"The IFCA theme is in accordance with Indonesian neighborhood values, such as the spirit of mutual cooperation (gotong royong) and sustainable development goals," director general of small, medium, and multifarious industries (IKMA) at the ministry, Reni Yanita, said here on Tuesday.
The 9th IFCA competition has been themed "Neighborhood Spirit" to spotlight the importance of collaboration between designers to partner with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in designing innovative products.
According to Yanita, the competition aims to build resilient infrastructure, increase the number of inclusive and sustainable industries, and encourage innovation in the craft and fashion industry.
IFCA 2023 has been organized by the work unit of the Directorate General of IKMA, namely the Bali Creative Industry Center (BCIC), which was established in 2015.
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BCIC serves as an ecosystem for craft and fashion creative industry players to develop businesses via the meet-share-collaborate concept.
The competition's participants range from fashion and craft designers, creative SMEs, and high school, vocational, and college students. The upper age limit for the competition is 40 years.
The categories for the craft competition are crafts, home decoration, and children's toys. In the fashion competition, the categories are apparel, fashion accessories, and footwear.
The competition will be held over the next four months and involve participant registration, judging, coaching, making of product prototypes, and finally, the announcement of winners.
Contestants who pass judging phase I will get coaching in design, sustainability, and business.
Those who pass judging phase II will get intensive coaching from mentors and experts in their fields.
"In this coaching, each participant will get one mentor to discuss their design and business aspects, get financing for prototyping, and market access opportunities," Yanita said.
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Translator: Ade J, Kenzu
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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