Growth in Indonesia's Non-Oil & Gas Industry Outpaces GDP Growth
The non-oil & gas industry of Indonesia grew 5.56 percent in the first quarter of 2014. Although general economic growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy has slowed to 5.21 percent in the first quarter, several industries such as the Food and Beverage Processing Industry, the Transportation Equipment Industry, Machinery & Equipment Industry, as well as Farming & Plantation-based Industries post strong growth. The Indonesian Industry Ministry targets a 6.5 percentage rate for the country's industrial sector in 2014.
Secretary General of the Industry Ministry Anshari Bukhari said that although the growth target of 6.5 percent in 2014 may not be reached, growth in Indonesia's industrial sector is still expected to exceed the level of six percent. The fact that industrial growth exceeded the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth result in Q1-2014 is a good signal. The implementation of the ban on exports of unprocessed minerals (Minerba Act), introduced on 12 January 2014, causes a negative impact on the growth of the country's metal industry.
Bukhari further said that domestic consumption, as well as foreign and domestic investments in Indonesia are expected to continue growing, while the depreciated Indonesian rupiah exchange rate (which lost around 26 percent of its value against the US dollar in 2013) stimulates exports of agro-industrial products. These aforementioned factors provide a positive context for Indonesia's industrial sector.
Based on data from the Industry Ministry, the leading industrial sectors in the first quarter of 2014 were the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Industry (growing 9.47 percent), and the Transportation Equipment, Machinery and Equipment Industry (growing 6.03 percent). Meanwhile, domestic investment in the country's industrial sector in Q1-2014 grew 1.7 percent to IDR 11.1 trillion (USD $965 million), while foreign investment fell 23.5 percent to USD $3.49 billion.