Jakarta, March 2 (Antara) - IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) visited Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, last week, to observe economic activities and development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia's largest textile market.
President Jokowi took Lagarde to Tanah Abang to witness first-hand the development of SMEs in Indonesia. The IMF managing director visited Tanah Abang on the sidelines of her week-long visit to review the preparations for holding the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bali in October 2018.
With over 19 thousand stalls and 75 thousand shoppers per day, Tanah Abang is the largest textile and garment center in Southeast Asia. Shoppers will find a vast array of items in textile blocks, including kids and adult fashion products, Muslim wear, jeans, underwear, batik items, bags and footwear, special upscale boutiques, and several others at an attractive wholesale price.
Tanah Abang Market has a long-standing history and was firstly developed by a property owner Justin Vinck on August 30, 1735. At first, the Tanah Abang Market remained open only every Saturday and was called the Saturday Market. However, by the time, Tanah Abang, or popularly known as Pasar Tanah Abang, was able to compete with Pasar Senen, another traditional market that is older and more popular at that time.
Block A, Block B, and Metro Tanah Abang are the three important areas of the Pasar Tanah Abang Complex, according to an article published on Nov 2015 in www.justgola.com. Block A is one of Pasar Tanah Abang's blocks that has already been renovated and has become a large modern market. In this block, spread over 12 floors, visitors can find several sellers of fabric, batik, kebaya for weddings, Muslim clothing, men's dress suits, footwear, and bags.
Block B has also been renovated into a modern textile market, comprising 17 floors and is built on an area of 1.2 hectares. From the total floors available, only 10 are shopping areas, with a capacity of five thousand stores, or half of Block A. The remaining seven floors are parking areas that are able to accommodate 1,600 four-wheeler vehicles.
Metro Tanah Abang is a place for wholesale transactions, so retail transactions cannot be undertaken here. In contrast to the two blocks mentioned earlier, Metro Tanah Abang, which is only about 100 meters away from Block A, houses a traders' grouping. At the Metro Tanah Abang, visitors can find different types of traders on the same floor.
There are other blocks, such as Block F, which comprises several floors. Most traders here are Muslim dress sellers, but one can still find other clothing for men. The prices of especially Muslim clothing are lower at this location as compared to similar brands sold in Block A and Block B.
Pasar Tanah Abang has become an icon for the development of trade activities and SMEs in the country due to which President Jokowi had taken Lagarde to observe it.
Jokowi and Lagarde went to Pasar Tanah Abang after inspecting the Healthy Indonesia Card services at the Pertamina Hospital. The two leaders arrived at the Tanah Abang complex at 11:05 a.m. local time on Monday (Feb 26). Earlier, they had an official meeting at the Merdeka Palace before undertaking a visit to the Pertamina hospital.
The traders and other people in the busy market immediately turned their attention to the unexpected visitors. They shouted and cheered while trying to come closer to the president. Jokowi and Lagarde walked around the rows of kiosks while the traders jostled among each other to catch a close glimpse of the president and his guest.
Guarded by members of the presidential security, they were swarmed and tailed by hundreds of traders and visitors, who greeted and took pictures.
During the visit, Lagarde bought baju koko, a long-sleeved collarless shirt often worn by Indonesian Muslim men, for her husband.
The president informed reporters that he had visited Pasar Tanah Abang along with Lagarde to show the IMF boss how dominant is the development of SMEs in Indonesia.
"I want to demonstrate to Madame Christine Lagarde that there are so many small, medium, and micro enterprises in the country," he remarked.
The president said he had informed Lagarde of the important role of SMEs in Indonesia in facing the era of transparency and economic digitalization, which they had discussed during an earlier meeting at the state palace.
Jokowi was keen to update Lagarde on programs that the government had implemented.
"The fact is that we have Tanah Abang, with more than 19 thousand kiosks. This is a formidable strength," he emphasized.
On the occasion, Jokowi remarked that he had discussed issues related to micro, small and medium enterprises with Lagarde.
"This morning, I asked Mrs. Lagarde about how the small, microeconomics, and middle-scale economy could face economic digitization," Jokowi stated during his visit to Pasar Tanah Abang.
The Indonesian president revealed that Lagarde had suggested some strategies in response to his question. This is an important issue as it concerns the future of the Tanah Abang Market.
"I think this is a huge opportunity to support our economic policy," he remarked.
In the meantime, Lagarde had praised Indonesia's strong economy that has good prospects in the years to come.
"Indonesia's economy has proven to be strong and performed well, with favorable prospects," she emphasized in a statement.
Lagarde made the statement after meeting President Jokowi to discuss current economic developments, Indonesia's prospects, and preparations for the IMF-World Bank annual meetings to be held in Bali later this year.
At the meeting, Lagarde lauded President Jokowi and his cabinet for their economic management and policies.
"We have also discussed the importance of achieving high economic growth to create jobs and support the working generation that continues to grow," she stated.
However, she suggested that Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia need to create more inclusive economic models to address disparity issues.
"It is important to create a new and more inclusive model of economic growth to ensure greater sustainability," Lagarde noted.
Lagarde opined that additional efforts were necessary, considering the growing middle class in the region, which urgently needs adequate jobs.***3***(A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE/H-YH(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 02-03-2018 17:44: |
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