In late August to early September, a number of Indonesian fashion designers and textile industry representatives attended the BRICS+ Fashion Summit and Moscow Fashion Week in Moscow, Russia. From these two international forums, they returned with optimism about expanding Indonesia’s textile market. However, for that dream to become a reality, strong government support is the key.
BRICS currently consists of 11 countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran. The BRICS+ Fashion Summit brings together representatives from around 100 countries to promote emerging fashion markets. From this forum, there is growing confidence that BRICS holds huge potential, given that its markets encompass nearly 60% of the world’s population.
Liliek Setiawan, Vice Chair of the Indonesian Textile Association for Central Java, who was present at the event, noted that Russia is one of the most promising markets to explore. So far, one of Russia's largest import categories in manufacturing is clothing and footwear. With its four-season climate, the Russian market demands a variety of apparel products, especially footwear suited to changing weather. Unfortunately, this opportunity has not yet been fully tapped by Indonesia's textile industry.
Furthermore, Liliek emphasized the importance of developing textile products made from sustainable materials. Upper-middle-class consumers in Russia highly value products made from natural fibers—unlike Indonesian consumers, who generally still pay little attention to this aspect. Yet, Indonesia has great potential with a variety of plants that can be processed into fiber, such as bamboo, banana, and pineapple. Unfortunately, development in this area remains limited due to various challenges, including high initial costs and low domestic consumer awareness.
According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia’s ready-made garment exports are still dominated by the United States, with an export value of USD 3.89 billion in 2024, accounting for around 54.9% of total exports. Other main destinations include Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Russia has yet to enter the top 10 export destinations, leaving significant room for expansion.
However, the biggest challenge lies in the current state of the national textile industry, which is on the defensive due to an influx of imported products. Lukman Hakim, Chair of the Indonesian Economic Scholars Association (ISEI) in Surakarta, stressed that Indonesia’s textile industry will struggle to expand without government support. He compared it to China and India, which have aggressively penetrated markets thanks to strong coordination and support from their governments.
Lukman even proposed that the government establish a dedicated ministry for the clothing sector, noting that food and housing already have their own specialized agencies. According to him, without serious attention to clothing security, the domestic textile industry will become increasingly vulnerable.
With the vast opportunities offered by global markets, especially in BRICS countries, Indonesia has the potential to become a major player in the global textile industry. However, this can only be achieved through real synergy between business players and the government—to strengthen competitiveness and drive expansion into new markets.
Source : indotextilemagazine.com