Quality standards & labelling to be introduced for batik

03 Oct '11

2 min read

As a part of its recently released blueprint for conservation and promotion of batik, the Indonesian Government is soon likely to introduce quality norms for production of batik and apply labelling on a wide range of batik items.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said the Government would soon introduce Indonesian National Standards (SNI) for a whole range of batik items.

Entrepreneurs believe labelling is a must for safeguarding the domestically produced batik items against imported ones, particularly those from China, which are greatly invading the local market. Also, labelling is looked upon as a means to increase awareness regarding the domestically produced batik products amongst local buyers.

Speaking on the occasion of the World Batik Summit, the Minister stated that with issuance of the blueprint on standards, local batik products would be promoted on the same scale like any other top-notch textile item.

She stated that since Indonesia is facing problems with labelling of batik-patterned textile, the Government is trying to find ways to ensure proper application of the same.

She further stated that the batik industry targets to achieve a 15 percent growth rate during 2012-2015, 16.5 percent during 2016-2020 and 18.5 percent during 2021-2025. For the ongoing year, she said that the Government is eyeing to boost its output by 11.2 percent over last year's output of Rp 3.9 trillion, which was 50 percent more than 2006's output of Rp 2.6 trillion.

According to the blueprint, alongside Government's efforts to expand its markets, batik exports from the country are likely to register an average rise of 10 percent during 2012-2015, 15 percent during 2016-2020 and 20 percent during 2021-2025.

Euis Saedah, Director General for small and medium sized industries, Ministry of Industry, said Indonesian batiks are in great demand in some Asean nations like Malaysia and Thailand.

Presently, Japan, the United States and European nations like Germany, Sweden and Belgium are the key export destinations for Indonesian batik items.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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