BANGKA – Traditional clothes are one of the characteristics of an area, almost all provinces in Indonesia have its different traditional clothes. Traditional clothes are even thick with the culture and traditions of the community.
The Province of the Bangka Belitung Islands also has traditional clothes, namely paksian clothes, one of the traditional dress craftsmen in Bangka Belitung, namely Sudarti, a resident of Sungailiat, Bangka.
Sudarti has been struggling to make traditional clothes, even she has made traditional clothes for all regencies on Bangka Island. In 2017 the traditional clothes that she assembled were officially accepted by the Bangka government.
Becoming an artisan of traditional clothes certainly has its own challenges for Sudarti, such as the difficulty of getting raw materials in the form of knick-knacks. Knick-knacks must be imported from other provinces. Even so, Sudarti continued to run her business.
“My obstacle is the difficulty of raw materials to make traditional Bangka clothes, for the raw materials themselves are only in Pangkalpinang. Knick-knacks are also only available in Jakarta, so they have to go through a delivery process,” said this PT Timah Tbk fostered partner some time ago.
Traditional clothes have a promising market share, because traditional clothes are often used in important events such as weddings and regional events. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sudarti's efforts had an impact.
For now, ordering Bangka traditional clothes has started again and she was confused about borrowing capital for the business. Finally, she decided to become a foster partner of PT Timah Tbk and received a capital injection.
She was greatly helped because the Small Capital Business Funding (PUMK) of PT Timah Tbk made it easier for her to return to her business. This traditional Bangka clothing business is a source of income for herself and her family.
"Thank God I got a loan from PT Timah and I will use this loan to increase capital because yesterday was difficult because of the Covid-19 period. I also want to make my business bigger,” she said.
Sudarti hopes that PT Timah Tbk's Micro Small Business Funding (PUMK) can turn small entrepreneurs into thriving entrepreneurs.
