Economist Criticises Import of 105,000 Indian Pick-ups: Inconsistent and Weakening Competitiveness, Must Be Cancelled
The government’s plan to import 105,000 fully built (completely built up/CBU) commercial pick-up vehicles from India to support the Merah Putih Village Cooperative (Kopdes) programme has drawn sharp criticism from academics.
Senior Indef economist and Rector of Paramadina University, Prof Didik J Rachbini, said the policy reflects inconsistency in the direction of national industrialisation and has the potential to weaken the domestic automotive industry structure.
According to Didik, amid the government’s commitment to promoting industrialisation, increasing local content requirements (TKDN), and strengthening the manufacturing supply chain, large-scale imports risk becoming a form of disguised deindustrialisation.
“Amid the implementation of industrialisation policy, this shortcut policy has the potential to become a covert deindustrialisation measure. If this continues, it becomes a short-term instant policy that appears practical but in the long run weakens the national industrial structure,” Didik said in a written statement on Tuesday, 24 February 2026.
He highlighted the macroeconomic impact of the policy. Massive vehicle imports, Didik said, could put pressure on the trade balance and worsen the balance of payments. Indonesia currently exports automotive products to various countries with volumes exceeding 500,000 units per year.
Didik argued that the policy to import 105,000 pick-up units could weaken Indonesia’s strategy as a regional automotive production base. Rather than strengthening its position as an exporter, Indonesia risks becoming a market for foreign manufacturers.
“This policy sets a precedent that domestic industry can easily be sacrificed for quick solutions, which ultimately weakens the foundation of Indonesia’s economic transformation,” he said.
He noted that over the past two decades, Indonesia’s automotive industry has grown into a regional production base and global exporter with substantial investment support. The entry of imported vehicles in significant numbers is feared to reduce domestic factory utilisation, suppress production volumes, and diminish national industrial competitiveness.
Didik also assessed that the policy contradicts the downstream processing and manufacturing strengthening strategy that the government has long championed. Policy inconsistency, he argued, could create uncertainty for both domestic and foreign investors, as well as damage the credibility of long-term industrial policy. “The government absolutely must cancel it,” he stressed.