Retail Is Affected By Boycotts Of Products Related To Israel, Entrepreneurs Ask The Government To Intervene

General Chairperson (Ketum) Aprindo Roy Nicholas Mandey (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Retail Entrepreneurs Association (Aprindo) has asked the government to step in to overcome the boycott of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products that are suspected to be pro-Israel.

It is known, as many as 20 percent of products sold in modern retail fall into the FMCG product category and contribute up to 80 percent of income. Meanwhile, as many as 80 percent are products outside the FMCG category which contribute to 20 percent of retail revenue.

"The government must be present, please, in reading and looking at the situation. It means that there need to be relevant and adaptive steps that the government must take in reading this situation," said Aprindo General Chair (Ketum) Roy Nicholas Mandey at a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday, November 15.

Roy said, with this, it will have a prolonged impact, one of which is the possibility of termination of employment (PHK) as an efficiency effort amid declining demand.

"Don't stay silent, don't just signal, because there are consumer rights here, there is productivity there, which employs our friends as well," he said.

He suggested that the government immediately mobilize its humanitarian mission by inviting the public to consumers to help.

"You can imagine that once the producer is eroded or the supplier, the growth of divestment will definitely not happen, and even business actors do not want to do this, namely reducing labor or layoffs," said Roy.

"So, it's a very direct relationship. Meanwhile, the workforce grows every year by about 2-3 percent, what will be there can be reduced, especially those who are just about to enter," he added.

Even so, Roy emphasized that his party still supports the government to encourage humanitarian action and support peace in Palestine. The government can create humanitarian actions involving the Indonesian people to help Palestinians, instead of allowing the boycott of pro-Israel products to expand and last for a long time.

"There needs to be relevant and adaptive steps taken by the government. What is the right step for a peace mission that involves the community without having to eliminate consumer rights," he concluded.