We will do it together, collaborate to boost again, grow the Cibaduyut footwear SMEs like it was in the 90s.
Bandung, West Java (ANTARA) - The Industry Ministry is collaborating with an experienced shoe brand to revive the Cibaduyut shoe industry center in Bandung city, West Java.

Director General of Small, Medium, and Multifarious Industries (IKMA) at the ministry, Reni Yanita, said that the collaboration with the Adorable Project brand, which focuses on footwear, is expected to help Cibaduyut businesses flourish with the help of new, up-to-date innovations.

"We will do it together, collaborate to boost again, grow the Cibaduyut footwear SMEs like it was in the 90s," Yanita remarked in Bandung, West Java, on Monday.

She informed that the brand is collaborating with 10 small and medium shoe enterprises in Cibaduyut. Later, they would gain some experience in running a business in the current era of technology, she said.

This is because, in order to develop in the current times, footwear SMEs cannot solely rely on offline sales with conservative product appearance and product packaging.

“So, digital transformation and innovation are important given the rapidly developing industry capabilities and consumer needs, which have a significant impact on industrial business processes, including in the footwear industry sector," she explained.

She said that the footwear industry is one of the industrial sectors with local and global market potential, which must be seized by creating footwear products domestically.

She cited data from the World Footwear Yearbook 2022 to support the claim. According to the data, Indonesia was the fourth-largest consumer of footwear products in the world with a total consumption of 806 million pairs of shoes, or 3.8 percent of the global consumption of footwear products, in 2021.

Indonesia was also the third-largest footwear exporter in the world after China and Vietnam in 2021, with exports of Indonesian footwear products reaching 427 million pairs, or 3.3 percent of the total footwear products exported worldwide, she noted.

Thus, a domestic shoe products revival needs to consider or anticipate the global economic slowdown predicted for 2023. She said that with a population of 270 million, the domestic market can help buffer the impact of the global recession on the national economy.

"When the world is in recession, we don't want lay-offs; we try to improve it again so that the share of the domestic market is large," she added.

Head of the Bandung City Trade and Industry Office, Elly Wasliah, said that the Cibaduyut shoe center was on the must-visit list of tourists in the 90s. Compared to that era, the shoe center is currently faring less well, she added.

She said she believes that the shoe center has potential for economic growth considering that the Cibaduyut business center festival hosted a while ago by the Bandung government recorded a turnover of Rp400 million.

"Besides Cibaduyut, there was also a knitting center in Binongjati; at that time, there was still the COVID-19 pandemic but the knitting center still existed, and even exported (products) to New Zealand," Wasliah added.

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Translator: Bagus A R, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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