KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. The Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers Association (APSyFI) is urging retailers to be more nationalistic and favor domestic products.

This follows a protest by the Indonesian Global Brand Retailers Association (Apregindo) against the Ministry of Trade Regulation Number 3 of 2024, on the Amendment to the Ministry of Trade Regulation 36 of 2023 on Import Policy and Regulation, which took effect on March 10.

According to APSyFI General Chairman Redma Gita Wirawasta, since the implementation of this regulation, the performance trend in the textile and textile product (TPT) industry has started to move in a positive direction and all stakeholders in the national TPT industry want this rule to continue without changes and delays.

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Previously, Apregindo objected to the implementation of this rule, asking for a delay and highlighting technical regulations (Pertek) that they considered burdensome for the import process.

“That's exactly the point, the President's order last October was very clear to control imports more because they are at a level that is causing layoffs everywhere. Through this Ministry of Trade Regulation, the government regulates that these imports are substituted by local goods," said Redma in a press release received by Kontan, on Sunday (24/3).

Regarding the Pertek complained about by Apregindo, Redma stated that this regulation was issued in December 2023 and should have been able to manage its Pertek based on the Minister of Industry Regulation (Permenperin) No. 5 of 2024. 

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“Apregindo members also already have Import Approval (PI) until the end of 2024. For 2025 imports, there are still 9 months left, just manage it,” added Redma.

Furthermore, Redma asked retailers to be more nationalistic and to accommodate local goods more than imported goods. After all, many local brands are of good quality and classy. "If they are not allowed to enter the mall, they will have difficulty developing and Indonesia will continue to depend on imported products," he added.

In line with APSyFI, the Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Jemmy Kartiwa believes that this Ministry of Trade Regulation is very important for the domestic textile industry and is expected to have a positive impact. The change in post-border rules can help tighten supervision for the import of finished goods in the textile and textile product sector.

"At the very least, this rule allows the domestic TPT industry to rise and compete with legally imported products. This will also increase the competitiveness of the domestic industry in the global market," explained Jemmy.

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Therefore, API thanks the government, in this case, the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) and the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin), for their full support until this regulation was passed.

The Chairman of the Bandung Convection Entrepreneurs Association, Nandi Herdiaman, said that after the implementation of this Ministry of Trade Regulation, there was a very large surge in orders coming into the Small and Medium Industry (IKM) centers in the Java region.

“We were even overwhelmed looking for workers because the seamstresses who were laid off yesterday mostly went home. We were approached by one of the big online platforms offering a contract to be sold on their platform,” he revealed. 

For this reason, Nandi asks the government to remain consistent in implementing this regulation to protect textile IKM and SMEs from the onslaught of imported goods.

Editor: Syamsul Azhar