A few large workshops work on order from foreign companies, but they lack the flexibility of the local expatriates, who have a better hunch for finding local talents and creating new designs.

This semi-legal way of doing business in the Balinese handicraft and garment industry has been criticized in the Indonesian press. Local competitors complain that the expatriates enjoy undue advantage by not paying taxes. There is also little legal protection for the local business partners and the workers: everything is relied on trust and cheating is not uncommon. However, the Indonesian authorities tolerate this semi-legal expatriate community as it contributes to the economic development of the Balinese economy and society.

Numerous hinterland villages, particularly in the Gianyar regency, literally live from handicraft exports, usually through such expatriate intermediaries. One has to admit that they have a positive impact on the local job market and, even indirectly, on the stability of Balinese village life and culture: the youths that remain at home are more active in dance and music than ever.