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Why a commodities boom is not lifting Indonesia’s economy
As investment pours into mining projects, the country’s once-mighty manufacturing sector is stagnating and shedding jobs.
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A worker arranging rolls of thread for a weaving loom at a textile factory in West Java, Indonesia.
PHOTO: AFP
A. Anantha Lakshmi and Diana Mariska in Sukoharjo
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Ms Sri Lestari left her hometown as a teenager looking for work. Instead, she found a whole new life. In 2000, the then 18-year-old travelled to the quaint town of Sukoharjo in the Central Java province, and was offered a job at Sri Rejeki Isman, one of Indonesia’s largest textile and garment manufacturers. Sritex, as the company was known, was thriving, supplying garments to global retailers such as Uniqlo, Walmart and foreign militaries.
It offered Ms Sri more than just a job; one of her colleagues became her husband, and with their combined income they were able to build a family home among the padi fields. But by 2025, the company’s fortunes had reversed. Burdened by debt, an influx of cheaper Chinese goods and stiff global competition, Sritex shut down its operations on March 1.
