Tuesday, 3 June 2014

INDUSTRY MINISTRY WILL PREPARE WORKING COMPETENCY STANDARS ON JEWELRY INDUSTRY



The Ministry of Industry will prepare Indo­nesian National Working Competency Standards (SKKNI) considering that the industrialists in this field are often mixing the ingredients for making jewelry, but they do not use the appropriate standards. With SKKNI on jewelry industry, this problem can be ex­pected to be minimized, even in the later process of raw material mixing, there is already a standard which is applicable for Indonesia. The government will also prepare educational and training curriculum to acquire the SKKNI certification.

After opening the 7t Jakarta International Jewelry Fair 2014 in Jakarta, on Thursday (May 8), the Director General of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of the Ministry of Industry, Euis Saedah, ex­plained that, in fact, there is no problem with Indo­nesian human resources in the field of jewelry. How­ever, so far, entrepreneurs are more concerned about the ability to produce products that can be accepted by the market. While, human resource quality has es­caped their attention.

"In the field of jewelry, one problem is how to generate product design, especially for SMEs in the field of jewelry. Because large and medium-scale jew­elers, through the association, are considered able to solve their problems, both at the level of fabrication or at the level of crafting that needs finishing touch. From here, it needs more detailed ornaments.

Meanwhile, to encourage and build the aware­ness of beautiful and unique designs, since the last three years, we have held jewelry design competi­tions at vocational school level. From here, we expect them to be the forerunners who are preparing to enter the industry, or their designs will become a reference for SMEs in the jewelry business. For that, we are also working with the Jewelry Craft and Design Asso­ciation, considering that so far Indonesia has a strong potential in the field. We have an abundant number of stones and pearls. In addition to gold and silver, these areas are also part of fashion, he said.

In terms of procurement of raw materials, I have suggested that they would form an association, for example in the form of cooperatives. By entering a formal organization like that, besides being able to be a means for solving problems in the company, such as in distribution, it is also likely to have greater bar­gaining power in negotiations with large companies as raw material suppliers, in addition there is certainty of supply of raw materials needed, although we are still facing the fluctuating raw material prices", said Euis.

When opening the exhibition, Euis stated that small and medium industries (SMEs) are one of the great power and leader in the development of the na­tional economy, because SME sector is very impor­tant in creating employment growth. SMEs are also flexible and can easily adapt to the ups and downs of market demand. Because the Ministry of Industry continues to encourage the development of SMEs and the creation of new entrepreneurs to enhance competitiveness in order to deal with the ASEAN Eco­nomic Community (AEC) in 2015.

For centuries, the world has known Indonesia as an archipelagic country which stores immense nat­ural resources, ranging from spices, up to the wealth of traditions that have an implication on a variety of traditional costumes, including jewelry. Various types of precious and semi-precious stones are stored in the earth of this country. One of my goals is to form a catalog book that maps Indonesian natural resources in terms of raw and auxiliary materials, particularly for small and medium industries. Precious or semi­precious stones and jewelry, natural fibers and natu­ral dyes, and traditional foods are all available in this country.

What is done by the Indonesian Goldsmiths and Jewelers Association (APEPI) by continuously implementing this exhibition is part of a long process to build a tough and independent precious stones and jewelry industry in Indonesia. Therefore, I expect public support for large industry players, profession­als in the field of jewelry, technology and marketing, as well as other stakeholders, to carry out the duty of fostering the precious stones and jewelry industry. (E)

Business New - May 14, 2014

No comments: