After some years being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, one of PT DAHANA’s fostered partners, Evan Art Gallery, in collaboration with the Regional National Crafts Council of Subang Regency, had the opportunity to take part in 22nd Jakarta International Handicraft Trade Fair (Inacraft) 2022 held at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) from 23 to 27 March 2022.
The owner of Evan Art Gallery, Hernawan, appreciated DAHANA for opening up opportunities for his business, which had been in difficult times for more than two years due to the prolonged pandemic. The Inacraft 2022 event is expected to come as a spark for MSMEs, especially those engaged in handicrafts.
“My business has been in torpor for almost three years with limited access to markets. Thank God, I have the opportunity to participate in Inacraft 2022. After a few days, we found a buyer to market in Manado,” said the man who goes with the nickname ‘Wawan’.
Wawan had been one of DAHANA’s fostered partners who succeeded in penetrating the global market when getting a buyer from Germany at Inacraft 2019; around 7,000 pieces of his Bebek Mabuk (drunk duck) products were marketed in Germany, and was about to export another 15,000 last year. But due to the pandemic, the export was postponed.
Head of DAHANA’s Social and Environmental Responsibility program, Eman Suherman explained that PT DAHANA is committed not only to providing capital to fostered partners, but also sustainable economic assistance, such as export training, as well as involving fostered partners in prestigious promotional events such as Inacraft 2022.
“Thank God, so far, many DAHANA fostered partners have succeeded in penetrating the global market. Evan Art Gallery is one of them. We always try to make DAHANA progress together with the surrounding community and we also hope that other fostered partners can compete with SMEs who have succeeded in exporting,” said Mr Suherman.
Inacraft 2022 was held both online and offline under the theme “From Smart Village to Global Market”. This exhibition was attended by 722 participants consisting of 510 individual participants, 169 institutionally-fostered partner participants, and 43 participants fostered by State-Owned Enterprises, as well as 150 online shops. Officially opened by President Joko Widodo, this year Inacraft chose West Java Province as the icon of the exhibition by displaying superior and creative handicraft products and introducing the local arts and culture of West Java under the theme “Smiling Heritage of West Java”.