Local handicraft makers have been failing to substantially scale up overseas sales over the years, hamstrung by the absence of necessary design upgradation facilities, said exporters and market players. As taste and choice are always changeable, product upgradation is needed to meet the buyers’ requirements, they said. They noted that most of the handicraft makers in the country cannot follow the global trend properly in the absence of required designs and training centres. They also blamed poor promotional campaign and advertisement by the authorities concerned for fewer-than-expected export market penetration. However, export earnings from the craft industry increased slightly in the last fiscal year. Country’s export earnings from the sector increased by 16.27 per cent to U$ 8.72 million in the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 from U$ 7.50 million in the FY 2013-14, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed. “We still largely depend on the local market as most of our entrepreneurs are unable to export goods as per buyers’ demand,” said Bangladesh Handicraft Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BHMEA) president S. U. Haider. He demanded setting up of a design development centre as many entrepreneurs, especially in rural areas, fail to upgrade their products according to the customers’ demand. “A very insignificant number of handicraft makers can experiment with their designs as they have necessary capital and logistics. Small and medium entrepreneurs cannot do this. They depend on old designs and trends,” he said. Nearly 0.4 million small and large entrepreneurs from rural to urban level are involved with this industry. But the association has some 400 members and 150 of them are engaged with export of handicrafts, he added. The BHMEA president said they have long been urging the government to set up a training and design centre. The government allocated land in the city for handicraft design and training centre more than one decade ago. Successive governments gave them assurance of handing over this land, but they have yet to get it, he said. “We hope the policy on handicraft industry will help resolve such problems,” he said. The cabinet has recently approved “The Hasta and Karushilpa Nitimala-2015” for development of the sector. He also stressed the need for giving cash incentives on all handicraft products to encourage the exporters. “Now we get 10 to 15 per cent cash subsidy on 13 products like jute, clay, leather, wood, candle-made and non-traditional jewellery products.” Bertha Jity Baroi, director of the CORR the Jute Works, one of the big exporters, said demand for craft items is increasing gradually in overseas market due to its gravity and environment-friendly quality. “If we get proper support to make quality handicraft products, earnings can increase remarkably every year,” she said, adding that sometimes they don’t get required raw materials and don’t get the same in time. Bangladesh exports handicrafts mostly to the European Union, the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, the UAE and Hong Kong. The most exportable items are baskets which are made of jute, cane, sea grass, date leaves and sugar palm leaves, clay products, including terracotta, terracotta tali, jute shopping bags and jute gardening products etc.
