Secretary General of the Indonesian Filament Yarn and Fiber Association (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wirawasta asked the government not to exempt imports of apparel products from Bangladesh. That is, specifically for products with HS 61, HS 62, and HS 63 codes. As is known, the Minister of Trade (Minister of Trade) Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) said, ensuring Indonesia's commitment to finalizing the Indonesia-Bangladesh preferential trade agreement (IB-PTA) negotiations. Referring to BPS, the HS numbers are for clothing products and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted, not knitted or crocheted, and other ready made textile goods, used clothing, and used textile goods, rags.

Where from 2020 to May 2022, imports of products from Bangladesh for the three HS numbers were recorded at US$149.526 million. It was observed, there was an increase from 2020 to May 2022.

"Imports of apparel in 2021, Bangladesh is in second place with an import value of US$58 million under China (US$299 million). This position is due to 15-20% MFN import duties from Bangladesh. While China's FTA is 0%. Imports from China are currently This has decreased when compared to US$364 million in 2020, US$431 million in 2019 because there is a safeguard. Meanwhile, from Bangladesh there is no safeguard. So with an FTA 0% import duty, it is certain that there will be a flood of imports," said Redma, Wednesday (20/20). /7/2022).

If this PTA opens access to apparel from Bangladesh, the Indonesian textile and textile product (TPT) industry will fall from upstream to downstream.

"In total we will lose 3 million jobs. It's not worth what we get. The position of the Ministry of Industry (Ministry of Industry) is the same as us, not wanting to open HS 61, 62 and 63. The Ministry of Trade (Ministry of Trade) is already aware of this issue. But there are some parties there who don't seem to care about this condition. Because it seems to be their achievement if the FTA with Bangladesh is implemented," said Redma.

Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan held a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Trade office, Jakarta, today, Monday (18/7). (Doc: Ministry of Trade) Photo: Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan held a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Trade office, Jakarta, today, Monday (18/7).

Indonesian Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan held a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Trade office, Jakarta, today, Monday (18/7).

He hoped that the Trade Minister Zulhas would consider before opening access to the three HS for Bangladesh.

"The exports are also strange, because CPO exports will be encouraged. Even though CPO is not encouraged, the world really needs our CPO. It's time to sacrifice 3 million people for exports that don't need encouragement. whispers from his staff," said Redma.

The same thing was conveyed by the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Jemmy Kartiwa Sastraatmaja. He asked the government to be careful before deciding to sign the trade deal. Because, he said, Bangladesh has a strong textile and textile product (TPT) industry, including garments.

"So, it will definitely be disrupted and they have a large capacity to try to enter new markets, such as Indonesia. So we have to be careful so that the Indonesian market which has a population of 273 million can really be enjoyed by domestic producers," said Jemmy, Wednesday (20/20). /7/2022).

Trade Minister Zulhas when receiving a visit from Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Trade's office, Jakarta, Monday (18/7) said he was ready to accelerate the process of completing the trade cooperation plan between the two countries.

"I confirm Indonesia's commitment to complete the IB-PTA negotiations that have been mandated by the leaders of the two countries. It must be ensured that the IB-PTA is balanced and benefits both parties. I hope that both parties can resume the negotiation process so that stakeholders can immediately receive the benefits of the IB-PTA ," Zulhas said in a written statement quoted Wednesday (20/7/2022).