Jakarta, Sept 27 (Antara) - Indonesia is rich handicraft products and needs to unite and improve its artisans' quality so that their products could compete and win in the global market.
The variety and richness of Indonesia's handicraft products are being exhibited at the Kriyanusa Exhibition 2017, which will be held for five days in Jakarta.
The exhibition, which is held from Sept 27 to Oct 1, is themed "Enhancing Creativity of Indonesia's Young Craft Entrepreneurs."
Chairperson of the National Crafts Council (Dekranas), Mufidah Jusuf Kalla, stated that the improvement in quality of human resources is one effort to increase the competitiveness of handicraft products.
"Efforts to improve the competitiveness of craft products in Indonesia, through the improvement of creativity, still needs to be maintained," Mufidah noted in a speech at the opening of Craft Nusantara Exhibition (Kriyanusa) at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Senayan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Indonesian handicraft products can compete in foreign countries, but the competition in the global market, especially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market, would be tougher.
"In the global market, Indonesian craft products will have to compete with similar products from Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam, whose products are very advanced," Mufidah, who is also the wife of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, said.
Therefore, the creativity of artisans must be continuously improved, and one of the ways to do it is by increasing human resource capability in various fields, such as technology, production, design, financing facility, and exhibition facility.
The participants of Kriyanusa 2017 exhibition have reached 381 booths, which includes the National Council of Local Handicrafts (Dekranasda), throughout Indonesia. The Dekranasda has facilitated craftsmen in their respective regions, a number of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), ministries, and Creative Economy Institutions. The creative economy institutions facilitated their partners and craftsmen who were already independent and were able to participate in the exhibition.
The handicraft products featured at the annual exhibition included handicraft products that have been grouped by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) based on raw materials, namely clay ceramics, clusters of natural fibers, textile or cloth clusters, timber groups, rock groups, metal clusters, natural material groups, and processed groups of natural materials.
"We hope that the exhibition can run smoothly and obtain maximum results, so that the goal of the Dekranas in advancing and prospering crafters could be achieved," she remarked.
Mufidah added that Dekranas continues to unite with Dekranasda across Indonesia and various stakeholders to improve the competitiveness of Indonesian handicraft products in the global arena.
The synergy program has also been discussed at the National Working Meeting of Dekranas and Dekranasda provinces, districts, and municipalities throughout Indonesia on Sept 26. All the heads of the Dekranasda across the country were present.
Kriyanusa 2017 is an icon of craft exhibition held by Dekranas, which is a non-profit organization that brings together lovers as well as art enthusiasts to embellish and develop the handicraft and business products and strive to improve the lives of business people, who are partly small and medium business groups.
Since its establishment on March 3, 1980, it has become one of the innovators in the handicraft industry. They have played a role of being a government partner in fostering and developing traditions and cultural heritage in making the crafts more competent in the archipelago.
In the meantime, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called for the handicraftsmen or small businesses (SMEs) and handicraft companies to join forces, in order for their products to penetrate the international market.
"To enter the global markets, handicraftsmen should consolidate in a combination of entrepreneurship, small companies, and SME groups, so that their business scale would be large and the cost of their business would be low," Jokowi stated after observing a number of stands at the Kriyanusa 2017 exhibition.
On the occasion, the president also suggested that crafters must utilize social media to the maximum to market their handicraft products. "(Internet is) already (made available), and it is now ready. There may still be slow connections, but it has been affordable because there is a big leap from offline to online," he explained.
According to Jokowi, the craft products can be easily marketed through any media if the quality, packaging, and color are good, and if it follows the latest trends. The President also asked for a modernization of handicraft industry from upstream to downstream so that handicraft products can develop rapidly.
"I have called for a modernization of the handicraft industry from upstream to downstream, so that Indonesian handicraft products can be developed, and the SMEs in the field of handicrafts can boost their business too," he asserted.
The modernization of the handicraft industry should start from efforts to obtain raw materials, processing, manufacturing of finished products, and packaging till marketing. Everything must be seen and done in a combined manner. "Therefore, I ask the craftsmen and SMEs not to work alone, but work together to build a large group," he reiterated.
Consolidation should be maintained, so that the scale of the economy can be advanced. Working together is very important; for example, a joint workplace will be more efficient and cheaper than working separately.***3*** (A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/B/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 27-09-2017 23:44 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar