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.