Minister of MSME Soroti Alleged Involvement of Cargo Companies in Illegal Import Practices

Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) Maman Abdurrahman. (Photo: Dok, Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) Maman Abdurrahman highlighted the alleged involvement of cargo companies in illegal import practices that harmed small and medium business actors.

"This troublemaker is suspected of being a cargo company that plays with individuals at the Customs. So the transaction is suspected of being a cargo company," said Maman in a media discussion in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Saturday, February 28.

The case of the alleged practice was previously proven through the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) hand-in-hand operation (OTT) against PT BC in February 2026.

The freight forwarding company is suspected of routinely depositing "stocks" of Rp7 billion per month to customs officials so that imported goods pass without inspection, including counterfeit goods (KW) and products that do not meet SNI.

In the OTT, the KPK seized more than Rp40 billion in cash and 5.3 kilograms of gold, and named a number of Customs officials and company executives as suspects.

"The transactions carried out by the cargo company with the officials are clearly visible every day. If only one company, it seems impossible. There must be more, and the entrance is not only in Tanjung Priok, but also in Semarang, Surabaya and other ports," said Maman.

He emphasized that the root of the problem of MSMEs in Indonesia is no longer about access to financing, but rather an unhealthy domestic market.

He said the current domestic market condition was "dirty", because it was filled with cheap imported goods, including those that entered illegally.

According to him, the prevalence of illegal imports makes all efforts to increase the capacity of MSMEs that have been carried out by the government not optimal.

Support for financing through the People's Business Credit (KUR), training programs, and production facilitation is considered less effective because UMKM products have difficulty competing in a market that is already flooded with imported goods.

He also revealed significant differences between Chinese export data to Indonesia and Indonesian imports from China, especially in textile, garment and footwear commodities.

Based on UNTrade 2025 data processed by the Ministry of MSME, China's export value was recorded as much higher than Indonesia's imports.

On the hijab commodity (HS 6214) alone, for example, since 2013-2024 China's export value has always been higher than Indonesia's imports.

In 2024, exports of hijabs and scarves from China were recorded at around 9 million US dollars, while Indonesian imports were only 0.6 million US dollars.