Textile Industry Still Contracting Until September 2024, Secretary General Of The Ministry Of Industry: This Is A Very Sensitive Sector

Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry Eko S. A. Cahyanto. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian textile and textile product (TPT) industry has not fully recovered.

Although the industrial confidence index (IKI) shows an expansive trend in September 2024 with numbers above level 50, in reality the TPT sector is still contracting today.

Not only that, the wave of Termination of Work Relations (PHK) in the TPT sector has continued until now.

Based on VOI records, Executive Director of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Danang Girindrawardana said the number of employees who had been laid off for the past three years was almost 200,000, and in the past month nearly 30,000 people were dismissed.

Responding to this, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Eko Cahyanto said that the TPT industry is one of the very sensitive sub-sectors. Especially since the enactment of Permendag Number 8 of 2024.

"The number of workers in the industrial sector, right, is very large and these sectors are very sensitive regarding purchasing power or the global market," said Eko when met by reporters after the Industrial Strengthening agenda through Technology Optimization in Jakarta, Tuesday, October 1.

Eko mengklaim, saat ini kondisi pasar global juga sedang tidak baik-baik saja.

Therefore, he said, people's purchasing power is not the main factor in the rampant layoffs in the TPT industry.

"If the market conditions will certainly affect because the labor-intensive sector is usually very sensitive. With this situation, it is not a matter of people's purchasing power, but globally. Yes, there are sectors that are sensitive to the situation," he said.

When asked further about whether the condition of the Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) of Indonesian manufacturing could be expansionary or not until the end of this year, Eko could not provide further information.

"We will see in the next few weeks," he added.