TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bali`s Indonesian SME Chairman Anak Agung Ngurah Mahendra assessed that souvenir markets in Bali are mostly dominated by foreign products that are mainly from China. Meanwhile, locally produced souvenirs are only 30 percent.
According to Mahendra, it is mainly because Chinese products are much cheaper than the products made by local Indonesian small and medium-sized enterprises. The clothes sold in Bali is also said to mostly come from China that had a Bali label on it.
Mahendra reasons that this is caused by merchants that long for a significant profit margin.
“Because importing from China can get them a larger profit margin. The question is how to avoid imports. This means that the skills of local human resources must be improved by providing more modern production tools. We can identify the problem, but it’s complicated,” said Mahendra on February 14.
Mahendra further hopes that the Indonesian government can continue to introduce a belted central logistical facility for SMEs which can enable them to compete with other countries.
He also hopes that the government can start to fund research and development experts to develop SME products and at the same time improve the industry’s technology to elevate the quality, quantity, and overall competitiveness of Bali’s SMEs.
Bisnis.com