Jakarta. Jakarta governor hopeful Pramono Anung promised to set aside up to Rp 300 billion (approximately $19.1 million) in funding for the city’s small businesses with a portion of the money going to revive the dying textile market Tanah Abang should he win the election. 

Pramono made the campaign promise when facing his rivals Ridwan Kamil and Dharma Pongrekun in the second gubernatorial election debate over the weekend. The televised debate centered on Jakarta’s economy which eventually led to the candidates revealing their plans for Tanah Abang. Countless customers used to swarm Tanah Abang which even earned the nickname as Southeast Asia’s largest textile market. But that was all in the past as the market is now far from buzzing. The market is now attracting far fewer customers, thus putting many of Tanah Abang’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) out of business.  

During the debate, Pramono blamed Tanah Abang’s weakening business activity on the rise of online shopping. According to Pramono, MSMEs need financial support to compete with the cheaper products advertised online. 

“I have visited Tanah Abang and listened to the sellers’ complaints in person. The main problem is not the quality [of the goods]. But it is that these sellers have to compete with the cheaper goods sold online,” Pramono said that evening. 

"So we will set aside Rp 300 billion to fund the MSMEs," he added.

Pramono promised to make sure that the women-owned enterprises would be able to access the funding easily. The ex-cabinet secretary also underlined that “transparent and fair subsidies” were also crucial to improve the quality of the MSMEs’ goods so they can even compete on the global market. This includes training for MSMEs to improve their packaging. If elected, Pramono intends to ramp up promotional campaigns for Tanah Abang.

“Online and offline sellers need to compete fairly. We will make sure that businesses can still do business online, but we will give special attention to those in Tanah Abang. But the biggest problems that we have to address here is that we need to help with promotion, capital, ease of entry and, more importantly, to revive the spirit of shopping at Tanah Abang as the number one international [textile] wholesale center in Southeast Asia,” Pramono said.

Over 8 million Jakartans will vote for their next governor on Nov. 27. Pramono has paired with Rano Karno as his vice governor candidate for the election. Rano first gained massive popularity for playing Doel in the popular series “Si Doel Anak Betawi” before deciding to become a politician.