Regarding The Boycott Of Israel's Pro-Israel Products Is Not Over Yet, Hippindo: Loses The Nation To Its Own

Chairman of Hippindo Budihardjo Iduansjah. (Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Association of Indonesian Shopping Center Retailers and Tenants (Hippindo) hopes that the boycott of pro-Israel products will end soon.

Chairman of Hippindo Budihardjo Iduansjah said the boycott would only harm the domestic industry because all foreign brands were produced using local raw materials.

"There is no more boycott, it is detrimental to our own nation. Whether it is a foreign brand if it is made in Indonesia, it becomes a government program and we must support it. (The factory) Coca-Cola has been made in Bekasi, KFC, all livestock is here," said Budi at the office of the Kemenkop UKM, Jakarta, Tuesday, March 5.

Budi said that currently the impact of the boycott of pro-Israel products is starting to decline. Given, some product sales have started to stabilize.

He regretted that the boycott was still continuing considering that many parties were affected by the action.

"We regret that the business world cannot, especially in Indonesia, there are many regulations that have been invested. So, sorry for the livestock and others that have been affected," he said.

The boycott has harmed the sustainability of the business industry in Indonesia.

Most recently, PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk (UNVR) revealed that the impact of boycotts carried out on Israeli-affiliated products or companies also affected the company's performance.

UNVR President Director Benjie Yap said that the company's domestic sales fell due to a boycott in the fourth quarter of 2023.

"We were affected by negative consumer sentiment in domestic sales. In mid-November and December 2023, the biggest impact was felt," he said in an online Performance Exposure, Wednesday, February 7.

Throughout 2023, Unilever recorded a decrease in net profit of IDR 4.8 trillion, down 10.4 percent compared to the previous year of IDR 5.3 trillion.

Meanwhile, the company's net sales decreased by 6.32 percent to IDR 38.61 trillion in 2023, compared to IDR 41.21 trillion in the previous year.

To anticipate this impact, Benjie said, his party had carried out several strategies to restore performance to its original state. One of them is by dismissing rumors that are not true and showing halal certificates in their products.

"With the intervention, we started recovery since January 2024 and the first week until the fourth trend has increased and has returned to the baseline," he said.