The traditional crafts of batik, weaving, and other handcrafted textiles struggle to compete with mass-produced textiles due to their labour-intensive nature. They face several challenges, including:
Lack of local cotton production due to competition from low-cost synthetic fibres, which are cheaper and easier to maintain.
Aging workforce with no new generation interested in learning traditional weaving or batiking, as they prefer working in factories.
Reliance on imported weaving threads, dyes, and cotton, causing the final price of the textile to rise.