TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Association of Indonesian Handicraft Exporters and Manufacturers (Asephi) is holding the International Handicraft Trade Fair (Inacraft) at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) Senayan on April 20-24. According to the Chairman of Asephi, Thamrim Bustami, Inacraft 2016 is expected to attract 200 thousand visitors and book over Rp146 billion worth of transactions. “Transcation amount is targeted to increase by 10 percent compared to last year,” he said.
In last year’s Inacraft, crafstmen managed to book retail transactions of Rp133 billion and retail sales of over US$10 million. This year, Inacraft is participated by over 1,400 participating companies, which consist of both manufacturers and exportes from all over Indonesia. They occupy 1,333 stands in the 25,070 square-meter exhibition space.
Industry Minister Saleh Husin said Inacraft is one form of market access for crafstmen. He also claimed that many Indonesian crafstmen are capable of producing high-quality products. Whereas Vice President Jusuf Kalla had asked crafstmen and creative economy enterpreneurs to produce handicrafts with economic values. “Handicrafts used to be made as accessories or [having] a simple function, today they should be made as products that can generate revenue,” he said.
To achieve it, Kalla underlined the importance of crafstmen’s creativity, innovation and rigour. “Sometimes, we mistakenly think that we have the best [products]. Whereas, in business, the best products are determined by consumer’ relative valuation,” he said. To be able to compete in the global market, Kalla has called on crafstmen to compete in quality, price and delivery time.
EGY ADYATAMA | FERY F
