Summary
The National Public Procurement Agency (LKPP) has removed 13,600 imported products from the e-procurement catalog. LKPP head Abdullah Azwar Anas argued that they were denied because similar, local products are available. He claimed that he only followed President Joko Widodo’s instructions.
According to Azwar, blocking imported products affirms the ease of accessing local products and goods made by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in e-catalogs and e-procurement. The government, he said, also shortened the broadcasting chain of local products and MSMEs in e-catalogs to encourage state institutions to use them. “In the past, there were eight processes, and now, there are only two processes. Therefore, in the past, there were only 52,000 products, now there are 600,000 products,” Azwar Anas said on Thursday.