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Mall, retail operators fret over stagnating occupancy following import restriction
The mall occupancy rate for 2024 is projected to hover at 80 percent, like last year, with some fearing it could drop below this.
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Market expansion: Retail electronics shop employees arrange products during the opening of Yamada Best in Summarecon Mall in Serpong, South Tangerang city, Banten, on July 11, 2023. The shop is the eighth outlet of the Japanese electronics chain in Indonesia. (Antara/Fauzan)
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usinesses are expecting to see mall occupancy rates stagnate this year, which they partly blame on the government’s import restrictions introduced last year.
Alphonzus Widjaja, chairman of the Indonesia Shopping Center Association (APPBI) told reporters on Thursday that the regulation would limit a tenant’s ability to procure imported goods for its stores, thereby limiting products on offer for customers and transactions.
The regulation in question is Trade Ministerial Regulation No. 36/2023 on import policies and tightening, which the ministry introduced last year.
“We [the association] saw that the [regulation] could be a threat [to retailers]. That’s what we’ve voiced so far, so that it would be cancelled,” Alphonzus said.
Read also: Mall tenants to maintain prices despite hike in rents
Alphonzus projected that the mall occupancy rate for 2024 would likely stagnate at last year's rate of 80 percent due to the import restriction. At worst, he expected this year’s figure could end up dropping even lower than the previous year.
Prior to the pandemic, the mall occupancy rate could be over 90 percent, he said.
