Indonesian Textile Association: It's Not True That The Government Supports Illegal Imports

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Textile Association (API) firmly denies allegations by the Association of Indonesian Filamentary Filament Manufacturers (APSyFI) which states that the cancellation of Anti-Dumping Import Duty (BMAD) by the government is ridden by a mafia suspected of involving individuals in the bureaucracy at the Ministry of Trade.

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Trade Division, Anne P. Sutanto, said that APSYfi's accusations were baseless statements, Anne even said they were a very heinous accusation, because previously the Government through the Ministry of Trade had invited several APIs and APSYFIs and finally with APINDO to study and listen to the ecosystem for the needs and capacity of supply POY and DTY as well as the dynamics of the domestic and international market.

The severity of APSYFI itself was also invited by the Ministry of Trade along with a number of other associations to listen to the government's presentation before the Ministry of Trade decided to reject BMAD.

So it's really heinous and the baseless accusations from Apsyfi. In fact, from API and APINDO have repeatedly conveyed it to Apsyfi. The invitation for collaboration and consolidation of POY and DTY capacities to be optimized by the derivative textile industry to remain competitive. And also the API's commitment to stay above POY and DTY is monitored for imports by the technical ministry, namely the Ministry of Industry for PI and Pertek," Anne told reporters Wednesday, June 25.

In addition, Anne also firmly denied APSyFI's accusation that BMAD's refusal from the Government was the same as supporting illegal imports, Anne said the association was too inconsequential, it was an irresponsible statement that was made incorrectly.

The government, through the Ministry of Industry, he said, has been trying hard to eradicate illegal import activities by issuing various regulations and legal grounds to prohibit these activities and making various policies that favor local industries in the hope that they can grow rapidly and be competitive.

"It is not true that the Ministry of Industry supports illegal imports. In fact, through siiNas, the Ministry of Industry urges all industry players to fill it properly and accordingly so that the implementation of PI and Pertek is right on target and harmonization of production and imports can still be harmonized in accordance with the principles of Pancasila economy," he said.

Anne, who is also the Head of the APINDO Trade Division, said that all the skew accusations made by APSYFI addressed to the government regarding BMAD's refusal were all inconsequential and baseless, it was a statement of carelessness that was difficult to account for, including accusations of breaking off mass employment (PHK) in the textile industry and the mass closure of the Textile and Textile Products Industry (TPT).

APSyFI kali ini menuduh sesuatu yang tidak berdasarkan mengenai pekerjakan besar-besaran dan juga industri TPT akan terutup besar-besar. Karena justru justru nyata, apabila industri super upstream yang notabene anggota APSyFI tidak berkena saing dan justru membahayakan industri TPT turunan tanpa revitalisasi mesin dan pembenahan biaya raw materialnya... bagaimana anggota APSYFI mengakukan sebaliknya? Ini jelas tidak benar, tegasnya.

In principle, the API and the Indonesian Employers' Association (APINDO) remain steadfast in their path, namely supporting all policies of the Prabowo-Gibran government in the midst of the turmoil of BMAD's rejection.

According to Anne, the government clearly has its own calculations regarding the rejection, fortunately the compensation is measured with precision, the government clearly has data that is much more accurate than Apsy, which is only good at shouting without a clear basis and data.

"In principle, API and APINDO believe that the Government has a much more accurate and detailed data regarding the BMAD policy, why not continue. And because this is something of a policy nature," he said.

Anne then asked APSYFI to be diligent in cleaning up, rather than busy criticizing the government without a basis, the association is expected to tidy up its membership data which is allegedly still messy here and there.

"Our hope is that before APSYFI accuses the relevant Ministries, it is better to manage its member data first in detail. Because the BMAD requirements are also quite concrete and specific so that Indonesian government policies should not be challenged by other countries in the WTO. That is our suggestion from APINDO. Because this actually harms Indonesia's reputation if other countries' challenges cannot be defendd with accurate data," he concluded.