Bright future for batik industry: Indonesian President

06 Feb '14

2 min read

There is a bright future for the Indonesian batik industry, due to the huge middle class population in the country, and people’s batik-loving lifestyle, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said, reports Indonesian News Agency Antara.

During his visit to the International Batik Centre (IBC) in Pekalongan city on the northern coast of Central Java, President Yudhoyono said Indonesia has a huge middle class population, which stood at 50 million in 2013, and is expected to tough 135 million by 2030.

The President said Indonesian middle class population is many times more than the total population of Singapore, and all these people prefer to buy and use batik as part of their current lifestyle.

To encourage more batik production, the President instructed Governors and district heads to continue aiding and supporting batik manufacturers, by providing low-interest credits, etc.

After a round of discussion with batik producers, the President, accompanied by the First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, toured the IBC and also toured Kauman Batik village, where most of the residents are engaged in production of batik.

IBC facilitates and provides access for batik producers in Indonesia to gain equal opportunity in marketing and introducing their products to the customers within one integrated trading area. At present, IBC has around 200 stands.

Indonesian batik cloth is traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique.

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