The weakening of the rupiah against the US dollar (USD) is affecting business activities in Indonesia especially the Textile and Textile Products (TPT) industry.
According to the Secretary General of Indonesian Filament and Fiber Films Distribution Association (APSyFI) Redma, “it is getting worse after the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) 64 years 2017 which caused the imports to increase by 19.6 percent compared to the exports performance in the first quarter of 2018. "The trade balance is still a surplus of USD1, 29 billion, but down compared with the same period the previous year," he further said.
Furthermore, after controlling the import of sales, the textile industry grew by 30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. However, since Permendag 64/2017 took effect in the second quarter of 2018, demand from the domestic market was replaced by imported products Bonded Logistics Center (PLB).
"If Small Medium Enterprises (IKM) need raw materials, today we will see IKM products that are flooding the market, not imported products," he stated demanding Permendag 64/2017 to be revoked and returned to Permendag 85 / 2016 where the import of raw materials is regulated based on industry needs.
