Project News

The Directorate General of Small and Medium Industry (DG-SMI) of the Ministry of Industry organized a seminar on 17 November 2015 to disseminate outcomes of an action plan for the development of the Ulos fashion industry in Samosir that had been implemented for the past two years. A total of 30 participants included, among others, representatives from Dinas Industry and Trade of five districts in North Sumatra Province where the Ulos fashion industry exists, Dinas Industry and Trade of two other provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan regions, a regional handicraft council, a regional hotel and restaurant industry association, and local handicraft merchandisers.

The Expert Team first outlined a local industry development model adopted in this project, followed by the Head of Samosir Dinas Industry, Trade and Cooperative presenting an overview of the action plan, activities implemented under the action plan, and their outcomes. He emphasized especially developments that had been observed since the outset of the project when virtually no Ulos-applied fashion/handicraft product (e.g., bags, wallets, apparels, etc.) was produced and sold in Samosir; in contrast, there are currently a 22-membered cooperative and 12 producers undertaking Ulos-applied fashion/handicraft production and trade (their total sales have reached Rp. 60 million).

A representative from DG-SMI conveyed that the local industry development model adopted in the project would be effective in other regions, thus hoping to utilize optimally its local allocation budget for local industry development activities in other areas using this model in the future. Meanwhile, a representative from Dinas Industry and Trade of North Sumatra Province pointed out the importance of retaining close collaboration among stakeholders at the district, provincial and central levels, which had been observed in the project, in other local industry development activities. She further underscored the significance of transforming local products enriched by local culture into more attractive and creative products by collaborating with external stakeholders, especially designers, as seen in the case of Samosir.

The local industry development model adopted in Samosir is expected to be applied for the development of similar local industries in vicinal regions in the near future. Further, it is hoped that, in the longer term, the model will be followed nationwide based upon guidelines for local industry development that are currently being formulated by DG-SMI together with the Expert Team.

Dissemination Seminar