"The Trade Ministry approved the designation of Batam city as an ASEAN Batik Trade Center yesterday," spokesperson of Batam`s Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Nada Faza Soraya, said here on Saturday.
She said the selection of Batam as an Asean Batik Trade Center was agreed on during an ASEAN summit in Jakarta early this month.
According to her, it was the Kadin Indonesia Foundation and Indonesian Batik Foundation that had asked the Trade Ministry to name Batam as a batik trade center in the ASEAN region.
Nada said t due to its strategic location and sea border with several Asean countries, the city was desfined as the Asean batik trade center.
In late 2009, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially recognized batik as an Indonesian cultural heritage.
Batik was considered not only as part of Indonesian cultural heritage but also recognized as a representation of humanity`s culture for its rich value and cultural inheritance.
With the determination of Batam as batik trade center in Asean, she said Indonesian batik industry was expected to be more prospective.
Therefore, Nada added that Kadin along with several other batik foundations would conduct batik education and its familiarization.
According to her, batik-related education was necessary for Indonesian community to know more about Indonesian cultural riches which have been recognized internationally.
"The Indonesian community need to know various kinds batik motif after it has been internationally recognized," Nada said, adding that every detail of batik had the value of a decent life that has to be maintained.
According to her the color and motif of batik also reflects the regions in Indonesia because every region has its own typical motif.
"Batik is found all over Indonesia and every area in the country has its own motif of batik," she said. (*)
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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
