Handicraft exports untouched by pandemic

Handicraft exports have increased despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with earnings in the sector in the first seven months of the current financial year surpassing those of the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Export Promotion Bureau data shows handicraft export income from July to January of FY21 reached $19.61 million – up by 48.22% from the same period of FY20. Export earnings in the whole FY20 were $20.52 million.

Industry players say the pandemic has boosted the demand for Bangladeshi handicrafts as European countries are avoiding importing products from China and are taking an increased interest in using natural products.

Handicrafts from Bangladesh are exported to over 50 countries and the products with the highest export volumes include jute goods, baskets made of hogla leaves, bamboo and cane, floor mats and carpets, nakshi kantha and nakshi bedsheets, and items made through recycling.

At present, 60% of Bangladeshi handicrafts are exported to Europe. Other key markets include North America and the Middle East.

Bangladesh Handicraft Manufacturers and Exporters Association's Secretary Md Shahjalal told The Business Standard that it is now necessary to build a handicraft village to cash in on the trend of increasing demand.

He said Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, India, and China, built handicraft villages with the help of their governments, and the advantage is that buyers make orders on the spot as they get all the products under the same roof.

"Buyers do not come here because we do not have such a system. We demand that the government set up a handicraft village soon. Our members will have stalls there," Shahjalal explained.

Shahid Hossain Shamim, vice-president of the association that is also known as Banglacraft, said they had demanded that the government provide 20% cash assistance like before to help increase exports further.

He said the amount had suddenly been brought down to 10% in FY20.

"Consumers around the world are now interested in using natural products. We have to capture this market," added Shamim.

Jute goods and baskets of different sizes made of hogla leaves account for 50% of export earnings, said the Banglacraft secretary.

This fiscal year's export target for the handicraft and cottage industries has been set at $28 million.

Rashedul Karim Munna, convener of the Bangladesh Multipurpose Jute Products Association and a member of the SME Foundation, told The Business Standard that the United States and European countries are looking for alternatives to China in terms of supply chain, which has given Bangladesh an edge.

He said Bangladesh's handicrafts have great potential and low-wage skilled workers are available in the country.

"Now we need to set up a training institute for handicraft research and design development," added Munna.

Small players in the soup

Despite the increase in exports, the crisis is still not over for small business entrepreneurs. Industry players say large businesses are able to export their products, but small ones lag behind and are unable to sell theirs.

Ishrat Jahan owns Tulika, which exports various handicraft products, such as jute bags, as per buyers' demands. Her office was in a flat in Uttara before the pandemic, but she has now moved to a smaller space.

She also downsized her business, cutting the number of workers from 15 to two-three, as orders plummeted.

Ishrat exported $25,000 worth of handicrafts in the last six months. She now has a $10,000 order.

"I kept the office closed for two months at the beginning of the pandemic. After reopening, I arranged for the staff to stay in the office. There was a raw materials crisis and I had to collect them from different sources. There were many other challenges," she recalled.

She said there is a lot of demand for Bangladeshi handicrafts on the international market, but small business entrepreneurs do not know how to get their products there.

"After repeated contact, I received a $10,000 dollar order from Italy," she added.

She thinks a platform should be created to give small enterprise entrepreneurs the chance to export their products in order to take this sector forward, and foreign embassies in Bangladesh could play a role in this regard.

Ishrat also suggested organising fairs regularly to display Banglacraft members' products in different parts of the country.

Banglacraft's Shahjalal said 125 of the association's 450 members export their goods.

He said the sales of small businesses fell drastically due to the pandemic and many of the business owners tried to get loans from banks under the Covid-19 stimulus packages offered by the government.

"However, they complained that they could not get loans as they were unable to provide the documents they were asked for," he continued.