The Indonesian Furniture and Craft Industry Association (HIMKI) is currently seeking opportunities to boost furniture export targets to USD 5 billion by 2024 from the achievement of USD 3.5 billion in 2022. In pursuit of this goal, the furniture industry players are facing challenges from the lingering effects of the global economic conditions due to geopolitical factors. This is evident from the 6% decline in furniture export values in the first quarter of 2023. Chairman of the HIMKI Presidium expressed optimism that the situation is expected to recover in the subsequent period, supported by furniture exhibition activities in March 2023, thereby mitigating the decline in exports. HIMKI must strive to penetrate new markets, especially considering the declining demand in traditional markets.
As known, the US and Europe are the largest markets that absorb national furniture and craft products. For this reason, HIMKI encouraged business stakeholders to explore new markets. At present, HIMKI is proactively managing these risks by leveraging and optimising emerging markets such as the Middle East, India, and other Asian markets. Opportunities for global markets in furniture and craft products remain open due to the proliferation of development, projected to generate substantial demand for national furniture and craft products. Furthermore, the Minister of Industry affirmed that the export market is still affected by the global economic recession, necessitating a shift to the domestic market and an expansion of export destinations to new markets. He elaborated that in efforts to dominate the market and respond to furniture industry trends, strategies must focus on enhancing product promotion through media, increasing eco-friendly furniture production, and strengthening market research references. This expectation is aimed at motivating industry players to continually refine production processes, adopting environmentally friendly practices, while continuing to yield eco-design-based products. Moreover, the furniture industry, as a subset of the agro-industrial sector, contributes around 1.3% with a performance value of USD 2.5 billion. During the period of January to June in 2023, furniture and craft exports reached a value of USD 1.1 billion.
