Antara News·Indonesia·Monday, October 5, 2026 at 06:41 AM UTC

Import curbs on domestically made goods to spur industry growth: Kadin

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Ahmad Muzdaffar, Resinta Sulistiyandari

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) stated that selective import restrictions on products already manufactured domestically could generate greater opportunities for local industries and enhance their competitiveness.

Kadin Deputy Chairman for Industry Saleh Husin emphasized that import controls should be accompanied by efforts to remove investment barriers, allowing domestic production capacity to expand and meet market demand.

In a statement on Monday, Husin conveyed that the high volume of imported products, especially those already produced domestically, could hamper efforts to strengthen the resilience of national industries.

Therefore, he said, protection measures should be tailored to the conditions of each industrial sector.

"Protection of domestic industry needs to be strengthened, but it must be measured, selective, and data-based. The focus of protection should be on products that domestic industries are already capable of producing and supplying in sufficient quality and quantity," he continued.

Husin stated that competition between domestic and imported products in the same market should be a government concern. He said domestic industries should be given sufficient room to grow and compete with foreign products.

However, he stressed that import needs vary across industries and should not be treated uniformly. Several manufacturing sectors still depend on imported raw materials and capital goods because domestic suppliers are not yet able to meet all their requirements.

"Therefore, import regulations must be continuously evaluated and, if necessary, selectively strengthened, especially to prevent unfair competition without hindering imports of raw materials, capital goods, and products that cannot be met domestically," he added.

Furthermore, he mentioned import controls should be part of a broader effort to strengthen national production capacity.

Husin said import restrictions alone would be insufficient without increased industrial capacity and greater certainty for businesses.

He added that addressing investment barriers is an integral part of industrial protection. Simplified licensing, business certainty, and support for expanding production capacity are needed to encourage businesses to increase investment in Indonesia.

According to him, the government has several instruments to maintain the resilience of the national industry which must be used based on the conditions and characteristics of each sector to ensure protection policies do not focus solely on import restrictions.

"The instruments can include import controls, increasing the Domestic Component Level (TKDN), safeguards, and incentives, but their implementation must be tailored to the product's characteristics," he pointed out.

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