TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo strongly urges the government’s procurement of tools and services to focus more on domestic industries after he was made aware of the number of gardening hoes that are still being imported from foreign lands.

“There are thousands, hundreds of thousands of gardening hoes that are imported,” said Jokowi in the national coordination meeting on government’s 2019 goods and services procurement at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) today.

“Is a country with a large industry as us that have developed into the right direction still have to import gardening hoes?” the president asked in the event.

Despite the affordable price of imported tools, Jokowi pushed for the government to prioritize the domestic industry as it would help sustain the industry and create job opportunities.

He also urged the head of the Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Head to establish a procurement design of goods and services that prioritizes local products.

‘Please design it, the example I gave is just one among thousands of other items that are still imported. This is a large benefit for the country we are importing it from,” said President Jokowi.

AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI