Trade Minister: Indonesia's Textile Ecosystem is Competitive Domestically and Internationally

Jakarta - Trade Minister Budi Santoso stated that Indonesia’s textile ecosystem is highly complete, thus possessing competitiveness in both the domestic and international markets. “If we look at the textile ecosystem, textile products are very good. We have abundant raw materials. I think our textile ecosystem is the most complete, from raw materials, then the factories, distribution, designers, SMEs—we have it all and it can run well,” said the Trade Minister in Jakarta on Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines of the Indo Intertex 2026 event at the Jakarta International Expo, Budi mentioned that Indonesia’s exports of textiles and textile products (TPT) in 2025 showed positive annual growth of 3.55 per cent, generating an export value of $12.08 billion and a surplus of $3.45 billion. “So, besides domestic potential, exports are quite good. The quality is quite good. If the quality is good and competitive, we can control imports,” said Budi. Furthermore, the man familiarly called Busan assessed that with high competitiveness, Indonesian textile products are expected to meet domestic needs while competing with textile products in the global market. “(Besides) to fill the domestic market so that not many imported products enter, and also for (Indonesian products) to enter the export market. Why? Because we have many trade agreements,” said the Trade Minister. Meanwhile, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) at the beginning of this month recorded Indonesia’s trade balance with the United States for January-February 2026 at $3.53 billion, higher than the same period last year which was $2.63 billion. The Uncle Sam country is also the largest contributor to Indonesia’s surplus of $43.53 billion, with main export products being electronics, textiles, and footwear. He also acknowledged that the current geopolitical situation poses challenges and impacts various industrial sectors, including textiles. “Globally, everyone is affected now by the war in the Middle East. But from what I see, I asked (business players) directly earlier, friends are actually able to compete. They can compete with foreign products because our ecosystem is more complete than other countries,” explained Busan.