Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said that his party would find special incentives for industries that were experiencing a storm of layoffs (PHK), such as the textile, garment, and footwear industries. According to him, giving incentives is considered quite effective. This step reflects the provision of PPnBM incentives that were disbursed during the Covid 19 pandemic. So that the automotive industry is excited again and is not deeply affected by the economic downturn due to the pandemic. "Of course what we prioritize are industries that have a high multiplier effect, which have a large absorption of labor, or labor-intensive industries for us to look for incentives so that they

don't decline further, to avoid layoffs," said the Minister of Industry at a press conference at his office, Friday (9 /6/2023).

The Minister of Industry acknowledged that currently the global economic situation is indeed experiencing a weakening. This condition had an impact on the textile, garment and footwear industries, which are oriented towards the export market, resulting in a decrease in orders.

"We all have to be aware of what is happening globally. In the midst of a situation that is not good, the global economy is still weakening, that's why our PMI decreased last month to this month," he continued.

The Confederation of National Workers Union (KSPN) noted that up to the first quarter of 2023, at least thousands of employees have been affected by layoffs since the fourth quarter of 2022. PT Kaban and PT Prosmatex, Central Java, laid off 3,000 employees, PT Duniatex and PT Agungtex laid off 5 thousand employees.

In Bandung, West Java, PT Adetex and PT Binacitra Kharisma Lestari (garment industry) conducted laffoffs to 2,000 employees.

"One of the reasons is of course the weakening of the export market, but we also see that there are sectors that are growing well, therefore we need to find alternative markets," said the Minister of Industry.

"In the future we have to look at which sector (most affected), garment is certain, that's the problem and we must examine it (before giving incentives). Is it upstream, middle or downstream. Each part of the textile sector has issues separately, the handling cannot be generalized, so we have to see," he concluded.