Suddenly Appointed by Prabowo as New Minister of Industry, Sarmuji: A Heavy Task
The position of Minister of Industry has been included in the cabinet reshuffle conducted by President Prabowo Subianto. Today, Thursday (1/10/2026), at the State Palace in Central Jakarta, the President officially inaugurated M. Sarmuji as the new Minister of Industry for the remainder of the 2024-2029 term.
Sarmuji, who is currently recorded as the Secretary-General of the Golkar Party and an active member of the MPR RI for the 2024-2029 period, replaces the former Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.
Sarmuji admitted that he received a phone call from the Palace regarding his appointment, noting that he only received confirmation on Thursday morning.
When asked how he responds to Prabowo’s new appointment and what his priorities will be as Minister of Industry, he stated: “I received confirmation this morning. This is a task that is perhaps quite heavy.”
He continued, “Because the industrial sector must serve as leverage for economic growth and labour absorption.”
To achieve this, Sarmuji noted the need to identify the root causes of existing problems before implementing improvements one by one.
“Particularly industries related to labour absorption and those that can act as economic levers must be our priority. For example, the footwear industry, the textile industry, and others,” he said.
“Naturally, this will require extensive cooperation with other ministries. For instance, the Ministry of Investment, because the upstream processes are there; the Ministry of Trade, because it will involve deciding whether we need to open imports for industries that can produce locally; the Ministry of Finance, as we must request incentives for industries to grow; and the Ministry of Downstreaming, because industry is inherently linked to downstreaming. There is still much for us to resolve,” Sarmumji added.
When asked whether the Ministry of Industry would fall under a new Coordinating Ministry, Sarmuji did not provide a detailed answer, simply stating, “It seems so, it seems so.”
As information, in this reshuffle, President Prabowo has also assigned Bahlil Lahadalia to a new role as the Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition/Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.