“After the opening, the government officials disappeared,” Ambar said last week, adding that representatives from related departments should have visited, discussed, and analyzed the discussion results to provide input and solutions. “They gave nothing,” he said, disappointedly.

The association chairman, Ambar Tjahyono, said the lack of support was evident during the International Furniture and Craft Fair Indonesia at the Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran, held on March 11 to 15.

According to Ambar, the association had called on the government to be involved in improving furniture exports. Furniture businessmen need measures to support the rise of such a creative industry. The measures, Ambar said, may be in the form of real contributions, such as providing stimulus funds for promotions and exhibitions, full support for exhibitions, promotion costs, facilitating foreign buyers and inviting ambassadors to exhibitions.

Ambar said the government’s view that it was up to the private sector to develop the furniture industry in Indonesia must be changed. “This must not be the case. This should be a joint responsibility,” he affirmed.
According to Ambar, exhibitions have the potential to create a multiplyer effect, which will not only activate the economy in Jakarta, but also in the provinces.