VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The non-oil and gas processing industry trade balance of January-March 2021 was surplus US$3.69 billion. The amount increased 18.06 percent compared to the same period last year. This positive achievement resulted from the manufacturing sector's increasing export. That was stated by Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in a press release on Sunday (18/4). He also said that despite the pandemic, manufacturing industry performance still dominates the national export value. In the first quarter of 2021, the manufacturing sector gave its greatest contribution up to 79.66 percent of the total national export that was US$48.90 billion.

Minister Agus Gumiwang further explained there were three sectors that made the manufacturing export performance great. The first is food and beverage worth US$9.69 billion, the second is the base metal industry worth US$5.87 billion and the chemical industry US$4.18 billion.

He assessed that, if viewed from the forming factors, the export value of the food industry sector is dominated by palm oil commodity. Meanwhile, thanks to the down-streaming in the metal sector, exports of Indonesian iron and steel products have provided significant added value for foreign exchange.

Then, various chemical products also became the top Indonesian non-oil and gas export. The chemical product is expected to be the future backbone of Indonesian export.

Minister Agus Gumiwang said that until now, industrial products can be the main pillar for national export value. The government is optimistic that the excellent export performance amid the Covid-19 pandemic showed that Indonesian industry players can use the opportunities. This can accelerate the national economic recovery.

Therefore, Minister Agus Gumiwang gave appreciation for national domestic players who are still aggressively penetrating the international market amid the pandemic. He perceived that fulfilling domestic needs, Indonesian industry has been able to make quality and competitive products in the global market.