The export earnings from handicraft witnessed upward trend during the July-April period of the current financial year, reports BSS.The country earned a total of US $17.16 million from handicraft exports in 10 months (July-April) of fiscal year 2018-19. The amount is 21.88 per cent higher than the same period of the previous fiscal year.The 10-month export earnings from handicraft were also 16.5 per cent higher than the strategic target of $14.73 million.Industry insiders said there are huge potentials of handicraft in Bangladesh as skilled workforce is available in the country with low fund.For this, a large quantity of handicraft products are being exported abroad every year after meeting the local demand and thus new entrepreneurs are being created in the country.According to the data of the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the export earnings from handicraft during the July-April period of the last fiscal year was $14.08 million while the handicraft export during the last fiscal year totaled $16.69 million.But, the 10-month export earnings in the current fiscal year already totaled $17.16 million which is a sign of higher growth rate in handicraft, said owners of the handicraft industries.As per Bangladesh Handicrafts Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BHMEA), this industry also has a domestic market size of Tk 70 billion (Tk 7,000 crore).
