Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto has instructed the government to safeguard Indonesia’s textile industry and give it special attention as global trade tensions intensify, Chief of Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday.

Airlangga said the directive was delivered during a meeting at Hambalang, West Java, stressing that textiles are among Indonesia’s most resilient and export-oriented strategic industries, with strong potential to absorb labor.

“In last night’s meeting in Hambalang, President Prabowo emphasized the importance of maintaining the textile industry. This sector is the most open and resilient in facing trade wars,” Airlangga said at an event in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Based on government studies, Indonesia has a strong opportunity to enter the world’s top five textile-producing countries, supported by the industry’s flexibility, stable global demand, and consistently rising textile needs.

“The President requested special measures. From our studies, Indonesia has the potential to become one of the world’s top five textile players because this sector is always needed and its growth is relatively strong,” he said.

To support that goal, Prabowo has approved initial funding of about $6 billion (Rp 101 trillion) to strengthen the national textile industry’s value chain. The government is also planning to establish a dedicated state-owned enterprise to handle integrated development of the textile sector.

“The President has approved the proposal for initial funding for textile sector incentives to complete the industry’s value chain, with a requirement of around $6 billion,” Airlangga said.

Through these measures, the government aims to sharply increase Indonesia’s textile exports from about $4 billion to $40 billion over the next decade. Employment in the sector is also expected to expand significantly.

“Employment absorption is targeted to rise from around 4 million people to 6 million people,” Airlangga concluded.