The Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (MenKopUKM) Teten Masduki, in collaboration with the Government of Garut Regency, West Java, is committed to encouraging leather MSME products which are widely used by people in the Garut area so that they can grow and go global. modern shoe and leather bag craftsmen, who are constantly being developed. So that MSMEs that will make these leather crafts, can do tolling at a lower price. We will make Garut not only a dodol city but also a World of Fashion," said MenKopUKM Teten Masduki in his remarks at the Garut Fashion Show, Indonesia Fashion Week (IFW) 2023 entitled 'Sagara From the East,' at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Friday (24/2). MenKopUKM emphasized that the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs (KemenKopUKM) has big plans to build the leather industry in Garut so that it is more advanced and not out of date. Where leather production in Garut is more or less 100 years old, the same age as the world famous brand, Gucci. "Indonesian leather raw materials are also of very high quality, even the high-end products are no less good. We are rich in literature, so many different cultures, and our designers also have quite high tastes and even have names abroad," said Teten. MenKopUKM appreciates the Association of Indonesian Fashion Designers and Entrepreneurs (APPMI) for collaborating with the Government of Garut and collaborating with well-known designer, Poppy Darsono, to initiate one of the biggest fashion events in the country, specifically involving local Garut cloth MSMEs. According to him, 2023 will be the year for the development of all fashion potential in Indonesia as well as encouraging the national creative industry as an effort to improve the economy and people's welfare.
The Garut fashion show at IFW 2023, said the MenKopUKM, could be an event to promote and protect Garut's culture and history as the cultural heritage and identity of the Indonesian nation. On the other hand, the amplification of Garut's fashion at IFW 2023 will be a motivation for the development of MSMEs in the creative sector as a whole in Garut Regency. "The implementation of IFW 2023 gives hope to creative economy players, especially the Indonesian fashion sector," said Teten. Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the export value of the Indonesian fashion sector from January to May 2022 was recorded at USD2.85 billion. This figure increased by USD 2.04 billion or 39% compared to the previous year. As part of the textile sector, batik is the pride of Indonesian culture. Batik is one of the sectors that makes a significant contribution to the national economy, by opening up many job opportunities, even to date it has absorbed a workforce of 200 thousand people from 47 thousand business units spread across 101 regional centers of Indonesia. Based on data from the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin), the export value of Indonesian batik in the first semester of 2022 reached USD 27.42 million. The countries that bought the most Indonesian batik were the United States, Britain, Malaysia, Fiji, Thailand, Canada, Germany, Australia, Turkey and Japan. This is a reflection of the great potential of Indonesian literature in the international market. In addition, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade agreement has made Indonesia a significant supplier of textile goods to several countries. Among them are Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore. So it is expected that there will be an increase in exports of the textile and fashion sectors to these countries. APPMI's collaboration with the Regional Government through the Dekranasda of Garut Regency, the Dekranasda of Batanghari Jambi Regency, East Kutai Regency by cooperating with local MSMEs is a good synergy in building the foundation of the Indonesian fashion industry. At the same event, Garut Regent Rudy Gunawan said that since two years ago his party had been working with designer Poppy Darsono to develop the Garut leather industry in order to further improve its quality. So it's not surprising that last year, Garut products were successfully showcased at the W20 (Women20) event which is the G20 Engagement Group in Italy. "Indeed, there are still some things that need to be improved so that Garut skin products will become more global," he said. For this reason, his party together with KemenKopUKM also continue to provide education, training, and concrete guidance to MSME actors. Likewise, APPMI member and designer Poppy Darsono said that the collaboration with Garut resulted in 24 fashion creations that were displayed at the IFW 2023 event.
