Inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto has instructed the Ministry of Cooperatives and the Ministry of SMEsto prepare local product alternatives for thrift clothing sellers, following the government’s continued enforcement of the ban on used clothing imports. 

The directive aims to protect small traders who rely on secondhand apparel sales.

“President Prabowo emphasized that enforcement must go hand in hand with substitution,” said Minister of SMEs Maman Abdurrahman after a limited meeting at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday (4/11/2025). “We can’t just shut them down and leave them with nothing to sell.”

He said the government will support thrift sellers to shift toward domestically made fashion products from local SMEs, particularly from the creative and textile sectors. He noted that local brands, such as Bandung’s independent clothing lines, offer competitive quality and style.

The policy, the minister added, seeks to sustain Indonesia’s textile industry while keeping micro traders economically active through access to new local markets.

(mg/inp/pr/rs)