SME Times News Bureau | 21 Jun, 2010

In order to explore new markets other than the EU and the US, Indian handicraft exporters will open a warehouse in Latin American nation Uruguay to reduce the delivery time of their products.

"The warehouse will be taken on lease by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH)," said Raj Malhotra, Chairman EPCH.

He said that the objective behind opening a warehouse at Montevideo in Uruguay is "development of a concept of ready stock in the buyer's country and a methodology to take on spot orders".

The warehouse would be available to Indian handicraft exporters within this year. The facility would help exporters improve their reach to 24 Latin American countries.

"Present exports to LAC countries are pretty low. There is a need to identify new growth territories for future expansion," Malhotra said.

The highly employment-oriented handicraft sector came under severe pressure due to the recession in the US and several European countries in the second half of the 2008-09 fiscal.

As a result, exports had plunged by over 48 per cent to USD 1.79 billion in 2008-09.

During 2009-10, these exports aggregated to USD 1.83 billion (Rs 8,718.94 crore).

India has a rich bouquet of handmade artefacts to offer to the world, including artmetal wares, woodwares, handprinted textiles and scarves, embroidered and crocheted goods, zari and zari goods and imitation jewellery.

Europe and the US account for over 60 percent of the total handicraft exports.