Leather Industry Translucent Rp7, 6 Trillion

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta, Leather industry, leather and footwear products show a positive performance.

Until the end of 2017, investment sector has reached Rp7, 62 trillion, or four times higher than last year.
In the footwear industry sector, Indonesia managed to occupy the fifth position as world exporter after China, India, Vietnam and Brazil with its market share in the international market reached 4.4 percent.

Head of the Agency for Industrial Research and Development (BPPI) East Ngakan Between, said the leather, leather and footwear industries in the country need to maintain the design, supply of raw materials and sustainability of the industry to improve its competitiveness.

Although leather products from Indonesia have entered the export market, this sector still have to pursue other countries products in terms of design and branding, he said some time ago.

One of the main challenges in this sector is the tendency of consumers to choose branded products.

Therefore, we need to encourage our local products to dominate at the national level, Ngakan said.

Based on Trade Map data, the export growth of this industry also looks positive, from USD 4.85 billion in 2015 to USD 5.01 billion in 2016 or up 3.3 percent.

According to Ngakan, there are three factors that can push the industry forward, namely investment, technology, and human resources (HR).

All three factors must complement each other, he said.

Specifically the HR factor, Ngakan affirmed, the need for increased competence to meet the needs of the industrial world today.

Therefore, vocational education is prepared to prepare skilled workers.

The government also continues to provide basic science-related knowledge of the industry to students in the school bench which will then be developed by the industry, he said.