The Ministry of Industry encourages the national shoe industry to step up and enter the global industrial ecosystem. One of the efforts is the Indonesian Footwear Industry Empowerment Center (BPIPI), a work unit under the Directorate General of Small, Medium, and Various Industries (IKMA) of the Ministry of Industry which continues to support national leather and footwear industry designers to participate in the international exhibition Asia Pacific Leather Fair ( APLF) in Bangkok, Thailand on October 19th-21st, 2022. “BPIPI as an important partner of APLF in Indonesia, together with the Indonesian Tanners Association (APKI) sees the importance of strengthening the supply chain on a larger scale, namely ASEAN. As the fourth largest producer of the footwear industry in the world, Indonesia plays an important role in the value chain of the leather and footwear industry on a global and ASEAN scale," said Director General of IKMA at the Ministry of Industry, Reni Yanita, in Jakarta, Sunday (10/30/2022).
Reni said that BPIPI, which is located in Sidoarjo, East Java, has consistently held various programs to strengthen the national footwear industry ecosystem to make it more globally competitive. Moreover, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the contribution of the footwear industry to GDP increased throughout 2021 to IDR 28.169 trillion from IDR 26.14 trillion in 2020. “Domestic investment (PMDN) also continues to grow from IDR 394.8 billion in 2020 to IDR 461.5 billion in 2021. Meanwhile, the export performance of the national footwear industry in 2021 touched IDR 6.165 billion compared to the previous year of IDR 4.8 billion," she said. Therefore, BPIPI continues to increase institutional capacity and industrial centers, assist the industry in developing products, strengthen industry and creativity, provide market information assistance, as well as assist in promotion and marketing as well as strengthen partnership relationships. To date, BPIPI noted that 9,633 SMEs or around 16.8% have partnered with other industries and most have benefited from business partnerships.
The Director General of IKMA explained that APLF is one of the leading international exhibitions of leather, materials, and fashion accessories, where leather suppliers can meet directly with designers and buyers and APLF Bangkok is the second trade fair to be held outside Hong Kong. Since 2018, BPIPI has collaborated with APLF in the Design of Bag event. This international-scale bag product design competition involves many potential young people, including those from Indonesia. Previously, APLF also held an exhibition at World Trade Dubai on March 30th-1st April 2022. From the exhibition, there was a demand for participants to provide more buyers from Southeast Asia. As a result, the organizers decided to hold APLF again in Asia, precisely in the heart of ASEAN, namely in the city of Bangkok, Thailand. "APLF ASEAN has hosted leather exhibitions of more than 200 participating countries, including from Brazil, France, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States, as well as groups of other large tanneries such as Italy," said Reni. At the APLF exhibition, exhibition visitors or fashion activists, can touch and feel leather materials directly, connect and make orders with tanners directly to prepare their upcoming collections. Not only that, there are business meetings between buyers and suppliers of the international leather industry, as well as seminars and workshops related to issues and trends in the sustainable development of the leather industry. “APLF also invited 10 local bag designers and designers from Indonesia to display their superior artworks, as well as share about entrepreneurship and design concepts. One of the performers was Tommy Ambiyo with the BYO brand, who shared his creativity in using leather,” said Reni.
