Industry Committee Urges Goverment to Support Muslim Fashion Business

Jakarta, (Antara)- The National Industry and Economic Committee (KEIN) has urged the government to support the Muslim fashion industry, which is the largest contributor to economic growth in the field of creative economy, besides the culinary business.

A monthly meeting with President Joko Widodo revealed that creative economy had significantly boosted the national economic growth, Irfan Wahid, chairman of the KEIN's creative industry working group, noted in a statement here, Friday.

Wahid pointed out that culinary and fashion industries were the major components of the creative economy.

The Muslim fashion industry had significantly contributed to the economic growth, he affirmed.

The president supported KEIN's initiative to hold an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss the creative industry, particularly Muslim fashion in Indonesia.

"In fact, our halal-based industry also has high potential. However, unfortunately, our halal-based industry is still on the 10th position, while our neighboring country Malaysia ranks first," he pointed out.

Along with four other members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation --- Bangladesh, Turkey, Morocco, and Pakistan --- Indonesia is among the top five Muslim fashion exporters in the world, he noted.

Indonesia's Muslim fashion products have global competitiveness as they incorporate cultural elements of Batik and woven designs, he remarked.

With regard to the world's largest Muslim fashion consumers, Indonesia also ranked fifth, while Turkey stood first, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria.

Currently, countries competing to dominate the world's Muslim fashion markets are the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Malaysia, the United States, Italy, Thailand, Japan, the Great Britain, and France, among others.

Director General of SMEs of the Industry Ministry Euis Saedah highlighted the need for the country to improve its database and catalog on the Muslim fashion industry to intensify the marketing of its products.

Indonesia is set to become the hub of the global Muslim fashion industry in 2017.

The government has supported and facilitated Muslim fashion producers to participate in national and international fashion shows, she added.(*)