Before His Passing, Rachmat Gobel's Message on Keeping National Industry Resilient Against Global Economic Shocks

The Indonesian business and political world has lost another prominent figure, Rachmat Gobel, who passed away on Friday (10/7/2026) at 03.20 WIB at Brawijaya Hospital in Tebet, South Jakarta. His name, synonymous with the major company Panasonic, drew his last breath at the age of 63. With a long history of building national industry, Rachmat Gobel was regarded as a successful figure by Indonesian entrepreneurs. Before his death, Rachmat Gobel had shared a message on how to keep national industry resilient amidst the onslaught of the global economy. The current global economic crisis and weakening are testing the resilience of the domestic industry. Amidst the weakening world economy, Rachmat Gobel once reminded of the importance of building a defensive fortress for domestic industry so that the Indonesian economy remains robust. Rachmat Gobel was very optimistic that Indonesian industry could rise again because it holds a powerful key: a vast local market. “This weak economy is not only being experienced by Indonesia, the whole world is experiencing it. Therefore, I am very optimistic that if we can protect and manage Indonesia’s very large market well,” Rachmat Gobel stated in a BeritaSatu YouTube broadcast. “By managing it well, this will build optimism among entrepreneurs and investors in the manufacturing sector to invest in Indonesia. Because the market in Indonesia is very large,” he continued. He hoped that local industry would be able to maintain the large domestic market to attract investors. Rachmat Gobel acknowledged that his company faced difficulties in stemming the tide of imported products, especially those entering illegally. According to him, the prevalence of these illegal goods is a negative sentiment for investors, making them reluctant to build factories in Indonesia. He believed that eradicating illegal products would be a breath of fresh air for the business world. With a healthy market ecosystem, Rachmat Gobel was very optimistic that local products have strong competitiveness against foreign-made products. “We can do it, it’s not that we can’t. There must be a clear strategy,” he said. He then explained the reasons why imported products can be cheaper than domestic products.