VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): Indonesia's Ministry of Industry would immediately enforce controls against the illegal imports of thrift (used) shoes, according to acting Director General of Chemical, Pharmacy, and Textile Industry (IKFT) at the ministry Ignatius Warsito.

Warsito said that the control enforcement on illegally imported thrift shoes is in line with illegal imports of clothes in general, as stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Trade.

"It is in accordance with the prohibition on thrift clothes import regulated by the Ministry of Trade," he said in a press release on the industry confidence index (IKI) of March 2023 issued in Jakarta on Friday.

“This is being said with a reference to what is being implemented on thrift clothes on the field. Hence, I believe that the thrift shoes will be treated equally,” he added.

Warsito said he is confident that the thrift clothes control enforcement will benefit the domestic industry.

He further said many young entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the ban on imported thrift clothes by producing very competitive domestic products, both in terms of design and quality.

"However, we are still striving to catch up with the thrift clothes in terms of pricing," he added,

Warsito further noted that the domestic shoe market has also grown in a strong manner. Moreover, Indonesia ranks fourth in the world with regard to the footwear industry.

In fact, the impact of thrift shoes on the domestic industry is insignificant as their industry is export-oriented.

"Domestically, we have our own market with which the thrift shoes cannot intervene. Our small-medium industry (IKM) has also produced numerous good shoes," he affirmed.

Warsito concluded by stating that Kemenperin will continue to support the Intensification of Domestic Product Utilization (P3DN) program to promote the spirit of love for domestic products in order to suppress the imported thrift shoes market. (antaranews)