INDONESIA LAUNCHES APPS TO PRESERVE BATIK INDUSTRY

JAKARTA, Oct 29 (Bernama-ANTARA) -- Indonesia's Ministry of Industry has launched several applications, such as Batik and Craft Ecosystem, Syndi-Synthetical Dyes Idexation, and Digital Batik Motif, to help preserve and strengthen the domestic batik craft industry, reported ANTARA news agency.

Head of the ministry's Standardisation and Industrial Services Agency Andi Rizaldi explained that the applications have been created to maintain the nation's identity, considering that batik cloth has become a part of Indonesian history and has contributed to the progress of its economy.

"Batik has become an industrial subsector that is increasingly being reckoned with in the international arena, where national batik exports reached US$17.5 million in 2023," he said here on Monday.

In addition to preservation efforts through the launch of the apps, the government has been emphasising the importance of collaborating with related stakeholders.

Collaboration in batik preservation can be carried out by involving raw material suppliers, distributors, government, academics, designers, small and medium industry centres, and other batik industries, the ministry's director general of small and medium industries and alike, Reni Yanita, said.

"Collaboration between business actors by jointly maximising their strengths will have an impact on achieving more efficient and effective business goals," she explained.

According to the Ministry of Industry, the domestic batik industry absorbed 200 thousand workers as of August 2024. They were spread across 201 industrial centres and 5,946 small and medium industries located in 11 provinces.

--BERNAMA-ANTARA
RD