81 Years of Independence, Prabowo Asks: Why Can't We Make Our Own Cars Yet?

President Prabowo Subianto has questioned professors and scientists as to why Indonesia is still unable to build a national automotive industry truly born from its own capabilities. He made the remarks whilst opening the National Gathering of the 2026 Indonesian Science, Technology, and Industry Convention (KSTI) at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Friday, 26 June 2026. Prabowo noted that Indonesia has a very large automotive market, yet the demand for vehicles is still dominated by products that are not entirely the work of the nation itself. “Why, after 81 years, can Indonesia not make its own cars? I stand before you, those of you with PhDs. Why do we not have one? We buy 10 million motorcycles each year, why is there no Indonesian-made factory?” Prabowo said. Despite this, Prabowo acknowledged that Indonesia is beginning to show progress through the development of the Maung tactical vehicle produced by PT Pindad. He expressed a personal sense of pride in using a vehicle made by the nation’s own people as his presidential car following his inauguration in 2024. “But I thank the universities, I thank you. We are starting to move towards having our own car, thank you. I felt a deep satisfaction in my heart when I was inaugurated; I returned from the inauguration and was able to ride in an Indonesian-made car,” he said. Prabowo stressed that a vehicle is still worthy of being called an Indonesian product even if it still uses some imported components. According to him, almost no automotive industry in the world sources all of its components from a single country. “The design is Indonesian, made in Indonesia, not 100 per cent—and no car in the world has products from just one country. But if it is 65 per cent or 70 per cent, we can already claim it as Indonesian-made,” he continued. Beyond the automotive industry, Prabowo also highlighted Indonesia’s dependence on imports of strategic commodities. He questioned why Indonesia has not yet been able to produce its own wheat seeds, despite having adequate human resources and research institutions. The President also touched on the productivity of national oil palm plantations, which he assessed as still lagging behind Malaysia. “I ask the professors at IPB, why can’t we have wheat seeds? Why must we import wheat? I ask, why is the productivity of oil palm per hectare in Malaysia higher than ours?” Prabowo asserted.