JAKARTA - The performance of the national footwear industry is still overshadowed by a number of structural challenges that have the potential to hinder the growth of the sector this year. Two of them are related to labor issues (labor issues) and logistics efficiency.
The newly elected Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Partnership (Aprisindo) Anton J. Supit revealed that labor issues are the most crucial factor for the sustainability of labor-intensive industries such as footwear.
Given that the characteristics of the Indonesian employment structure are still dominated by workers with secondary education and the informal sector. This means that 60 percent of the total workforce in the sector are informal workers.
"So this labor-intensive industry is still needed. That is, especially commodities like shoes that all over the world are still spinning, people are still alive, he won't be barefoot, he needs shoes, yes," said Anton at the XI Aprisindo Congress in Jakarta, quoted Thursday, January 22.
Anton added that from the perspective of economic contribution, the footwear industry also has a significant impact on employment absorption and people's purchasing power.
With export values having reached more than 7 billion US dollars as of November 2025, the contribution of labor costs is estimated to reach tens of trillions of rupiah per year.
Even so, Aprisindo considers it necessary to equalize the perception between the government and industry players regarding employment policies, especially regarding minimum wages. According to Anton, wage policies need to be implemented in a balanced manner so as to protect workers without sacrificing the sustainability of the industry.
"We need to compare perceptions with the government first. The government should realize that when we talk about high minimum wages, this is talking about minimum wages for those who work. Those who don't work, right, so the question," he said.
He emphasized that the minimum wage should be the standard for entry-level workers, while subsequent wage increases can be carried out through a productivity-based negotiation mechanism.
Apart from the labor issue, another major challenge comes from the logistics side. The footwear industry is highly dependent on the timeliness of production and delivery (just in time), so that delays in the supply of raw materials and distribution of goods can incur significant additional costs.
Production delays often force companies to work overtime or even air freight, which is much more expensive.
In fact, he compared Indonesia's logistics conditions with competing countries such as Vietnam and China, which are considered more ready in terms of infrastructure and distribution efficiency.
Therefore, Aprisindo encourages the government to carry out regulatory and governance improvements, including simplifying licensing processes such as amdal, to reduce operational barriers in the field.
"If it's like in Vietnam, China is really just in time. Their logistics are smooth. In Vietnam, it's twice as efficient. Automatically, this logistics, right, we pay more expensive," he said.
Amid these various challenges, the performance of the national footwear industry exports throughout 2025 still shows a positive trend. As of November 2025, export value was recorded at US$ 7.2 billion, growing by around 13.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
The United States (US) is still the main market share, with a contribution of around 30 percent. Despite facing a reciprocal tariff of 19 percent per August 2025, footwear exports to Uncle Sam's country still recorded an increase of 7.73 percent or the equivalent of 2.54 billion US dollars.
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