Yogyakarta to market handicrafts online
Yogyakarta to market handicrafts online
Tarko sudiarno
The Jakarta Post
Yogyakarta
Experiencing difficulty in marketing traditional handicraft
products, the Yogyakarta Craft Council decided it was about time
they promoted the industry online.
"I think the time has come for us to use modern technology to
market our products, as the main supplier of the country's
handicrafts," said the council's chairwoman, GKR Hemas, the wife
of Yogyakarta Governor Hamengkubuwono.
The council's first step was to set up a website with a
digital catalog and provide information in the form of an
interactive CD-ROM, VCD profile and multimedia kiosk.
Both the digital information products as well as the website's
management have been produced by Thinknolimits, a division of the
PT Misty Total Media multimedia company, and will be launched on
Sept. 12 this year. The launching will be in concurrence with the
Gelar Seni and Budaya Yogyakarta festival, scheduled to run Sept.
12-14.
"But people can already access the website," said
Thinknolimits' Nenden Novianti Fatiastuti.
The website (www.jogjacraftcouncil.com) will be updated every
four months. It includes the council's profile and directory as
well as scheduled events and handicraft exhibitions. There is
also a discussion of the trends in handicrafts, other related
news and a catalog of the council's products.
The council intends to make it easier for the public to access
the website, it plans to link it with the official website of the
World's Craft Council (www.wwcwis.gr).
Hemas said the council's decision to use modern technology to
market and promote handicrafts was in line with the government's
decision to enter the global market, as part of an agreement with
the World Trade Organization.
"Yogyakarta's economy is dominated by middle and lower scale
industries. It cannot avoid global development. That's why we
have to come up with strategic ways to keep up," Hemas said.
Hopefully, he said, the new method would boost the sale of
traditional handicrafts, especially internationally.
"At present, 75,000 workers are employed in the Yogyakarta
handicraft industry, which generates an export value of some
US$110 million a year. That amount excludes the figures that are
not recorded by the provincial administration, since many of them
(the products) are also exported through other provinces," she
said.
"I do hope the use of modern information technology will truly
boost the development of the industry here and at the same time
improve the welfare of the people whose life depends on it. I
also hope this has a good impact on the tourism industry."
Governor Hamengkubuwono, who is also a Sultan and the King of
Yogyakarta, expressed similar hopes, saying that the Bali bombing
not only destroyed Bali's economy but Yogyakarta's as well.
"The bombing made us realize that we depended so much on Bali
to market our handicraft products," he said. He added that nearly
60 percent of Yogyakarta's handicrafts were sold in Bali.
He said it was about time Yogyakarta accessed the global
market. Turning the province's Adisucipto Airport into an
international airport, to allow the direct entrance of tourists
and prospective investors, was another dream of his.
"We have to start using modern technology to market our
products. It's not the time for us to insist on using
traditional, conventional ways only," the Governor said.