UMKM Minister highlights suspected cargo company involvement in illegal imports
The root cause of UMKM problems in Indonesia is no longer a matter of financing access, but rather an unhealthy domestic market, according to Jakarta officials.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (UMKM) Maman Abdurrahman has highlighted suspected involvement by cargo companies in illegal import practices that are damaging small and medium business operators.
“This troublemaker is allegedly a cargo company working with corrupt Customs officials. So the transactions are believed to involve a cargo company,” said Maman during a media discussion in Jakarta on Friday (27 February).
The alleged practice was previously confirmed through a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) dawn raid against PT BC in February 2026. The freight forwarding company is suspected of regularly remitting an “allocation” of Rp7 billion per month to Customs officials so that imported goods pass inspection without scrutiny, including counterfeit goods (KW) and products that do not meet Indonesian National Standards (SNI).
In that dawn raid, the KPK seized cash exceeding Rp40 billion and 5.3 kilograms of gold, and designated several Customs officials and company executives as suspects.
“The transactions conducted by cargo companies with corrupt officials are clearly visible every day. If it were just one company, it would seem impossible. There must be more, and the entry points are not only at Tanjung Priok, but also in Semarang, Surabaya and other ports,” said Maman.
He emphasised that the root problem facing UMKMs in Indonesia is no longer financing access, but rather an unhealthy domestic market.
He described the current domestic market conditions as “dirty”, because it is filled with cheap imported goods, including those entering illegally.
According to him, the proliferation of illegal imports means that all government efforts to strengthen UMKM capacity have not been running optimally.
Support through the People’s Business Credit (KUR) programme, training programmes and production facilitation are considered less effective because UMKM products struggle to compete in a market already flooded with imported goods.
He also revealed significant discrepancies between China’s export data to Indonesia and Indonesia’s imports from China, particularly in textiles, ready-made clothing and footwear commodities.
Based on UN Trade 2025 data processed by the UMKM Ministry, China’s export values are recorded as significantly higher than Indonesia’s imports.
In the hijab commodity (HS 6214) alone, for instance, between 2013 and 2024, China’s export values have always exceeded Indonesia’s imports.
In 2024, exports of headscarves and shawls from China were recorded at approximately 9 million US dollars, whilst Indonesia’s imports totalled only 0.6 million US dollars.