Jakarta, IO – The Tourism and Creative EConomy Ministry (Kemenparekraf) in collaboration with the Trade Ministry (Kemendag) is holding an Export Class program for Apresiasi Kreasi Indonesia (AKI) alumni. AKI is a creative economy development program to develop the capacity of creative business entrepreneurs and facilitating the expansion of market access for creative products in the culinary, craft, fashion, music, film and information technology subsectors which is held in 16 regencies/municipalities in Indonesia. This year is AKI’s fourth edition.
As one of a series of activities in AKI 2024, the Export Class aims to help AKI’s 2021-23 alumni to better understand the export process. Kemendag’s Domestic Trade director general Isy Karim explains that the Human Resources Training Center for Export and Trade Services (PPEJP) has so far produced more than 80 training topics at various levels. These include finding potential export markets, understanding export regulations and laws, managing logistics and shipping, and calculating costs and profits.
“One of the advantages here is that the material is very comprehensive and supported by teaching staff, almost all of whom are practitioners with competence in their respective fields,” said Isy. The 2024 AKI Export Class Program covers various important training aspects related to export, including the meaning, objectives, procedures and costs involved.
Selected participants take part in the AKI Export Class “Import-Export Management Plus Simulation” held on March 1-8 at the Trade Ministry’s Export and Trade Services HR Training Center (PPEJP) in Jakarta.
For the last three years, approximately 1,200 creative economy entrepreneurs have become AKI alumni. In accordance with its roles, Kemenparekraf provides facilitation by helping the development of creative and creative businesses, especially AKI alumni, to scale up and be ready to enter the international market.
In general, Export Class is a valuable investment for creative economy entrepreneurs who want to enter the export market or increase their export operations. With the knowledge and skills acquired, they can make better business decisions and achieve success. According to Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahudin Uno, on average AKI alumni experience an increase in sales turnover of 15 to 30 percent after graduating from AKI.
Sandiaga has set the target for the creative economy, especially its exports, to generate between US$25-28 billion this year in order to encourage the creation of business opportunities and job creation for the community. “The added value of the creative economy was worth Rp1,415 trillion in 2023, exceeding the Rp1,300 trillion target. But we have homework to do in the export value of the creative economy, where the opportunity is actually greater,” said Sandiaga, Friday (1/3).
Export Class activities begin with a registration process on February 5-11, specifically for AKI’s 2021-23 alumni. A total of 112 participants registered for the class comprising 28 fashion brands, 53 culinary brands and 31 craft brands. The series of activities continued with the curation process on February 19 by an export practitioner Mohammad Andriza Syarifudin as the curator.
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The curator carries out the curation process in accordance with the assessment and adjudicating criteria which refer to the provisions set by Kemendag’s Human Resources Training Center for Export Trade Services. Next, 40 creative industry entrepreneurs were selected from 112 applicants. Of the 40 brands that passed the selection process, 10 are from fashion, 12 from crafts and 18 from culinary. Interestingly, there were more women than men participants.
Several brands participating from the fashion sector include Ma.ja Watch (South Tangerang), Apikmen (South Tangerang), Creative Batik (Yogyakarta) and Zee Collection (Purwokerto). There are also several brands from the craft sector such as M.A.R.S Genuine Leather (Yogyakarta), Bengok Craft (Semarang) and CV Solo Beat International (Solo). And several brands from the culinary field such as Saladin Kentang Magic (Bogor) and Dapur Sehati (Situbondo). (des)