“Indonesia is ranked sixth in the world’s footwear exporters, with a market share of 3.99 percent,” Director General of the Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Textile Industry (IKFT) at the ministry Taufiek Bawazier noted in a statement released on Thursday.
“This shows that our domestic footwear products have strong competitiveness and high confidence in the global market,” he added.
Therefore, his party is committed to supporting the business climate and expanding the export market of the footwear industry by strengthening trade agreements, encouraging mutual recognition agreements on certification, and expanding market access to non-traditional areas.
“We hope our footwear industry will be more competitive and able to expand to South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, and continue to contribute to job creation, increased exports, and inclusive economic growth,” Bawazier said.
In addition, based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the national footwear industry grew by an impressive 6.95 percent in the first quarter of 2025.
“The data also shows that until August 2024, the leather and footwear industry sector has absorbed 961 thousand workers, an increase of 3 percent compared to the previous year,” he informed.
“This confirms the position of this industry as a strategic labor-intensive industry that supports national social and economic stability,” he added.
The achievement follows investments worth Rp8 trillion (US$477 million) by 12 large-scale companies in the footwear sector in January–May 2025, he informed.
The investments helped boost shoe production capacity to 64.6 million pairs and footwear component output to 214.6 million pairs, and led to the absorption of more than 80 thousand workers, he said.
To support the domestic footwear industry, Bawazier participated in the release of footwear exports by PT Selalu Cinta Indonesia (SCI) from Salatiga, Central Java, on Thursday.
He lauded PT SCI, as a manufacturer of footwear for Nike, for exporting 124,117 pairs of shoes worth US$2 million to the Indian market in May.
“By September 2025, the export is targeted to reach 227,654 pairs worth US$3.4 million,” Bawazier said.
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Besides reflecting commercial success, the achievement has also earned Indonesia a place in the global value chain of the footwear industry.
However, Bawazier did not deny challenges in exports to India, especially related to the quality control orders (QCO) policy implemented by the Indian government in July 2024.
The policy requires footwear products entering the Indian market to obtain Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification, he explained.
“The biggest obstacle is not the quality of our products, but the limited auditor resources from BIS, which have hampered the audit process,” he said.
The Indonesian government has raised the issue at the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) forum as a specific trade concern (STC).
The government is also continuing to demand that QCO be made more realistic and open to cooperation with credible global certification institutions.
“We have carried out various diplomatic and technical efforts. Today, we are witnessing that the hard work has paid off. Nike Indonesia has succeeded in penetrating the Indian market, including through the real contribution of PT Selalu Cinta Indonesia,” Bawazier said.
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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar F, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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