KEIN chairman Sutrisno Bachir said Indonesia could no longer rely on raw commodity exports to boost the country’s economic growth amid a sluggish global economy.

“We are in a difficult situation. We should tighten our belts and be smart in dealing with this situation,” he said at the State Palace on Friday.

Sutrisno said the newly established committee was set to compose a re-industrialisation roadmap as part of its effort to analyze the government’s plan to boost domestic manufacturing.

“KEIN will actively provide strategic input in the fields of the economy and industry, not only in the form of papers, but also directly to all communities and regions,” he said.

Citing an example, Sutrisno said KEIN would monitor the industrialisation and new industry projects that were currently under construction in several regions.

“We aim to boost industrialisation in the country, which is now depressed. That’s our main program. We realize we will miss a lot of opportunities if we only export raw commodities amid the global economic slowdown,” said Sutrisno, who was formerly chairman of the National Mandate Party’s (PAN) advisory council.

He said KEIN would cooperate with relevant ministries to strengthen the role of industry in Indonesia’s economic growth, including by encouraging the country’s citizens to use domestic products instead of imported goods.

“We should be able to follow other countries such as Korea, Japan and India, which are praised for their spirit of nationalism regarding their domestic products,” he said.

KEIN secretary Putri K. Wardhani said the ongoing sluggish global economy had led to decreasing exports and increases in imports. To change this situation, Indonesia must increase the use of domestic products.

She said the committee had requested recommendations from industrialisation architects such as Emil Salim and BJ Habibie to synchronize Indonesia’s past industrialisation patterns with the current economic situation.

“They both said that to reach double-digit economic growth, industries must be the locomotive of the Indonesian economy and this must be supported by the finance and trade sectors,” she said.