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INDONESIA’S NATIONAL CAR: REACTIONS IN INDONESIA

Jakarta Globe

Jokowi Denies Any Decision Made on National Car Program

Proponents of the ACL-Proton venture insist it’s a purely private sector collaboration.

Manila/Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has denied that a joint venture between Malaysian car manufacturer Proton and a little-known Indonesian company will produce an Indonesian “national car.”

The comments, made to reporters in Manila on Monday during a state visit by the president to the Philippines, directly contradicts a statement posted on the official website of the Cabinet Secretary last week.

Joko told reporters that his attendance at the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Friday between Proton and the Indonesian company Adiperkasa Citra Lestari (ACL) in Malaysia did not mean that the Indonesian government was supporting the partnership as a “national car” project.

He said his visit to the Proton factory was at the invitation of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, who serves as the Proton chairman.

Joko said “of course it is too early” to declare future products of the joint venture as national car, and that what he had witnessed was simply a business-to-business matter between Proton and ACL.

Joko drew a torrent of criticism for witnessing the signing, which activists and political opponents have pounced on and labeled as yet another concession being made by the president to his party chief.

http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-denies-decision-made-national-car-program/

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Proton Holding Bhd CEO Abdul Harits Abdullah signed an MoU with Adiperkasa Citra Lestari CEO AM Hendropriyono to develop a national car program. The MoU was signed with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo” present, during the latter’s recent state visit.

No, it’s not a national car!

‘Misleading’ term

Adiperkasa Citra Lestari CEO AM Hendropriyono on Sunday asserted that his company’s joint venture with Proton was “business-to-business,” that the Indonesian media’s use of the phrase “national car” to describe future products of the partnership was misleading because the Indonesian government in fact has no stake at all in the project.

“It is incorrect to call what we will build ‘national cars’; why don’t you first properly learn academic terms [before commenting],” the former chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) responded to his critics in a written statement to Indonesian news portal Tribunnews.com.

“This a business-to-business partnership. We’re a private company and so is Proton,” he added.

http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-adds-list-presidential-faux-pas-national-car/

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MUSTOFA NAHRAWARDAYA ‏@MustofaNahra 15h15 hours ago

Pak @NajibRazak YTH, ternyata istilah “Indonesia National Car” ini dianggap keliru. Cetak dimana backdropnya Pak?

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Indonesia’s last attempt to build a “national car” was a disaster. Is Jokowi about to make the same mistake? http://bit.ly/179iXbN

Jakarta Globe

Jokowi Adds to List of Presidential Faux Pas With National Car

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has left Indonesians flabbergasted with his decision to appoint a little-known company led by a political supporter as the local partner for a joint venture to build a national car.

Joko, on a state trip to Malaysia, visited the factory of local car manufacturer Proton on Friday, where he witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the automaker and Indonesia’s Adiperkasa Citra Lestari to set up a joint venture looking into the feasibility of developing and producing an Indonesian national car.

Signing on behalf of ACL was its president director, Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, a former intelligence chief and retired Army general dogged by allegations of gross human rights abuses.
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Hendropriyono is known to be close to Megawati Soekarnoputri, Joko’s political patron and the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).That the president picked his company — which is not registered with Indonesia’s Industry Ministry and whose history and line of business remain unknown — to represent Indonesia in the joint venture has prompted speculation of yet another concession being made by the president to his party chief.

“Out of [dozens of] potential partners, why Proton? And why Hendro? Why, why…” tweeted Ulil Abshar Abdala, a Democratic Party official. “Suharto was in power more than 25 years before he granted the concession for a national car to his cronies. Just FYI, bro,” he added.

That earlier project was helmed by the late strongman’s son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, better known as Tommy Suharto, and essentially rebadged Kia cars from South Korea as Indonesian-assembled Timor vehicles.

It ran from 1996 to 1999, before the combination of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 and Suharto’s fall from power in 1998 forced its closure.

Hendropriyono appeared to have served as the president commissioner of Kia Mobil Indonesia from 1999 to 2001.

http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/jokowi-adds-list-presidential-faux-pas-national-car/

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Jakarta Post

National car to be be electric:
Minister

Technology, Research and Higher Education Minister Minister Muhammad Nasir emphasized on Monday that the development of a national car would be exclusively aimed at producing an electric car.

He said his ministry opted for an electric car due to its environmental friendliness.

“We do not develop cars powered by oil-based fuel because the crude oil supply is dwindling,” he said after visiting Batam Polytechnics in Batam, Riau Islands, as quoted by Antara news agency.

He added that Japan and South Korea had mastered the technology for cars using oil-based fuel, so it would be difficult to match.

Currently, the development of a national car is in the evaluation and testing stage by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), involving two universities, the University of Indonesia (UI) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

“We expect to identify the weaknesses of the car’s design by year’s end, following the evaluation and testings,” Nasir said, before deflecting questions about the newly signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between an Indonesian company and Malaysian carmaker Proton.

Proton Holding Bhd CEO Abdul Harits Abdullah signed the MoU with Adiperkasa Citra Lestari CEO AM Hendropriyono to develop a national car program.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/10/national-car-be-be-electric-minister.html

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Negative reaction on Twitter:

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Malaysia’s Proton to develop Indonesia’s national car

SUBANG JAYA (The Star/Asia News Network, AFP) – Malaysia’s Proton Holdings Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop and manufacture an Indonesian national car, one of the accords reached during Indonesia President Joko Widodo’s first bilateral visit to Malaysia.

The MoU was signed by Proton and its Indonesian partner, PT Adiperkasa Citra Lestari, at a ceremony at the Proton Centre of Exellence here.

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/south-east-asia/story/malaysias-proton-develop-indonesias-national-car-20150206

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The Rakyat Post

Proton aid for Indonesia national car

SHAH ALAM, Feb 6: 

In a defining moment for the regional automobile industry, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Indonesian President Joko Widodo today witnessed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development and manufacturing of Indonesia’s national car.

The MoU, signed between Proton Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah and PT Adiperkasa Citra Lestari CEO Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, will see at furthering business opportunities between both companies in areas relating to the development and manufacturing of the proposed vehicle project.

Abdul Harith said in a statement that under the MoU, a feasibility study will be conducted to explore specific areas of cooperation including the potential development and manufacturing of the project in Indonesia, adding that the MoU is only an expression of the current intention of both parties and is not binding on them.

“The collaboration will be good as both nations specifically work together to develop products for the larger market.

“Furthermore, Proton which has the facilities, capabilities and technology know-how in design development and manufacturing of cars, is the only company in the region with an in-house research and development facility.

“No other countries in this region have their own national car project other than providing manufacturing and assembly services,” said Abdul Harith, adding that the MoU serves as a positive start to both nations.

Meanwhile Abdullah Mahmud said the MoU is a major development for the Indonesian automotive industry where the collaboration will offer a wider job opportunity to its people.

“We are very happy to be working with Proton and Malaysia in this project as with their expertise, we are confident that Proton can help to train and develop a pool of specialist workforce for our automotive industry.

http://www.therakyatpost.com/business/2015/02/06/proton-aid-indonesia-national-car/

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