REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Ministry of Industry and a supporting creative team launched Ekuator, a national footwear brand, after a development process that took three years.

"We have to be proud of our national brand. Ekuator now carries an Indonesian name," Directorate General of Small and Medium Industry at the Ministry of Industry Euis Saedah stated here on Tuesday.

The premium men's shoes are available in seven models: Sumatra, Java, Bali, Madura, Celebes, Papua, and Borneo.

The shoes, whose models have brand names derived from Indonesian regions, are packaged in cardboard boxes, each with a cleaning cloth, brush, polish, spare shoe laces, and a bottle of cleaning fluid.

Currently, a small-medium enterprise Fortuna Shoes in Bandung, West Java, is manufacturing seven designs of Ekuator.

"Later, every small- and medium-scale enterprise will be able to manufacture Ekuator while adhering to the quality standards that have been outlined. We will also provide training to the enterprises interested in manufacturing Ekuator," Euis pointed out.

Fortuna Shoes has alone manufactured 200 pairs in the initial phase at a production cost of Rp200 million.

According to Euis, 80 percent of Ekuator's raw materials are sourced domestically, while 20 percent are imported. One of the raw materials used for manufacturing the soles is imported from France.

With premium quality, Ekuator is priced at Rp2.5 million, and a discount of Rp500 thousand is being offered to the first 50 buyers who order through www.ekuatorindonesia.com.

Euis hoped that the brand will later be at par with other international footwear brands.

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