Protect MSMEs, Menkop UKM Rejects Thrifting Imports

Menkop UKM Teten Masduki (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Teten Masduki refuses to buy and sell imported used clothes (thriphing). This is to protect the textile industry belonging to MSME actors.

"Our article rejects used clothes very strongly and we want to protect our MSME products, especially in the textile sector and shoe textile products, which are now many MSME actors," he said, quoting Antara, Monday, March 13.

Minister Teten assessed that the import of used and illegal textile products was not in line with the Government's efforts to encourage the consumption of local products through the Proud National Movement Made in Indonesia.

"The smuggling of used goods, including textile products, in my opinion, is not very in line with the Proud Made in Indonesia movement, which aims to invite people to love consuming the work of the nation itself and which is also traded illegally," he said.

Through the BBI National Movement, he continued, the government has a policy to spend 40 percent of MSME products in the procurement of goods. From this policy alone, BPS predicts that there will be national economic growth of 1.85 percent and create two million jobs without new investments. If household consumption does the same, he believes that national economic growth will increase.

Apart from being inconsistent with the movement to love domestic products, he said the trend of import Thrifting would also erode jobs because the textile industry is a labor-intensive industry involving many workers.

Teten even asked customs to strictly increase supervision regarding the entry of illegal used imported clothing that had been prohibited in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 40 of 2022 concerning Amendments to Regulation of the Minister of Trade Number 18 of 2021 concerning Prohibited Exports and Goods Prohibited from Imports.

"Actually, it is not difficult because we have investigated it, apart from social media (social media), it is in Pasar Senen, Gedebage, and Pasar Baru. From there, it is easier to identify who the importer is," he said.