Clothing Production in Indonesia: A Divided Industry

Clothing manufacture continues to be an important export for Indonesia, despite competition from China and other regional centres. Significant changes in Indonesia’s clothing exports since the 1990s demonstrate the importance of external factors in the changing nature of the industry. However, there are many aspects of the industry that are not revealed in official statistics, including the importance of smuggling and other unofficial aspects of production and consumption. Internal factors in the industry are also important for understanding how it has changed and survived. These include lack of government planning, and the divided nature of the industry, with low-end large-scale production in West Java, and niche manufacturing and marketing in Bali.