Denying Sinking Textile Industry, Airlangga: Four Entering Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto (Photo: Doc. VOI)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto denied that the textile industry has sunk. He said that in the Kendal Special Economic Zone (KEK), Central Java, only four textile industries have entered.

In fact, continued Airlangga, one of the four industries included in the Kendal KEK is actually included in the Fortune 500.

"So textiles are not a sunset industry, and four are included in this industry. One of them is the Fortune 500," he said as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat YouTube, Wednesday, August 7.

Furthermore, Airlangga also said that each of these factories could employ 4,000 to 7,000 people.

"So it is still interesting to attract intensive labor in the Kendal KEK, Central Java," he said.

As previously reported, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that the growth of the national textile and textile product (TPT) industry, including ready-to-wear clothing, experienced a contraction in the second quarter of 2024.

Deputy for Balance Sheet and Statistical Analysis of BPS, Moh Edy Mahmud said the textile and apparel industry in the second quarter of 2024 contracted by 0.03 percent annually or year on year (yoy). And quarterly or quarter to quarter (qtq) also contracted by 2.63 percent.

"So, both annually and quarterly, the textile and apparel industry is experiencing a contraction," he said in a press conference, quoted on Tuesday, August 6.

The decline in the textile industry further confirms that there is pressure on the TPT industry because recently there have been more layoffs in the sector.

For information, the Ministry of Manpower recorded that the number of workers affected by layoffs in Indonesia for the period January-June 2024 was 32,064 people. Jakarta is the highest province with 7,469 workers.

After Jakarta, other provinces with the highest number of layoffs are Banten reaching 6,135 workers, West Java with 5,155 workers, Central Java with 4,275 workers, and others.