Ahmad Heri Firdaus, Researcher, Indef's Center for Industry, Trade and Investment says, to maintain competitiveness, the Indonesian government needs to provide incentives to pursue the competitive advantage of Bangladeshi textiles.

The government needs hold limited meetings and introduce policies to enable the industry compete on a level playing field, adds Heri.

A number of factors in the production cost structure such as industrial gas, electricity, worker wages, and ease of logistics must be taken into account both in negotiating agreements and in formulating incentives.

Heri believes the textile industry will remain one of the prima donnas among other manufacturing sectors. Instead of experiencing a sunset, the textile industry can continue to grow if it is supported by policies that support performance and recovery.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is considered to be unable to compete with Bangladesh. From industrial gas prices, for example, Bangladesh applies a price of $3.22 per MMBTU for textile players. In addition, the electricity tariff is also flat at $ 0.105/kWh. Bangladesh is also the second largest exporter of apparel in the world with a value as of 2020 of $36.13 billion.