"The government must ensure that the domestic batik industry, starting from the price of raw materials, is competitive," INDEF researcher Rusli Abdullah stated on Friday.
The researcher deemed it necessary to boost competitiveness of the national batik industry as well as to limit batik imported from China.
In addition to offering incentives on the upstream side, the government should continue to promote batik pride campaigns using batik or local batik products.
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"Hence, in addition to the fiscal policy and entry barriers and so on, there must be a campaign that puts the spotlight on batik values that are already rooted in our society. The combination of the two must complement one another," he affirmed.
According to Abdullah, despite no definite data on the contribution of batik to the creative economy sector, batik has inspired the creative industry. For instance, batik motifs have been widely used as a source of inspiration for various products ranging from buildings to aircraft bodies.
Unfortunately, the impact on the batik industry, especially for batik craftsmen, has not been optimal, he pointed out
"However, at least the values have inspired (many), but the utilization of the batik product itself is still not optimal," he stated.
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He pointed out that the batik campaign that had the biggest impact was the obligation of civil servants to wear batik every Friday.
Although the purchase of batik is not as high as when the campaign was just being promoted, it has been quite effective in increasing public awareness of batik.
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"Batik values have inspired, and this indirectly makes us love domestic products and other cultural values," he affirmed.
He expects that batik can be the first step to introduce Indonesia to the global community. Akin to the Korean Wave, Indonesian culture is also expected to be known to the world through batik.
Several steps that can be taken encompass conducting batik diplomacy by the Indonesian diaspora, promoting batik motifs through packaging of export products, and adding a touch of batik in the daily lives of the global community, such as their summer clothing or accessories.
"Korea alone can penetrate through their food into (our daily lives). Why not batik whose value is universal? It is because (it is in form of) cloth, and batik can be used anywhere," he concluded.
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Translator: Ade Irma J, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
