APRI to open Indonesia's first retail business school

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.