The ministry's Director General of Small, Medium, and Diverse Industries, Reni Yanita, emphasized that Indonesian Hajj pilgrims offered a lucrative market for small and medium enterprises since batik uniforms have been an everlasting tradition of Indonesian pilgrims.
Moreover, the Religious Affairs Ministry's data indicated that 241 thousand Indonesian Hajj pilgrims are expected to embark for Saudi Arabia during this year's Hajj season.
"One of the main characteristics of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims is their use of batik uniforms to identify one group from another during departure. This is a lucrative market opportunity that should be optimized by small and medium batik businesses," Yanita noted, as per the statement received here, on Tuesday.
To encourage more batik companies to partake in the sector, the ministry is committed to providing and supervising batik and halal certification for small and medium companies, she remarked.
"We expect that in the future, more small and medium batik businesses will benefit from the policies, (so that they will) become a batik producer for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims," the director general stated.
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Yanita explained that to be permitted to produce batik for Hajj pilgrims, small and medium companies are required to operate with appropriate business licenses satisfying the Indonesian Standard Industrial Classification (KBLI) Code 13134 for the batik industry.
Companies should also have standardized production material and technology, possess Batikmark and halal certifications or are in the process of acquiring them, have a production workshop, and have the capability to produce stamp batik cloth, she emphasized.
After being eligible, small and medium companies could coordinate with Hajj fee deposit-recipient banks to participate in the procurement process of batik for Hajj pilgrims, the official stated.
For this year's Hajj season, the Religious Affairs Ministry has determined the standard batik cloth for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims. The batik pattern was called "Sekar Arum Sari," dominated by purple color with silhouettes of Garuda birds.
The batik pattern was made by Sony Adi Nugroho, who won the ministry's batik design contest in August last year.
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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar F, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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