“If we take a closer look, this is a showcase of some of the most promising intellectual property (IP) seeds in Indonesia,” said Deputy Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Irene Umar during a visit to The Local Market, a creative product exhibition held in Jakarta on Saturday.
According to Irene, local creative entrepreneurs are presenting works that stand out not only in design and quality but also in the stories they tell and the values of sustainability they carry.
“Each booth we see today is not merely selling products — it’s not just clothes, food, or crafts — each one is building a brand, creating a character, and designing with meaning,” she said.
The deputy minister expressed hope that collective events like this would spread to other regions, providing more local businesses with opportunities to showcase their work on larger platforms.
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She added that such collective efforts could become a movement that demonstrates the creative economy as the new engine of growth for Indonesia.
The ministry currently runs a program called Ekraf Hunt, aimed at serving as a digital showcase for creative economy players and a platform to promote their intellectual property to a global audience. Irene encouraged local creators to register their works through the official website: [hunt.ekraf.go.id](https://hunt.ekraf.go.id).
Deputy Minister Irene Umar was accompanied at the event by the ministry’s Director of Architecture and Design, Sabar Norma Megawati Panjaitan. Also in attendance was the local market founder, Titonius Karto.
The Local Market organized the collective event under the theme Langit Lokal (Local Sky), which featured 140 creative economy participants showcasing a wide range of flagship products from across the country.
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Translator: Natasha, Azis Kurmala
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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