The food and beverage industry is projected to be the industry with the highest growth this year, reaching 5 percent. This growth was supported by increased consumption and people's purchasing power amidst the ongoing economic recovery. The executive director of the INDEF economic studies institute, Tauhid Ahmad, explained that the food and beverage industry had good resilience, even when the pandemic hit all lines of the community's economy. "The food and beverage industry will remain high. During the pandemic, their growth is already above an average of 4-5 percent. I think it will increase again. The industry will never die," said Tauhid Ahmad to KBR, Wednesday (12/01/2022). Tauhid explained that public consumption, which previously focused on basic needs, has now shifted to more varied consumption. Moreover, the high mobility of the people and the opening of restaurants, hotels, retails and markets are the triggers for increasing public consumption.
Apart from food and beverages, business activity in the automotive and machine tools industry is also predicted to increase. The growth of these two industries is also estimated to reach 5 percent. According to Tauhid, the performance of the automotive sector is influenced by the government's stimulus to encourage car sales by providing incentives for the Government-borne Luxury Goods Value Added Tax (PPnBM-DTP) of 100 percent. "In terms of automotive, the factor is because of incentives. If not, it's difficult. Even though we see, especially in four-wheeled vehicles, there is a change in new products, I think it will be an attraction," he said. Other factors affecting the automotive business are the improving purchasing power of the upper-middle class, the provision of credit facilities by finance companies, and the launch of four-wheel vehicle product variants. The emergence of new variants of automotive products, said Tauhid, will add new market space.
Meanwhile, the machinery and equipment industry is estimated to increase this year, one of which is the demand for heavy equipment procurement. This increase will be a turning point from the weakening demand due to the pressure of the pandemic that has occurred over the last two years. "Most of the machine tools are for the needs of the heavy equipment industry, construction, and home industries, including for government needs. Moreover, some areas need heavy equipment," he continued.
