The Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasmita inaugurated a total of 17 Primary Executive Officers and Main Expert Functional Officers within the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin), Friday (21/1). On the occasion, 15 Echelon II-level Officials were inaugurated as well as two Main Expert Functional Officials to improve the performance of the Ministry of Industry. The Minister of Industry is reorganizing its ranks in order to accelerate the implementation of activities and increase performance productivity in 2022.

"This is in response to the President's direction in order to increase national economic growth, so the Ministry of Industry needs to take concrete steps, including in accelerating budget execution," said Agus.

On this occasion, the Minister of Industry appreciated the performance of the ranks of the Ministry of Industry as evidenced by several achievements, including Unqualified Opinion (WTP) for auditing financial statements from BPK for 13 consecutive times since 2008, 13 times winning the Ministry of Finance's Highest Standards Award. / Institutions, and the first winner of the BMN Award from the Ministry of Finance.

Furthermore, the Main Ranks in the Central Level Partnership Category at the 2021 KPPU Award and the Predicate of the Clean and Serving Bureaucratic Region (WBBM) and Corruption Free Area (WBK) in the 2021 Integrity Zone Award.

In addition, the Ministry of Industry has succeeded in realizing the 2021 budget with an achievement of 97.45%. "Therefore, the ranks of the Ministry of Industry, including the officials who are inaugurated today, are required to be able to maintain and improve the effectiveness of their performance in order to build a manufacturing industry sector that is sovereign, independent, competitive, and inclusive," said the Minister of Industry.

The manufacturing industry sector is seen as the main driver for Indonesia to get out of the recession caused by the pandemic. This can be seen from several indicators, including investment, exports, imports, tax contributions, contributions to GDP, growth rates, Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), and employment.

For this reason, in 2022, more maximum efforts are needed to strengthen the role of this sector. The main steps that need to be taken are implementing priority and superior programs in 2022, as well as responding to the challenges faced by the industrial sector.

Previously, the Minister of Industry had explained the challenges for the manufacturing industry in Indonesia, including the difficulty for SMEs to partner with large industries and enter the Global Value Chain, not optimally utilizing fiscal instruments to increase industrial competitiveness, and the reluctance of industry players to enter. to the Halal Industrial Estate, the readiness of the Halal Industrial Estate, disruption in the supply chain, and the need for mitigation efforts in the industrial sector against the risks of the Covid-19 pandemic not ending yet.

"Here, the role of the Ministry of Industry is very much needed in responding to the challenges and achieving the targets for the manufacturing sector in 2022 that have been set," Agus explained.

These targets include the growth of the manufacturing industry 4.5-5 percent, the export value of the manufacturing industry in the range of USD175-180 billion, an investment of IDR300-310 trillion, and the absorption of a workforce of 20.84 million TK in 2022.