Chairman of the Association of Fiber and Filament Yarn Manufacturers (APSyFI), Redma Gita Wirawasta estimates that demand for textile products ahead of Eid in 2022 will soar by 70% from the previous month.
"So the position of goods is now in retail. We estimate that retail demand will increase by 60-70% from the previous month," said Redma, in Jakarta, Sunday (24/4).
Redma explained, this demand also helped boost the utilization of the domestic textile industry, especially on the upstream side.
"In upstream from February to March, there has been a 20-15% increase in utilization," he explained.
But on the other hand, added Redma, textile entrepreneurs on the upstream side are stifling with the large number of imported products that have returned to Indonesia through the online marketplace.
"Currently we see a lot of clothes in online stores without Indonesian labels, and children's clothes without SNI labels. This is our concern," he said.
According to Redma, imported textile goods that enter Indonesia should wear Indonesian labels, including the manufacturer's name, hang tags, and washing and ironing guidelines.
"It (found) in Chinese, Korean, Thai. It must be illegal, it must be checked so that it cannot enter," said Redma.
Based on his search, there are already many such items in the marketplace, even though they should be brought under control.
"There are concerns from the industry when it has produced from upstream to downstream and downstream has also started to sell, what happens is that local products are brushed off by illegally imported goods," said Redma.
"This has been done many times, and no action has been taken, only when we say that we will ask for action later. We ask that those who have stalls take action, those who have online shop platforms also take action, because he also sells illegal goods. After complaining about the enforcement, after that it will be a week or two again (loosely)," added Redma.
Therefore, his party has sent a letter to the Minister of Trade (Mendag) Muhammad Lutfi and the Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita to pay attention to this matter.
"Last week we wrote to the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Industry to bring order and strict action against both the sellers and online platforms that facilitate the sale of illegal goods," concluded Redma.