"Made in Bali" becoming well-known overseas

"Made in Bali" becoming well-known overseas

Rita A. Widiadana The Jakarta Post, Kuta, Bali

Twenty years ago, no one in Bali would dare to have suggested that its furniture products would stand gorgeously in many homes, luxury hotels and opulent holiday resorts around the world.

Just visit a five star hotel in Asia, Europe or America, you may quite possibly find pieces of wooden or rattan furniture made in Bali. Many people in overseas countries are using such wooden, rattan and bamboo furniture just to create a Balinese (or Asian) style and flair in their homes.

The rapidly increasing demand for such furniture has made Bali one of the major furniture centers in Indonesia.

Panudiana Kun, chairperson of the Bali Chapter of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, explained that teak, wooden and rattan furniture has long been produced in a number of cities in Java like Jepara and Yogyakarta.

"But, Bali is the place where people around the globe meet and where business flourishes," Panudiana said.

Since the late l980s, a large number of furniture companies moved their factories to Bali, thus establishing the island as Indonesia's most important furniture center. Some are small to medium-scale local companies, some joint-ventures and some even belong to foreigners.

Since the early l990s, vast collections of outdoor and indoor furniture have been shipped to various countries generating billions of U.S dollars in revenue.

Amos Lilo from Pelangi Furniture based in the Sanur and Kuta areas said that the ongoing crisis affecting Indonesia had not significantly affected the furniture industry in Bali.

"This is because Bali is still stable economically, socially and politically," Amos said. Most of the furniture manufacturers here have already secured markets and ongoing orders from their customers.

Pelangi Furniture, he said, produces garden furniture, benches and dining seats made mostly of teak.

"The demand for Indonesian teak furniture, especially garden furniture, has been steady in overseas market," explained Amos.

What the Balinese furniture industry must maintain is their marketing networks in overseas countries, as well as keeping up with international design trends.

His company and several others categorized as small and medium scale home industries still require additional financial and technical assistance.

Currently, a British non-governmental organization, Fair Trade, is helping small and medium furniture producers with technical and design improvements.

"Many of us are still applying conventional technology and traditional designs in producing furniture," Amos said. His company frequently received big orders from foreign buyers but could not meet the demand because of lack of human resources and technology.

"One of the significant problems in the furniture industry is the shortage of skilled workers," he said. Most of the workers come from Java and some from Bali and they are working in a vast number of furniture factories here.

"Buyers will only care about receiving their orders on time, while on the other hand we have inadequate human resources to undertake such mass production," Amos said. To meet the increasing demand and to serve customers better, many furniture companies in Bali have set up close networks with companies operating in Greek, Blotter, and Surabaya in East Java, and Yogyakarta, Semarang and Jepara in Central Java.

"If we fail to meet the demand, we will no longer be able to compete on the international market," Amos pointed out.

Gerald Paulus Korompis, director of operations for PT Tuahta Romada, agreed, saying that although Indonesia was still a leader in the wood furniture industry, some Asian and Latin American countries were rapidly increasing their shares of the world market.

"Thailand and India are our potential competitors," explained Gerald.

These two countries also produce teak and rattan furniture and are now flooding the market with a variety of quality products, he added.

"The world market is not saturated yet but Indonesian producers should be on the alert," he said. Among the major markets for teak and rattan furniture from Bali and other parts of Indonesia are the United States, Europe, Japan, and now South Africa.

"Australia is also a flourishing market for furniture but its government imposes a number of restrictions that hamper Indonesian products in entering the country," added Gerald without specifying what sort of restrictions.

The most important thing for local furniture producers is to identify the tastes and characteristics of customers in each targeted country.

The American and European markets usually prefer quality, simple yet classically styled wooden furniture. Japanese customers go for simplicity and clean design.

"In a time of crisis, we have to be more aggressive in finding and expanding new markets, and we are now eying Asian countries like China, Hong Kong and Korea," explained Gerald.

Some design modification would be needed to meet the tastes of Asian customers. Citing an example, for dining sets most European and Americans like square-shaped, sturdy tables, while Asians prefer round or oval-shaped tables combined with carved wooden chairs, he said.

Despite having a promising future, the Balinese and Indonesian furniture industry in general is facing major problems.

Procurement of raw materials is an ongoing problem. The majority of furniture products from Indonesia are made of forest products like teak, rattan and bamboo. Indonesia has been called on to stop cutting its forests so as to keep the world's environment in balance and avoid ecological disasters.

The imposition of eco-labeling by Western countries has forced the local furniture industry to consider reviewing its policy and use more-environmentally friendly materials and technology.

Budiman Sutrisno, director of the Bali Export Trade Center in Kuta, said that some Balinese furniture producers were experimenting with materials other than teak and rattan.

Some producers have tried to innovate by using banana stems and fibers, coconut wood and even eceng gondok (Eichchornia crassipes) fibers.

"But, they are still very small in quantity and are generally hand-made products," Budiman explained. Processing such kinds of materials needs advanced technology and skilled artisans, which many of local producers lack.

"We should not be discouraged because the market for such products has already been opened," Budiman added, however.

It is urgent for the Balinese and Indonesian furniture industry to tap these opportunity of promoting diversified furniture products other than traditional teak and rattan on the international market. If successful, the industry will gain more customers and will, of course, generate more dollars, while at the same time also saving Indonesian forests and guaranteeing sustainable development.