Kathmandu, March 12:

While a major foreign currency earner, Nepali handicraft products, is doing well in the international market, people related to this sector are aggrieved at the lack of government concern for it.

“Export of handicrafts is satisfactory but it could have been better if the government paid a little more attention to its promotion,” said Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal

(FHAN) president Pushkar Man Shakya.

Recent FHAN data reveals that the sector exported handicraft products worth Rs 1,674,729,601 during the first six months of the fiscal year 2008-09. The export value in the same period last fiscal year was Rs 1,370,548,568.

Total contribution of textile products is 62.37 per cent of the total export of handicraft goods which is an increase of 32.60 per cent compared to the same period last year while the total contribution of non-textile products is 37.63 per cent which is an increase of 8.13 per cent compared to the same period last year.

According to the first six months’ data for the fiscal year 2008-09, among textile products export of Pashmina grew by 45.74 per cent to Rs 471 million while woolen goods’ increased by 24.63 per cent to Rs 281 million.

Export of hemp posted a growth of 14.61 per cent to rise to Rs 15.5 million and cotton goods registered a growth of 33.75 per cent to rise to Rs 62.96 million.

The export of Dhaka products increased by 144.02 per cent to reach Rs 2.15 million during the period. During the last fiscal year for the same period, Rs 0.882 million worth Dhaka products were exported. Allo goods also witnessed a increase in exports by 18.49 per cent to reach Rs 2.44 million.

Miscellaneous textile products like those made from rayon, polyester, velvet and jute decreased by 51.37 per cent to drop to Rs 3.53 million with a total contribution of 0.21 per cent in total export.

In the non-textile category, some products like metal craft, bone and horn products and miscellaneous goods registered a decline.

“There were marginal falls in some of the non-textile products’ export which can be recovered in the coming months. However, stone craft is doing very well mainly due to its durability and promotion efforts at different tourist spots,” said Shakya.

Stone craft exports registered an increase of 250.57 per cent compared to the same period last year, with an export value of Rs 2.213 million.

Plastic items’ export too increased by 120.22 per cent registering a total export value of Rs 14.22 million. Bamboo item exports increased by 59.82 per cent while miscellaneous goods’ export decreased by 44.41 per cent.