Golkar Legislator Criticises Pick-up Truck Imports for Merah Putih Cooperatives

Member of the House of Representatives’ Commission IV Firman Soebagyo has deemed plans by PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara to import 105,000 pick-up trucks from India for the operations of Koperasi Desa Merah Putih (Red and White Village Cooperatives) as questionable. He said the policy plan was potentially contradictory to President Prabowo Subianto’s commitment to strengthening national production.

“Speeches about industrial self-reliance must not remain mere slogans. If the practice is to open the floodgates to imports, the public has every right to question the government’s consistency,” he said in a written statement on Tuesday, 24 February 2026.

Firman said the pick-up truck imports would sever the value-added chain that should be enjoyed by the domestic automotive industry. He noted that the automotive sector is not merely about vehicle assembly but encompasses a supply chain involving the steel industry, tyre components, glass, and thousands of supporting SMEs.

“Every unit produced domestically creates a multiplier effect — jobs are absorbed, taxes flow in, and the components industry is set in motion,” he said.

State-owned enterprises, Firman argued, should serve as locomotives for strengthening domestic industry rather than creating space for imports that could erode the national automotive economy. He therefore urged that the vehicle requirements for the Koperasi Desa Merah Putih be fulfilled through domestic production.

“SOEs must side with domestic industry. The President must evaluate and even cancel this import plan,” said the Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara has been appointed to accelerate the operations of Koperasi Desa Merah Putih. The company’s President Director, Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota, said a number of the pick-up trucks imported from India had already arrived in Indonesia.

The fully built-up pick-up trucks will be used for Koperasi Desa Merah Putih activities across 85,000 villages. Through Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, the government is targeting the construction of 30,000 Koperasi Desa Merah Putih buildings by mid-2026.