HIMKI Academy: Cultivating New Exporters, Expanding Global Market Reach for Furniture & Craft Industry

JAKARTA, July 15, 2025 – The Indonesian Furniture and Craft Industry Association (HIMKI) has launched HIMKI Academy, a non-formal education program designed to strengthen the capacity of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in penetrating the global market. This program is born from HIMKI's commitment to cultivate new exporters in the furniture and craft sector, which is one of the main strengths of the national industry.

Veronika R. Anggraini, Deputy Chairperson for Finance of DPP HIMKI and one of the program's main facilitators, affirmed the objective of HIMKI Academy. "We want to cultivate new exporters, especially from the furniture and craft sector, which has always been our strength," she stated.

HIMKI Academy is not just a technical training program, but a collective movement to expand export markets to non-traditional regions. "All this time, we have always talked about America, Europe, Japan. But the world is wider than that. The market potential is enormous, and we must dare to reach it," said Veronika.

HIMKI Academy's approach differs from conventional theoretical classes. The program is directly taught by experts and practitioners, including Veronika herself, who provides training alongside HIMKI Deputy Chairman Bambang Wijaya and other instructors such as Regina Kindangen. "We are all facilitators and trainers, teaching according to our respective fields. This is what makes participants feel that this training is more real, more grounded," she explained.

Strategic Collaborations and Participant Enthusiasm

The idea of HIMKI Academy has long emerged in various internal discussions within DPP HIMKI, but strong internal initiation, especially the push from HIMKI Deputy Chairperson, became the trigger for the realization of this program.

In its implementation, HIMKI Academy collaborates with Bank Indonesia (BI) as its first partner. According to Veronika, BI is not only a financial institution but also has an extensive MSME development network in various regions. "We want the CSR from large companies like Bank Indonesia to have a greater impact. One of them is through collaborations like this," she added.

Veronika believes that collaboration will be key to the sustainability of HIMKI Academy. Going forward, HIMKI is open to cooperation with State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) or other private parties, such as Pertamina and Bank Mandiri, who have similar development programs. "The more involved, the greater the impact. Because this big dream cannot be achieved alone," she asserted.

The enthusiasm of the participants proves that this initiative addresses a real need. Of the 31 selected participants, all are industry players with curated business scales. HIMKI applies strict selection to ensure a balanced class, avoiding too wide a disparity among participants.

Business Connection Targets and HIMKI Academy's Long-Term Vision

The primary target of this training is not just knowledge transfer, but HIMKI's commitment to connect participants with international buyers through networks such as the Indonesian Design Promotion Center (IDPC). The hope is clear: to create real business connections that open concrete export opportunities. "We facilitate business matching, so they can truly enter overseas markets," said Veronika.

Despite acknowledging various challenges ahead, Veronika remains optimistic. She even dreams that HIMKI Academy will eventually have a permanent training space in the city center, complete with modern facilities and a global partner network. "We want to have our own campus, maybe in Sudirman, so that this training can continue and expand," she concluded.

Amidst an industry facing many challenges, data shows that the annual growth of the furniture and craft sector remains stable. This indicates that export opportunities remain wide open, as long as industry players continue to learn and are willing to act. HIMKI Academy is an important step in realizing this vision towards a wider gateway to the global market.