Prabowo Targets Indonesia’s “National Champion

IndonesianTalk.com –– Magelang, Central Java – President Prabowo Subianto has set an ambitious tone for Indonesia’s industrial future, declaring that the country must build its own “national champion” in the automotive sector—starting from the inauguration of an electric vehicle assembly plant in Magelang. Speaking at the launch of PT VKTR Sakti Industries, Prabowo emphasized that a large nation like Indonesia cannot remain merely a market destination. Industrialization, he said, is a critical phase in achieving technological sovereignty and national resilience. “Innovation must not stop at theory and experimentation. It must be transformed into real industrial production,” he said, underlining the government’s commitment to clean technology-based manufacturing as a cornerstone of Indonesia’s economic strategy. Industry and Energy Independence Prabowo framed industrialization as the final stage of technological advancement. The presence of a domestic electric vehicle (EV) industry, he argued, reflects Indonesia’s determination to strengthen its industrial structure while reducing dependence on imported…