
The creativity of Vocational High School students who successfully produced a type of car called "Esemka" can be considered as the resurrection
Indonesia's automotive industry. Indonesia should be proud of the car because it proves that Indonesia is not left behind in the field of automotive. From the specifications, Esemka car is not inferior to other brands of car. The Esemka car which at present is used by Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo, for example, can carry seven people with 1500 cc engine. Only 20 percent of the components were imported while the rest of the material are locally made.
Kiat Esemka car became known to the public in Indonesia after the Mayor of Surakarta, Joko Widodo announced that he would use it as an official car. The figure behind the "birth" of Kiat Esemka car is Sukiyat, owner and founder of Kiat Motor Company. Working closely with Directorate of Vocational Education Ministry of Education and Culture, he pioneered the assembling of cars by Indonesian youth. Sukiyat made the contribution when accompanied some vocational students of Surakarta in working at Kiat Esemka cars in September 2011. About three months afterwards two cars were successfully assembled. The two units of the cars are now being used as the official cars of Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo and Deputy Mayor Hadi Rudyatmo.
All parties in the country should support Esemka cars to enter a large-scale automotive industry in order to compete with producers from other countries with more experience. Minister of Industry, MS Hidayat said, to enter the industry commercially, manufacturing capabilities should be supported by a permanent both the technology and feasibility. If they are considered to be good and sufficient, only then they can enter the industrial scale. The problem is not only in manufacturing, but also in infrastructure including after sales service, repair shop and show rooms throughout Indonesia. According to Hadi Surjadipraja, Chairman of the Joint Industrial Tools of Cars and Motorcycles , Esemka could become a mass product with the help of real investors. There is no means for the existence of this car without being supported by a variety of aspects of supporters, including investors.
Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo said local and national investors have already showed interest in investing in the development of Esemka car. However, private investors need to realize that the value of investment needed would reach trillions of rupiahs. Education and Culture Minister Muhammad Nuh has planned to bring the work of the students to be mass produced in order to enter into the domestic market in 2013. He said, this year the Ministry of national education would complete the technical feasibility stage so that next year could prepare for the final stage, that is, manufacturing. M Nuh described three options that could be used by the ministry to achieve that goal. The first option is to cooperate with the State-Owned Enterprises, secondly is to submit to the interested private investors, and the last is to make a collaboration between private investors and state enterprises.
That was Miscellany over VOI.