The Ministry Of Industry Efforts To Innovate Footwear IKM Through This Assistance

The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) encourages small and medium industry players (IKM) to continue to innovate through mentoring activities carried out by the Indonesian Footwear Industry Empowerment Center (BPIPI).

The Director General of Small, Medium and Multifarious Industries (IKMA) of the Ministry of Industry, Reni Yanita, said the assistance was aimed at strengthening the national footwear industry ecosystem through the development of creativity and partnerships.

"This industrial growth certainly needs to be encouraged in various regions in Indonesia. Moreover, the footwear sector SMEs have enormous domestic and foreign market potential," said Reni in a written statement, Tuesday, April 30.

Reni said that one of the assistances that had been successfully carried out by BPIPI was technology assistance which was carried out on April 22-26 in East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

According to him, the assistance carried out was a follow-up to the results of the assessment of the IKM needs carried out by BPIPI in 2023.

"The assessment of these needs is carried out on several assisted IKMs to obtain factual information in the field with the material objectives provided when mentoring according to the needs of IKMs and adjusted to the development of the footwear industry commodity sector," he said.

The assistance was attended by 16 participants who were IKM from various regions in NTB Province such as Bima City, East Lombok Regency, Central Lombok Regency, and West Lombok Regency.

Reni said that the mentoring program carried out by her party needed support and guidance from the NTB Provincial Government as stakeholders who were considered to better understand the conditions, needs and potential in their area.

The development carried out also requires synergy and support from various parties, such as owners of brands, designers, academics, marketplaces to the role of the tourism industry sector in NTB as one of the destinations for local and foreign tourists.

Based on World Footwear data, Indonesia is the fifth largest footwear consumer in the world with a total consumption of 702 million pairs of footwear products by 2022 or contributing 3.2 percent of the total consumption of global footwear products.

In addition, Indonesia is also the third largest exporter in the world with the number of footwear products shipped in 2022 of 535 million pairs of footwear or 3.5 percent of the world's total footwear exports.