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Individuals working in the creative industries are still struggling to secure bank loans, despite the government’s efforts to support them, crafts makers said at a recent creative industry exhibition.

“It’s quite hard for us to get low-interest credit,” Nina, a 48-year-old batik maker, said on Friday, adding that many banks were charging as much as 17 percent interest on business loans.

“Many of us are running family businesses. We don’t have professional management, but there are good opportunities in the local and export markets.”

The government had declared 2009 as the year of the creative industries, which include sectors such as handicrafts, fashion, film and furniture production.

It expects the creative industries to help support economic growth by contributing to gross domestic product this year.

Most companies in the creative industries are small- to medium-sized enterprises.

According to 2006 data supplied by the Ministry of Trade, the most recent figures available, the creative industries accounted for roughly 6.28 percent of gross domestic product.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially opened the Indonesian Creative Product Weekend Exhibition at the Jakarta Convention Center on Friday.

“I am optimistic that domestic creative industries will be able to compete globally,” he said.

The president added that measures should be taken to raise public awareness of the creative industries.

“We have to introduce this to children and teach them about the economic and cultural benefits they offer,” he said.

The government, the president said, was determined to provide assistance, including better financial support for small- and medium-sized companies, through the Kredit Usaha Rakyat program, which provides micro-loans.

Total sales from this year’s creative industry exhibition, which closed on Sunday, is likely to be lower. As of midday Sunday, the total reached Rp 29.7 billion compared with Rp34.4 billion in the last year’s event.

Trade Minister Mari Pangestu had earlier said that the government would help promote local products, including creative ones.

She also said Indonesians working in the creative industries would get help protecting their intellectual property.