Nike denies reducing shoe orders
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Giant U.S. sports company Nike denies it has reduced its shoe orders from Indonesia, saying that orders this year are stable and will be similar to that of last year.
"Any statement indicating that Nike is significantly reducing orders to Indonesia is incorrect," Nike Indonesia's General Manager Jeff DuMont told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
"Nike continues to value Indonesia as an important part of our global strategy and we will continue to make efforts to support the success of Nike contract factories and promote stability for the Indonesian people employed in these factories."
He was commenting on the closure of PT Doson Indonesia due to the U.S. company's decision to cease orders from the subcontractor and a statement made by Herry Rumawatin, chairman of the Indonesian Businessmen Association's (Apindo) Tangerang branch office, that so far this year Nike had reduced its orders from its Indonesian subcontractors by about 40 percent.
PT Doson closed its business in September after Nike stopped its shoe orders from the firm.
Herry said the subcontractors had suffered financial difficulties since Nike drastically dropped orders from the companies and they had to fire up to 30 percent of their workers to survive.
"We expect the order reduction will reach up to 50 percent later this year," he said, adding that the companies had seen difficulties since last year, and was compounded by the Bali bomb attack on Oct. 12.
"In our recent meeting, several companies had also forwarded plans to dismiss workers as an inevitable efficiency step, but I have not confirmed again how many workers would be dismissed," he said, adding the figure could be as high as 30 percent of total workers at each company.
Data from the Tangerang regency's industry and trade agency shows that the seven large shoe producers that depend on orders from Nike were PT Pratama with 3,060 workers in Serpong, PT Starwin with 2,613 workers in Cikupa, PT ADI with 1,597 workers in Balaraja, PT Karet Murni with 3,015 workers in Curug, PT Nagasakti with 4,761 workers in Pasar Kemis, PT KMK Global with 9,378 workers in Cikupa and PT Hardaya Aneka Shoes Industry (HASI) in Jatiuwung with 5,600 workers.
But DuMont said that Nike was committed to maintaining orders from Indonesia. "Our commitment is demonstrated by our ongoing work with 47 contract footwear, apparel and equipment contract factory groups in Indonesia, which employ over 120,000 people. While business reality and global conditions do impact our business practices, Nike is looking forward to a positive future in Indonesia," said Jeff Dumont.
In response to the declining orders, Tangerang regent Agus Djunara had sent letters to Minister of Trade and Industry Rini Suwandi, requesting the minister take the necessary steps to resolve the problem.