Italy has been aggressively seeking more investment and market opportunities in Indonesia, especially since 2012, as it is facing a weaker market demand in Europe due to its economic contraction and at the same time is lured by Indonesiaâs middle-class and top-end consumers who have been growing in purchasing power and number
taly has been aggressively seeking more investment and market opportunities in Indonesia, especially since 2012, as it is facing a weaker market demand in Europe due to its economic contraction and at the same time is lured by Indonesia's middle-class and top-end consumers who have been growing in purchasing power and number.
Indonesian Ambassador here August Parengkuan told The Jakarta Post that as one of the world's largest exporters of fashion, life-style products, Italy certainly has a promising market in Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia.
'They have been quite active in sending business missions and made big presence in trade, notably machinery, exhibitions in Jakarta,' Parengkuan noted.
What made Italian exports of high-quality, branded goods even more impressive is that they are made mostly by family-owned, small and medium-scale companies, the Indonesian diplomat added.
Indonesian businesspeople, Parengkuan added, should learn from the supreme standards of quality control Italian companies imposed on their products, especially in leather, textile and marble processing.
He recalled his great impressions of seeing how the owners of famous branded leather goods still personally worked hand in hand with their employees in maintaining high quality-control of the production process.
'During a business visit to a leather processing company which supplies leather materials to many manufacturers of branded goods, the owner came out of the tannery floor still in wet work dress, apologizing to me as he had still to clean up for our meeting. And this is not a small, cottage (home) industry, but a company with more than 400 employees,' Parengkuan added.
In another visit to a company producing famous brand shoes he saw an old lady still manually sewing shoes whom he later learnt was the company's owner.
So obsessed have been Italian makers of branded fashion, life-style products with the quality control that it would rather be impossible to attract them to set up production facilities in Indonesia.
But Samuele Porsia, the chief of the Italian Trade Agency in Jakarta, said in a separate interview that Italy had been helping Indonesian manufacturers making their products more competitive in the international market.
'We are now one of the largest exporters of leather, ceramics, marble and textile processing machinery to Indonesia and this way we help local manufacturers to become more competitive in the international market,' Porsia added.
He said Italy also is now the second largest exporter (after Germany) from the European Union to Indonesia selling US$1.7 billion worth of goods last year, up from $1.5 billion in 2012.
But the bilateral trade balance remained in favor of Indonesia as its exports to Italy, comprising mostly coal, chemicals and palm oil, totaled $2.12 billion last year, down slightly from $2.2 billion in 2012, Porsia said.
Porsia added a 15-member business delegation will visit Jakarta next week to be followed by a two-week festival of Italian branded fashion and lifestyle products, food and furniture at the Pacific Place from Sept.29 to Oct.12 and an exhibition of Italian made shoes in November.
Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.
Quickly share this news with your network—keep everyone informed with just a single click!
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Get the best experience—faster access, exclusive features, and a seamless way to stay updated.