Indonesia’s textile and textile product exports grew three per cent from January to February this year. The country’s clothing and textiles are exported to mainly the United States, Japan, Turkey, China, and Germany. There is high demand for Indonesian batik cloth and other traditional fabrics. Indonesia is one of the largest textile and apparel producers in the Asean region. The industry employs approximately 17 per cent of the country’s workforce and contributes significantly to the country’s economy.

Textile manufacturers are looking at Middle Eastern countries as potential export destinations. However, domestic textile products have been losing their foothold in Indonesian market over the past five years. Imported products dominate 70 per cent of the domestic textile market.

Plans are on to curb imports of textile and textile products to protect the domestic industry and encourage development of upstream textile industry. The aim is to make Indonesia competitive in the international market with other Asian major textile makers such as India, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Another problem is that most of the country’s textile factories especially weaving and knitting sector still use old machines, which are no longer efficient.