Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Jemmy Kartiwa Sastraatmaja warned to be wary of China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Vietnam. The reason is, he said, these countries are countries with a massive textile and textile product (TPT) industry and are targeting the Indonesian market. According to Jemmy, this is a domino effect of slowing consumption in Europe and the United States (US). These two countries are world TPT export destinations, including Indonesia. Also, the TPT producing countries. "With the (economic) weakening in Europe and the US, surely the export market will shrink. And the shrinking export market doesn't only happen in Indonesia, surely other producers such as China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Vietnam are also affected. Surely they will try to find new markets. The new market is targeted by Indonesia," said Jemmy, Friday (23/12/2022).

Therefore, he said, Indonesia must be careful, because the domestic market is currently the only hope for the national textile industry. Where, it has been widely reported, the national textile industry, especially the export-oriented ones, is currently carrying out massive layoffs due to the drop in exports.

Currently, he said, up to 70% of the national TPT production is supplied locally, while the remaining 30% goes to the export market.

"They see Indonesia as a potential market which is quite large. Now this is what we have to watch out for. Don't make it worse with imported products that flood TPT products into Indonesia. What might have been 70% of sales domestically will definitely be disrupted. This is what we have to be very careful," he said.

"That's why we have to take care of the domestic market, otherwise the layoffs (termination of employment) in the textile industry will be even worse," he added.

"For example, imported goods that enter Indonesia must be verified, surveyor reports, must be approved for imports from industry and trade. That is what we must do so that the total volume of imported TPT products (textiles and textile products) entering Indonesia can be controlled. ," he said.

Apart from that, he said, it is necessary to promote the 'Proud Made in Indonesia' campaign, as well as antidumping proposals so that they can support the strengthening of the domestic market.

"If the campaign were to be intensified, accompanied by Non-Tariff Barriers and especially if the industry could apply for anti-dumping when there was a surge in imports, then that would really support strengthening the domestic market," concluded Jemmy.