APRI to open Indonesia's first retail business school

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Asia Pacific Retail Institute (APRI), a training institute for the retail industry, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Indonesian Open University (UT) to run the country's first retail management school.

The school's courses are aimed at workers in the retail industry, particularly those at supervisor grade and above who have never received a bachelor's degree (locally known as an S1 degree), said Kenny Wirya of APRI.

The UT provides distance education that enables students to learn without having to physically attend classes. The new school will allow people to learn management skills for the retail industry without having to take time off from work.

APRI has collaborated with the Australian Retailers Association Victoria (ARAV) to design an international curriculum, thus opening up the possibility for students to continue their education in Australia, Kenny said in a press release distributed on Thursday.

Indonesian Retailers Association chairman Handaka Santosa welcomed the initiative as a way to equip local workers so that they could compete with their foreign counterparts.

"In global competition, survival is determined not only by price strategy and outlet setting, but also by good service and competent salespeople," he said.

The country's retail industry has an annual turnover of Rp 600 trillion (US$65.22 billion), according to an AC Nielsen survey.

In 2002, the so-called modern retail sector here consisted of 367 department stores, 683 supermarkets, 972 minimarkets and 34 hypermarkets.