Banjarbaru's knitted bag passes export to Singapore

Banjarbaru, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Steps of Chairwoman of Banjarbaru Family Welfare Empowerment (PKK) Vivi Mar'i Isa az-Zubedi to create an international standard creative economy industry in the city has paid off.

Thanks to the seriousness, persistence, and patience of the wife of Mayor H M Aditya Mufti Ariffin, a new product in the form of a knitted bag named Bhanjaruu Bag has been declared eligible for export to Merlion country, Singapore.

"Alhamdulillah, this news is very encouraging to us. Insya Allah (God Willing), this success is a big step in introducing Banjarbaru to be one of the cities for knitting production to the international level," she said, Saturday.

According to Vivi Zubedi, she is concern about exploring and looking for the potentials that can be developed in Banjarbaru City.

Since she assumed the mandate of chairwoman of TP PKK and the city's handicraft council (Dekranasda) last February, she did not see Banjarbaru as having a unique craft that was well managed.

When she asked the relevant agencies for data on what and where the Banjarbaru typical craft points were, there was no structured and valid data.

Since then, Vivi encouraged the agencies to work more seriously, not just ceremoniously, but to go down the field to pick up the ball, seek and explore potential that could be developed.

"Alhamdulillah (Thank God) we found a number of people who have skills. One of them is knitting skill, thus they were given coaching and training to produce international standard products," she said.

Unfortunately, during this time the craftsmen have not received good guidance, so they work individually, sell products by struggling on their own and do not even have "purpose" in knitting.

"They knit, but they don't know the direction of the products they want to go. They go their separate ways. Shariah's economic ecosystem was not formed, even though they have great capabilities," she told.

Vivi Zubedi, who is a designer, whose work and dedication has been recognized internationally, became inspired.

"We provide training for them, starting from choosing colors, till the direction of design they are made. For the bhanjaruu bag, the design is a Bohemian Style, ecause the market share is good at the international level," she said.