VOINews, Jakarta - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) has said that it is not in a position to support or reject the boycott of products associated with Israel, instead, it is focusing on boosting the competitiveness of domestic industries.
As a national industrial coach, the ministry is focusing on tightening the flow of imported goods to support domestic market development, acting secretary general of the Ministry of Industry, Putu Juli Ardika, said in a statement released by the ministry in Jakarta on Thursday.
"The Ministry of Industry is responsible for implementing policies that promote industry productivity and competitiveness. Our current focus is on steps to restrict the flow of imported goods to encourage the development of the domestic market," Ardika emphasized.
He noted that the government has stepped up efforts to protect the domestic industry from the entry of imported items by tightening import rules and reforming the domestic import legislation.
The tightening of the flow of imported products is expected to stoke an increase in the use of domestic products that also have superior quality.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has said that the measure to tighten imports is included in the revised Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 25 of 2022.
The revision concerns import policy and regulation and amends import trade regulations from border to border for eight commodities: bags, electronics, traditional medicines and health supplements, cosmetics, and other ready-made textiles.
The government has also continued to enhance domestic product consumption through the Domestic Product Improvement Program (P3DN), both through government spending via state and regional budgets and at the individual level.
In the Business Matching Phase V 2023 last March, President Joko Widodo reminded all agencies that use state and regional budgets to buy local products that have been widely entered in e-catalogs. (Antaranews)