T

he Trade Ministry hopes to increase handicraft exports by 8 percent this year as Indonesia is expected to garner further international recognition at an international event later this year.

The targeted growth is higher than the annual average of 5 percent.

Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said the country'€™s craftmakers, considered still under the global radar, now had a chance to stand out, thanks to the appointment of Indonesia to host the annual World Crafts Council (WCC) Awards for Excellence in Handicrafts.

'€œOur country has many beautiful handicrafts, but the public is still unfamiliar with most of them,'€ he said. '€œI urge all handicraft makers to enter the competition to introduce our products, not only to the Indonesian public but also the international community.'€

According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, the country'€™s handicraft exports reached US$669.16 million in 2013.

The United States is Indonesia'€™s main handicraft export destination, accounting for $301 million, or 45 percent of the total, followed by Japan (11.42 percent), England (4.34 percent) and Hong Kong (3.18 percent).

The WCC competition will see participation of craftmakers from East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asian countries. The judging period for the awards will run on Aug. 18-22, and the winners will be announced on Oct. 1.

Bayu said that many countries, including Taiwan, were interested in the country'€™s handicrafts, but still incurred difficulties in finding the products.

'€œCraftmakers still have a hard time selling their products because some still don'€™t know where to sell them. The WCC competition can help craftmakers commercialize their products,'€ he said.

He said that Taiwan had demanded more of, among other things, handmade home decorations from Indonesia.

Bayu also said that Swedish furniture and home decoration maker Ikea had submitted a proposal to the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) to invest here.

'€œRepresentatives from Ikea told us that they wanted to invest in Indonesia and also employ handicraft makers to make Indonesian crafts to later be sold domestically and overseas,'€ he said.

The world'€™s largest furniture retailer will invest $100 million for its first store due to open in September, Mark Magee, Ikea'€™s Indonesia general manager, said in November last year, Bloomberg reported.

National Handicraft Council (Dekranas) chairperson Okke Hatta Rajasa said that Indonesian products were successful in last year'€™s competition. '€œOut of the 22 products that Indonesian craftmakers submitted to the WCC last year, 18 received excellence awards.'€ (dwa)