VIVA – Indonesia's steel industry is currently facing intense pressure due to a flood of imported products. The government is even opening the tap for foreign investment for investors interested in building factories domestically.
Deputy Minister of Industry, Faisol Riza, stated that his side has received visits from several investors from Europe, China, and Vietnam interested in relocating their steel factories to Indonesia. "We ask them to invest in Indonesia, build factories in Indonesia, so they also have access to the domestic market," Faisol said after a Hearing with the DPR RI in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday, November 13, 2025.
In response, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PT Inerco Global International, Hendrik Kawilarang Luntungan, emphasized that the government should not only focus on foreign investors. According to him, the government must make more efforts to create new entrepreneurs domestically who are truly focused on the domestic manufacturing sector. "The government should create new entrepreneurs with government guidance, like those that emerged in China, Japan, and Korea where they advanced their manufacturing industries," Hendrik said.
He added, "Therefore, the government must directly intervene in guiding to align with the government's own targets, to make Indonesia an industrial country in the next 10 years." Hendrik also highlighted the root problem in the banking credit distribution system, where credit from large banks is only given to big entrepreneurs or political appointees. "As a result, there is no equalization, no new entrepreneurs are born. This policy makes the rich richer and the poor and middle class impossible to enter the rich category," he said.
To boost the stagnant economic growth at 5 percent, Hendrik stressed the need for new conglomerates beyond those already existing. "I'm tired of seeing new malls or new hotels or new real estate, when we ask who owns them, the answer is always the same person, the same person. This is a fact," he stated.