Textile and textile product industry players are delighted by Shopee Indonesia's decision to close access to 13 categories of imported goods. These products include hijab, Muslim women's tops and subordinates as well as male Muslim tops and subordinates.

Other textile imports that were closed were Muslim outwear, mukena, Muslim clothing, children's Muslim clothing, Muslim accessories, prayer tools, batik, and kebaya.

"We hope that Shopee will completely shut down its import access, not just foreign traders," said Secretary General of the Indonesian Association of Filament Yarn and Fiber Producers (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wiraswasta.

If Shopee consistently closes access to these imported products, the textile industry is predicted to recover at the end of the second quarter of 2021. Redma also hopes that there are other import categories whose access will also be closed. In effect, more Indonesian goods can be sold on the Shopee platform.

Although Shopee claims that the number of imported products marketed is relatively small, products from abroad have been proven to damage market prices to kill local products.

Ikhsan Ingratubun also gave his appreciation to Shopee. The Chairperson of the UMKM Association (Akumindo) assesses that many marketplaces have gone too far to sell imported products at very cheap prices. "We welcome it, but we must monitor whether the 13 product categories have really disappeared from their platform," said Ikhsan.

He also hopes that other marketplaces will follow Shopee's footsteps, and not only close access to the Muslim fashion category. "The government must also be present to control these marketplaces from going too far. If you go too far to allow imported products to run rampant in Indonesia, yes shutdown! " Ikhsan said.

Previously, the Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki also appreciated Shopee Indonesia's steps which were considered to support the growth and sustainability of the MSME business. "This needs to be appreciated, as a follow-up between the meeting between the Ministry of Cooperatives, UMKM and Shopee," said Teten.

According to Teten, the potential for MSME products is quite large, namely around Rp. 300 trillion per year. For Muslim fashion products, the value is IDR 280 trillion per year and for batik products IDR 4.89 trillion per year.

Meanwhile, Shopee Indonesia Director Handika Jahja said Shopee restricted access to these 13 product categories covering all overseas selling countries. Among them are sellers from China and South Korea.

"Which countries are restricted, these are from all over the country and sellers from abroad are closed to guard local sellers in the country," he said.