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| A salesperson arranging the batik on display at Batik Desamas' booth at the Made in Brunei Expo at the Airport Mall recently. Picture: BT/Al-Haadi Abu Bakar |
Batik Desamas, the firm that has fused tradition with modern technology in its production of batik, is hoping to expand into the export market with additional funding from government sources.
The proprietor of Batik Desamas, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim, said that he would not be able to meet global demand without additional financial assistance, even though the business has been export-ready for some time.
"The demand is there. The people out there now recognise Brunei's batik as one of the best in the industry, in terms of design," he said in an interview with The Brunei Times.
Batik Desamas is one of the several companies that is taking part in the "Made in Brunei" Expo at the Airport Mall.
Recently, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim has been experimenting with new fabric, particularly a new type of cotton that has textural qualities akin to silk, and since then has drawn interest from his customers.
In addition, the textile has grabbed a lot of attention from tourists, particularly at its kiosk at Muara Port where international cruises dock.
But, with increased interest comes the challenge of supplying beyond his current capacity, which produces about 300 to 1,000 metres of Batik daily.
A pioneer in Brunei's batik scene, Brunei's Batik Designer, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim had started hand-printing batik since 2000.
The Batik Designer said his business has been doing well in the local scene following its introduction of his Digital Batik system.
His Batik is well sought-after among participants in events and national occasions, such as the National Day celebration.
The system, developed by Zainal through financial assistance from the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) two years ago, applies advanced software and engineering to digitalise his hand-drawn work, which can then be replicated to produce a whole range of Batik products.
The new system is aimed to allow mass production of his Batik designs, as traditional method of producing Batik is not enough to meet the global demand.
Production has been outsourced to Indonesia and recently, to South Korea, which according to Zainal, has drawn criticisms from some locals.
"Often, the mindset of Bruneians is that when we say that we outsource our production overseas, they made the assumption that we import our products," he said.
Zainal said he has been actively clarifying the misconception, adding that his approach is more cost-efficient, rather than having the whole business operations entirely in Brunei. In his current capacity, the cost of bringing the production facility to the Sultanate would be very expensive.
"A lot of successful companies out there, such as in America and South Korea, actually outsource their production to countries like China and the Philippines, and then export to the rest of the world," he explained.
He said his business model has a better value proposition than his competitors', which mainly focuses on selling imported Batik, as he has full control of design and production.
Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/2013/04/15/export-capital-intensive-batik-maker
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