Fostering 254 Batik Artisans, Pertamina Channels Partnership Program of IDR 10 Billion  

Jakarta, October 1, 2020 – PT. Pertamina (Persero) continues to support all efforts to preserve the national cultural heritage. One of them is batik. Since 1993, Pertamina has fostered more than 250 MSMEs batik artisans in various regions in Indonesia. Full assistance is given intensively so that those artisans can advance to Go Global.

Vice President of Corporate Communication of Pertamina, Fajriyah Usman, said Pertamina's support was providing capital loan assistance. After that, the artisans who became Pertamina's fostered partners were upgraded so that they could compete. "We provide several programs, consisting of financial upskilling, marketing, promotion, and other activities related to increasing the productivity of Foster Partners," she said.

According to Fajriyah, batik itself is included in the fabric industry sector. Pertamina has budgeted allocation of funds of IDR 82.6 billion for this industrial sector in 2020. Meanwhile, the funds that have been distributed to 254 batik artisans for the development of Pertamina's Fostered Partners are IDR 10 billion.

"Pertamina encourages its MSMEs partners to be able to meet the indicators of upgraded MSMEs. Among them are obtaining business permits and certification, as well as increasing turnover and workforce. Artisans will slowly face that challenge. With Pertamina's help, we are optimistic that we can make the MSMEs batik artisans assisted by Pertamina can become a higher class," said Fajriyah.

One of the batik artisans who became Pertamina's Fostered Partners is Vitalia Nur Darmaningsih. The owner of Rumah Batik Jinggar Yogyakarta started to become a partner of Pertamina in 2016. Since then, her business has made many signs of progress.

"Not only loans but also guidance, which I think is extraordinary. I got the opportunity to be able to market my batik, not only at domestic exhibitions but abroad," said Vitalia.

In line with Vitalia, Pertamina's batik artisans, Edy Handoko, also feels the same way. The owner of the Batik Bintang Arut business has been facilitated by Pertamina several times to be able to participate in exhibitions abroad. "The exhibition to the Netherlands in 2012 from Pertamina and in 2016 to Iraq was also assisted by Pertamina. I am grateful for the assistance," said Edy.

Fajriyah said this effort is implementing the Goal 8 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth with a full and productive workforce. "It is hoped that it can help people get decent jobs and encourage national economic growth," she said.

With Batik artisans' independence, Fajriyah hopes that batik can be widely known again, especially to foreign countries. It is inseparable from batik's stipulation as a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on October 2, 2009, by UNESCO. At that time, batik was patented to be officially owned by Indonesia. It was reinforced by Presidential Decree No. 33 of 2009, which stipulates every October 2 as the National Batik Day.

"On that basis, Pertamina as part of the SOE has the responsibility to participate in preserving batik as a world cultural heritage from Indonesia," concluded Fajriyah.**