Kathmandu, February 19:

Handicraft Association of Nepal (HAN), in coordination with Export Promotion Committee (EPC), ministry for industry commerce and supplies (MoICS), is organising the seventh Handicraft Trade Fair in Kathmandu at Birendra International Conference Centre, Kathmandu from February 23 – 27.

The main objectives of the five-day long event is to promote handicraft industry, said Bikash Ratna Dha-wka, vice-president of HAN and the coordinator of the event. It would be a platform for the producers to expose their new products and also to explore the market opportunities, he added.

“Despite the adverse economic scenario of the country handicrafts export has posted a growth of 11 per cent. It generates about Rs 2.85 million through export but handicraft has a huge domestic demand also. This event would be important for the manufacturers to find out the domestic consumption of handicrafts,” said Dhakwa.

Pancha Ratna Shakya, president of HAN said that the event would play a vital role in developing a network. “As buyers, producers and exporters would all gather under a single roof, the event would provide an ample opportunity for all to build a marketing linkage,” he said. The organisers are hopeful that the event would be visited by more than 100,000 people generating a sales of about three million rupees in five days.

Europe’s delegation is also participating in the event.