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The Ministry of Industry will create a platform that connects the fashion industry's business ecosystem consisting of raw material suppliers, designers, tailors and the fashion industry in a concept called "Fitting Room". This platform will be created this year as one of the manifestations of digitalization according to the map of Making Indonesia 4.0.

"In addition to integrating the fashion industry supply chain, through this platform it will also provide convenience to consumers in buying fashion products according to their size without having to come to tailors," said Director of Small and Medium Industries (IKM) Chemistry, Clothing, Crafts and Multifarious Industries, Directorate General of Small, Medium and Multifarious Industries (IKMA) Ministry of Industry E. Ratna Utarianingrum in Jakarta, Tuesday (11/6).

Ratna said that the pilot project would be tested first in the fashion IKM in West Java. "We hope that the fashion IKM in other cities can also implement industry 4.0," he said. Moreover, the national fashion industry experiences positive growth every year.

The Ministry of Industry noted, Indonesia managed to export fashion products up to USD14.29 billion in 2018 or an increase of 7.75% from 2017 which only reached USD13.29 billion. "This shows that the Indonesian fashion industry has comparative competitiveness that is quite high in the international market," he explained.

In addition, the fashion industry contributed to the resounding growth in the textile and apparel industry sector in the first quarter of 2019, which recorded the highest position with an achievement of 18.98 percent. This performance exceeded economic growth of 5.07 percent in the same period.

Previously, the Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto revealed that the domestic textile and textile products (TPT) industry was able to be competitive globally because it had high competitiveness. This is encouraged because the industrial structure has been integrated from upstream to downstream and its products are also known to have good quality in the international market.

"With economic growth and a shift in demand from basic clothing to functional clothing such as sportswear, the national textile industry needs to build production capabilities and increase economies of scale in order to meet demand in the domestic and export markets," he said.

Meanwhile, Director General IKMA of the Ministry of Industry, Gati Wibawaningsih, said that the government was aware that Indonesian IKM products had an increasing market. Therefore, activists of IKM, including the fashion sector, are one of the spearheads of popular economy that is resistant to the global economic crisis.

"For this reason, the Ministry of Industry continues to develop IKM through various programs, including increasing HR competencies, developing product quality, standardizing, facilitating machinery or equipment and promoting and exhibiting batik at home and abroad," he said.

Gati added, in order to increase market access for IKM players, the Ministry of Industry has an IKM e-Smart program that cooperates with several marketplaces. Through this e-Smart program IKM products are encouraged to enter the online market, so that it has a wider market reach because it can be accessed by consumers from various regions.

"We also encourage IKM players to obtain various financing facilities such as KUR, and other banking or non-banking financing institutions to strengthen their capital structure. Thus, it is expected that the national IKM can grow significantly and its competitiveness increase," he added.