REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKALONGAN -- Vice President Boediono is scheduled to officially inaugurate the Nusantara Batik Week 2014 here on Wednesday.
The opening ceremony of the Batik expo will be held at Jatayu Square, Pekalongan, according to a press statement released by the Vice Presidential Office.
The vice president is scheduled to tour the expo and visit the Batik Museum in Pekalongan, which is one of the largest Batik production centers in the country.
Since 2009, Indonesia has declared October 2 as National Batik Day following the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) decision to include Batik in its list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" items in 2009.
Indonesia's Batik along with the Tango of Argentina and Uruguay, the traditional Ainu dance of Japan, and France's Aubusson tapestries were among the 76 elements included in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on September 30, 2009.
Batik exports from Indonesia increased considerably from US$32 million in 2008 to US$300 million in 2013.
"The United States, Germany, and South Korea are the primary destinations for batik exports," Director General of the Ministry of Industry Argo Panggah Susanto recently noted.
Due to the high demand for batik in the international markets, the government intends to safeguard the intellectual property rights of batik makers to guarantee competition in the trade.
"The ministry has provided batik makers with protection by giving them trademarks, patent rights, trade confidentiality, and industrial designs," Susanto stated.
Recently, in a bid to highlight the Batik Day commemoration, the industry ministry and the Foundation of Indonesian Batik organized, "The Seventh Exhibition of Batik as Cultural Heritage" from September 30 to October 3, 2014.
Ancient batiks dating back to the sultanate of Ngayokyakarta Hadiningrat, Pura Pakualaman, Pura Mangkunagaran, and Surakarta Hadiningrat were also on display during the expo.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika