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View all search resultsIndonesia threatened by import boom: Experts
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A buyer examines imported fruit at Kramat Jati market in Jakarta on November 28. (Antara/Agung Rajasa)
A
boom in imports will pose a major long-term threat for Indonesia as a consumer-market country, Nining Soesilo, the director of the University of Indonesia’s UKM Center said on Monday.
Imports to Indonesia increased by 3.27 percent to US$ 11.47 billion in October 2016 compared to the same period last year, data from the Central Statistics Agency has shown.
“If we keep selling or purchasing things from other countries like China, for instance, we will only become their market. We have to be careful about predatory pricing,” she said, referring to the act of setting prices low in an attempt to eliminate competition.
E-commerce platform Bukalapak founder and CEO Achmad Zaky shared the same concerns, citing as an example the fact that currently 60 percent of the products marketed on its online marketplace are imported. Many products such as handphones and clothes originated in China.
“This might be beneficial for Bukalapak now, but we know that this won’t be sustainable in the future,” he said.
“If we keep importing products, our people will not be not working. As a result, our per capita GDP may remain flat at US$6,000-7,000 in the next 10 years as we are not able to produce things ourselves,” he added. (win/dan)
