Meanwhile, the price of national elementary school uniforms (shirts and pants) in online stores is in the range of IDR 100,000 per pair. Then, there is a potential turnover of Rp 2.43 trillion from the sale of elementary school uniforms. The Indonesian Textile Association (API) welcomes the new policy, because the demand for school uniforms for domestic textile workers will increase. "We hope that this regulation will further support equitable distribution of textile business opportunities, especially for SMEs," said Ian Syarif, Deputy Chairperson of API, Thursday (13/10).

Similarly, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Filament Fiber and Yarn Producers Association (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wirawasta said that this new policy can also reduce imports of clothing, especially for students' traditional clothing.

Because, it is difficult for foreign textile manufacturers to make Indonesian traditional clothes. As a result, the supply of school uniforms and their raw materials will be supplied by domestic industry players.

The national textile industry is certainly very ready to supply the needs of school uniforms. This is supported by the fact that the utility of the national textile factory is still around 75% during the peak demand period in 2022.

"So, just increase the utility when there is an increase in demand," said Redma, Thursday (13/10).

This year, the demand for school uniforms experienced a significant increase around May-June. This is in line with the growth of textile sales in the second quarter of 2022, which is around 13% on an annual basis or year on year (YoY). It is likely that the surge in demand for school uniforms will occur again as the new school year approaches.

Redma assessed that currently the domestic textile market is still experiencing an oversupply, so there is no increase in the selling price of school uniforms in the market. In fact, the production and operational expenses of textile players increased due to high inflation, rising commodity prices, and the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate.

"Despite the increase in expenses, it is difficult for us to participate in raising the selling price because there are still a lot of stocks," he said.

On the other hand, Ian said, the price of school uniforms and attributes must increase sooner or later due to several factors mentioned earlier.

Corporate Secretary of PT Pan Brothers Tbk (PBRX) Iswardeni said that his party has a school uniform production division. However, PBRX only produces school uniforms based on orders from local brands or companies that need them, not making school uniforms as stock that is sold in the market.

"The school uniform division's contribution to Pan Brothers' income is still small," he said, today