Hippindo Committed To Strengthening Domestic Retail Sector Trading

Chairman of Hippindo Budihardjo Iduansjah. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Association and Tenants of the Indonesian Shopping Center (Hippindo) are committed to strengthening the trade in the domestic retail sector to deal with global uncertainty.

"We see that globally is not doing well. We hope that we will focus on securing domestic trade," said Hippindo Chairman Budihardjo Iduansjah during the Inauguration of Hippindo Management for the period 2024-2026 in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Friday 19 April.

Budihardjo said domestic trade would be the main target of the retail business association in the three years of the new management period.

He said the retail sector contributed 52 percent of revenue for Indonesia's economic growth. This means that the retail sector is one of the backbones of the national economy.

With a member of around 80 thousand retailers, Budihardjo said Hippindo also has a commitment to help the government, including in efforts to control inflation.

To support the focus on strengthening domestic trade, Hippindo initiated the "Bulanja in Indonesia Aja" movement which is synergized with the "Buy for Local Made" program under the auspices of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

Budihardjo explained that the movement is expected to help increase sales of domestic trading products or turnover.

"The focus of Hippindo is that all members and non-members in the country must have increased sales. Because domestic sales solutions are solutions for us to survive," he said.

The "Business in Indonesia Aja" movement is believed to be able to grow investment through the opening of factories to meet the domestic trade sector and reduce inflation.

Hippindo views the need for vendors from abroad to be able to make factories in Indonesia, so that they can produce various types of goods to support the domestic market and meet domestic and export needs.

"The retail supply chain must be maintained because it has a very important role for the smooth running of domestic trading activities. The retail supply chain includes processes from production to final consumers, involving various stages such as the procurement of raw materials, production, distribution, storage, and sales," said Budihardjo.

According to Hippindo, the "Business in Indonesia Aja" movement can also provide opportunities and promotions for Indonesian-made products to host domestically. Furthermore, SMEs can expand their local brands abroad through the "Indonesian Brands Go Global" program.

In terms of tourism, the movement is expected to help bring in foreign tourists. According to Hippindo, global brands that have their own market segmentation can be supported so that tourists not only enjoy nature tourism and culinary but also shopping tourism.

So far, said Budihardjo, there have been many great sales events or discount parties in various cities in Indonesia but stand alone. With the "Business in Indonesia Aja", it is hoped that this movement can become a big umbrella for all great sales events in Indonesia.

"Currently, all of these events have no umbrella, such as the Jakarta Great Sale, Bandung Great Sale, Solo Great Sale, all cities make great sales. But there is no umbrella. We need an umbrella from the government," said Budihardjo.