Jokowi Blocks 13,600 Imported Products on the Government's Shopping List

TheIndonesia.co - Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives I Nyoman Parta appreciated President Joko Widodo's policy of blocking tens of thousands of imported products from e-catalogs. The government through the Government Goods/Services Procurement Policy Institute (LKPP) has frozen 13,600 imported products from the government's e-catalog because there have been substitutions from within the country.

“This is a firm stance and we fully support it. I think the president has conveyed that message on several occasions, but the bureaucracy below him is still slow to respond," he said in a written statement in Jakarta, Sunday, August 28, 2022.

He said, President Jokowi firmly encouraged government spending on local products to support domestic industrialization. The member of Commission VI said that Indonesia's economic condition was growing after being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago. So, he said, awareness is needed from all bureaucracies in Indonesia to jointly move from the lower economy, namely by using domestic products.

"When the economic situation is difficult, the state budget becomes very important, to become an economic driver, including in this case (the use of domestic products)," he said.

He hopes that every procurement of goods, both small and large scale projects, is required to use domestic products (MSMEs) because this will greatly affect the economy of the lower middle class, as well as the national economy. President Jokowi's assertiveness brings fresh air to the MSME movers in the country because it can absorb labor and the economic cycle is certain to improve.

"The emergence of this assertiveness creates enthusiasm and increases production, as well as the number of workers that can be absorbed, as well as economic turnover and transactions at the grassroots," he said.

To these domestic products, the state can add tax revenue. "Thankfully, we can increase state income through taxes on MSME products that are auctioned," he said.