Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto has instructed ministers to simplify the licensing process for investors in the textile and textile products sector given its significant contribution to national economic growth.
This was conveyed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto after a meeting with the Cabinet and the National Economic Council (DEN) in Jakarta on Wednesday.
"There is a need for improvements in licensing because there are still investors who want to enter the textile and textile product sector," he told the press at the Presidential Office.
He said that the textiles and garment sectors drive Indonesia's economy, with export values exceeding US$2 billion per year, and employ nearly four million people.
According to Hartarto, the government believes the textile sector requires deregulation to ease licensing for investors.
"We must continue to implement deregulation and streamline bureaucracy, including easing licensing related to environmental impact analysis," he said. "Therefore, a task force is needed to accelerate this process."
During the meeting, President Prabowo also highlighted issues related to illegal textile imports and the availability of raw materials, he informed.
The government is also responding to anti-dumping measures—tariffs or restrictions designed to prevent unfairly low-priced imports—to ensure that Indonesian textile products remain competitive in international markets.
"Textiles and textile products are highly competitive goods. We are competing with Thailand and Vietnam, and even Bangladesh," Hartarto said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Industry revealed that investment in Indonesia's textile sector in 2024 had increased significantly by 31.1 percent to Rp39.21 trillion (approximately US$2.7 billion) compared to the previous year.
Director of the Textile, Leather, and Footwear Industry at the ministry Rizky Aditya Wijaya said that this increase reflects investor confidence in the prospects of the country's textile industry.(*)
