The Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang, explained how the industry was so battered by the pandemic that its growth was minus last year. "Based on data, the apparel and textile industries suffer the most from high pressure during the pandemic. Growth of -8.8%, exports -17%, labor -13%," he said during the handover of 35 million masks in Jakarta.
With the assistance of 35 million masks, the role of industry is very important. The cloth mask comes from the production of the domestic textile industry, large-scale or IKM and has met the fabric mask test standards.
"Therefore, you hope and believe that with this initiative, the textile and apparel industry can be helped, especially from the demand side," said Agus.
Currently the national industry produces PPE and masks with a capacity of 39.6 million per month. 24.9 million surgical gowns, 400.5 million medical masks per month and 360 thousand N95 masks per month and more than 95 million cloth masks per month.
"Apart from being marketed and for handling Covid-19, PPE products are also exported, in 2020 it will reach US $ 264 million," he said.
The aid in the form of 35 million standard 3-layer cloth masks which were handed over to KPC PEN will be distributed to the community. The distribution will be handed over through KPC PEN which will be assisted by the TNI and Polri.
"35 million cloth masks through KPC PEN which will later be distributed to the Indonesian National Police, which will later be distributed to the public, as one of the ways to encourage the growth of the national IKM industry or large industries," he concluded.