|
Jakarta: Indonesia’s Industry Ministry is hoping to turn the country into
an Islamic fashion capital by 2020, and is looking toEurope as its
main export market in the future.
Euis Saedah, the Industry Ministry’s director general for small-
and medium-scale industries said yesterday that Islamic clothing
made by Indonesian designers has garnered widespread enthusiasm,
citing an abundance of orders and interest from foreign buyers
following last year’s International Islamic Fashion Fair in
Jakarta.
Euis said Indonesia’s modern, middle-class Muslims have
fueled innovations and creativity in Islamic fashion.
“Our Muslim clothing has drawn interests from other countries,”
Euis said during the opening of the Muslim Fashion Products
exhibition in Jakarta yesterday.
“Indonesia’s Muslim fashion industry
will soon expand its market in Asia, including Thailand and
Malaysia, as well as to several European countries, such as
Britain, France and Turkey", he added.
Euis said Europe in particular
represented a vast potential market for Indonesian-designed Muslim
wear, and cited an annual $150 million worth of business in
Britain’s Islamic fashion industry alone.
“The sales of Islamic outfits in
Europe, meanwhile, have reached $1.5 billion per year, as the
number of Muslims there reached 16 million", he said.
Euis added
that Thailand offered to partner with Indonesia, especially in
marketing the country's products to Europe. “The Thai people say
they have access to Europe and better advertising,” Euis said.
She also added the government hopes Indonesia will morph into a
global capital for Islamic fashion by 2020; business leaders are
targeting a 7 percent increase of exported products by 2025.
The
Muslim Fashion Products exhibition is set to run for four days,
and is organized by the Industry Ministry ahead of “The 3rd Muslim
World Biz” which Indonesia will host from Sep. 12 to 16.
The event
is expected to draw participants from members of the Organization
of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
|
Comments
|
Quick links