President Jokowi: Do not Sell Our Craft Products in Low Prices
President Jokowi, accompanied by First Lady Ibu Iriana, has a dialogue with the craftsmen after opening the Kriyanusa Exhibition of National Craft Council, in JCC, Jakarta, Wednesday (27/9) morning. (Photo: Rahmat/PR).
President Joko Jokowi Widodo argued that that Indonesias craft products have enormous potential considering we have 714 tribes with different cultures and it becomes the source of inspiration for our craft products. “International craftsmen love to take inspiration from our culture and nature. It means that we who live in Indonesia and live the cultures in our country should be more inspired,” President Jokowi said when delivering a speech at the opening of the Kriyanusa Exhibition of National Craft Council (Dekranas) at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Wednesday (27/9).
In order that the great potential of Indonesias craft industry can really liven up and the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the field of handicraft can really advance their business, the President reminded all that there should be a continued modernization of handicraft industry. “Modernization is made from the upstream to downstream, ranging from getting raw materials, processing, manufacturing of finished products, packaging to marketing. It should be seen and run in a package,” the President said.
To that end, the President asks the crafters, the SMEs to work together and build a large group of artisans. “To build a large group of artisans is very important. It must be consolidated so that the scale of the economy can be large,” the President said.
President Jokowi who was accompanied by First Lady Ibu Iriana Joko Widodo asserted that working together is very important. When it comes to making the finished product, if there are fellow SMEs craftsmen who can be invited to work together to rent the workplace, for example, in production, the President believes that it will be more efficient and cheaper than if we run the business separately.
For the youth, entrepreneurial crafters in the cities, the President reminded them that there is already a Co-Working Office. “Whether it can be applied to our SMEs craft. It should be, for the shared leasing cost of the production site as well,” the President said.
Regarding the marketing affairs, President Jokowi also reminded all that digital and social media is used as much as possible. The President encouraged them to hire a good photographer to make instagrammable photographs of existing products, if you want to upload the photos on Instagram.
According to the President, we must be creative, for example, bag products should be high fashion style like the world’s famous brands. So, the President continued, they may be sold in Yogya, Bandung, Makassar, but the prospective buyers can be from various countries, because the ads can be seen in the social media. “We must seize the opportunities,” President Jokowi said and gave advice that our products must be sold at high prices. Let alone, the craft products. Never sell the craft products in low prices.
President Jokowi asserted that we need to consolidate many of our handicraft products and we create online stores together. In terms of fashion trends, raw materials, dye, and packaging side, the President believes our products are already good. We just need to strengthen the marketing strategy.
For the record, the Kriyanusa Exhibition is an annual event held by Dekranas and this year is the second. The exhibition is held under the tagline “Improve the Creativity of Indonesias Kriya Young Entrepreneurs”. The 2017 Kriyanusa Exhibition is followed by 381 booths consisting of the Dekranasda across Indonesia that facilitate the craftsmen of their respective regions, SOEs, Ministries and the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf).
Attending the event were Ibu Mufidah Jusuf Kalla, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita, and Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat. (DND/RAH/ES) (MUR/YM/Naster).
