Manufacturers in textile and textile product (TPT) industry believe that cooperation of all stakeholders is required for the recovery of Indonesian textile industry. As a matter of fact, they say, difficult time for the textile industry in general has actually been going on long before the Covid-19 but getting worse with the pandemic. Manufacturers selling in local market find it really hard to compete with the imported products particularly those entering the country illegally.

To overcome the shortage of raw material at home for Personal Protective Equipments and medical masks, government will continue to provide incentives in the form of exemption from import duty or import tax on raw materials borne by government in 2021. Director of Textile, Leather and Footwear Industry at the Industry Ministry, Elis Masitoh in FGDs conducted in Bandung via offline and online recently said that government would continue to provide facilities for exemption from import duties or import duties borne by government for importing PPE raw materials and medical masks to overcome the shortage of raw materials in the country.

Businessmen in textiles and textile products (TPT) industry, especially garments, as a labor-intensive in the downstream, expect the so-called omnibus law can be a better help for companies as the rise of wages every year plus sectoral wages cannot be compensated by the increase of productivity any longer. Several company members of API Jakarta have stated that the increase in wages in the end can no longer be balanced with an increase in productivity. For this reason, companies in the Bonded Zone (KBN) Cakung Jakarta forcced to relocated to Central Java and other countries such as Vietnam.

Representative of the Cotton Council International (CCI) in Indonesia, Anh Dung (Andy) Do said Cotton USA is always committed to increasing public attention to the importance of high quality cotton, especially US cotton which has been used as the basic material for the manufacture of materials from various international fashion brands in the world. , including in Indonesia.

Based on the IHS Markit survey report, Indonesian manufacturing firms are starting to rise as indicated by the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose nearly three points to 50.6 in November 2020 from the previous month's level of 47.8. An index above neutral 50 threshold indicates improvement. Conversely, an index below 50 indicates contractionary activity.

In the last few years, the flooding of imported textile and clothing into domestic market has continued to increase and has made it more difficult for business actors, especially those targeting domestic market, to run and maintain their businesses. Such situation has been going on long before the Covid-19 pandemic and the current situation is getting even more difficult. Business actors have on various occasions conveyed to the government the need for fundamental policy changes related to import to restore the glory of the Indonesian textile industry. The Ministry of Industry has prepared a series of measures to control textile import.

In the last few years, world textile consumers have shown more interest in green and sustainable textile and clothing. Responding to this change in consumer tastes, brand holders, retailers and manufacturers are starting to expand for environmentally friendly and sustainable products.

In the last few years, the flooding of imported textile and clothing into the local market has continued to increase and has made it more difficult for business actors to do and maintain their business. This hard time had been going on long before the Covid-19 pandemic and the current situation is getting even more difficult for local industry to grow. Business actors have on various occasions convinced government the need for fundamental policy changes related to import policy to restore the Indonesian textile industry on track. For this reason, the Ministry of Industry has prepared measures believed effective to control textile imports.

In early December, the chairman of the Walter Reiners Foundation of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, Peter D. Dornier presented awards to six successful young engineers. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the award ceremony took place as a web conference for the first time. Philippa Böhnke, ITM Dresden, and Juan Carlos Arañó Romero, ITA Aachen, were honoured with creativity awards for the cleverest bachelor or project work. The prizes are endowed with 3,000 euros each. Ms. Böhnke’s project dealt with composite implants for the repair and regeneration of bone defects. DIn his bachelor thesis, Mr. Arañó Romero has developed a spinning machine able to produce yarn with material from the moon. By this, the transport effort in space travel can be minimised, because insulating material for example necessary for a moon base can be produced on the moon directly.

PT. Dai-Ichi Kimia Raya has successfully achieved the 1st ECO PASSPORT by OEKO-TEX® certificate with ZDHC Conformance Level 3 in Indonesia. Original certificate hand-over ceremony was held in PT. Dai-Ichi Kimia Raya’ head office in Karawang, West Java to congratulate their remarkable achievement. PT. TESTEX, as the only OEKO-TEX representative office in Indonesia, is very proud to have been part of this journey and has been welcomed with high appreciation and hospitality during the hand-over ceremony....

Current meeting of member companies of the Indonesian Textile Association (API JAKARTA) with Director of Consumer Protection and Commercial Order of Trade Ministry Sihard Hadjopan Pohan stated that currently there is a textile and textile product registration in order to obtain the so-called K3L registration number. Pohan continued saying that in accordance with Trade Minister Regulation No.18 of 2019, all K3L-related products both produced at home or imported product should be registered before sale in local market.

Indonesian Textile and Textile Products (TPT) business actors have the opportunity to increase exports to Australia after Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement IA-CEPA officially came into force on 5 July 2020. Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto said the partnership agreement was established after a long negotiation process which took almost a decade. He hopes that business actors and stakeholders can begin to take advantage of this agreement.

Minister of Trade Agus Suparmanto issued Trade Minister's Regulation (Permendag) Number 57 of 2020 allowing manufacturers to export raw material to make face masks, Surgical Masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), thereby annulling the pervious ban on export as stated on Trade Ministerial Regulation No. 23 of 2020 j.o. Permendag No. 34 of 2020.

In a recent meeting of API DKI Boards and the company members of the Indonesian Textile Association (BPP API DKI Jakarta) which took place at the Jakarta API secretariat office it was revealed that the spread of the corona virus in Wuhan China began to negatively impact on the supply of raw materials for garment factory. However, manufacturers of raw materials, especially fabrics, said they began to ...

President Joko Widodo inaugurated the PT Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) plant, an integrated rayon and yarn production facility in Riau Province recently. The fiber manufacturer plant, with an overall investment of Rp. 15.5 trillion, produces approximately 240,000 tons of rayon annually. The plant can produce 10,000 tons of yarn annually as a raw material for the garment industry. According to the president, production capacity will continue to increase to reach 600,000 tons per year and ....

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in his address speech at the 15th National Conference of Indonesian Textile Association in Jakarta more recently said that textile and textile product (TPT) industry was one of the sectors signifnicantly contributed to national economy as indicated by the highest growth of the textile and apparel industry to 15.08 percent in the third quarter of 2019.

Coordinating Minister of Economic Affair Airlangga Hartarto said he would study three options proposed by President Joko Widodo in attempt to lower gas prices for industry by March 2020. The minister would see whether the three options are possible to be realized. According to Airlangga, the government will immediately decide on a reduction in gas prices for industry after the assessment is completed.