Nepal - Handicraft exports up 17 percent

08 Jun, 2009 - Nepal
Exports of handicraft goods went up by 17 percent over the first nine months of the current fiscal year. However, exporters noted that the growth has come largely due to the weakening of the Nepali currency.

Between mid-July 2008 and mid-April 2009, Nepal exported handicraft goods worth Rs 2.22 billion to around 80 different countries, compared with Rs 1.89 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN).

In terms of the US currency, however, exports in the nine months of this fiscal year had fallen by 0.3 percent, to US$29.51 million.

Dilip Khanal, executive secretary of FHAN, attributed this discrepancy in the overall picture to the gains made by the US dollar vis-�-vis the Nepali currency. A dollar was valued at between Rs 68.85 and Rs 80.15 in the first nine months of 2008/09, whereas it had averaged between Rs 64.45 and Rs 65.44 in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

But that same factor, the increase in the dollar�s value against the Nepali rupee, does not provide a blanket explanation for the increments made by certain export items. Pashmina products, for instance, saw a growth in exports because pashmina companies diversified their products range. Exports of pashmina products had gone up by 31 percent, to Rs 573.65 million, in the nine-month period this year.

"This is because Nepali traders are now exporting not just pashmina shawls, but a wide range of pashmina products, including sweaters and ponchos," Khanal said.

This year, Nepali pashmina products--which made up 26 percent of the total handicrafts exported--were exported to around 40 countries around the world. Of this, Rs 200.95 million-worth of pashmina products, around 35 percent of the total pashmina exported, had reached the United States alone, making the country the largest importer of this prime Nepali product.

Exports of woolen products, which make up 15 percent of the total handicraft exports, also went up by 27 percent to Rs 336.95 million in the nine-month period. Exports of other textile items, such as felt, cotton, hemp and dhaka products, also went up both in terms of Nepali as well as the US currency.

Among non-textile items, exports of silver jewelry, which make up 12 percent of the total handicraft exports, went up by a marginal eight percent to Rs 265.05 million. But in terms of the amount of US currency generated, that figure fell nine percent.

Similarly, handmade paper products, which constitute up to eight percent of the total handicrafts exported, saw its exports go up by 17 percent in terms of the Nepali currency but fall 2 percent in terms of the US dollar.

Top 5 importers of Nepali handicraft products:

The USA - Rs 633.12million
Germany - Rs 238.84 million
Japan - Rs 188.28 million
The UK - Rs 166.73 million
France - Rs 148.33 million

*Figures based on the first 9 months of current FY

Source: myrepublica.com