Zohra Chatterji, secretary, Ministry of Textiles, declared open the four-day-long third edition of Asia’s highly specialised and product-segmented mega triple show Home Expo India (HEI-2014), organised by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH). The event took place amid a colourful ceremony at the India Expo Centre and Mart here.
While inaugurating the mega triple show, the secretary stressed that “there is a need to do some extra work in expanding our exports base to other non-traditional markets which have considerable buying powers and where the standard of living has been on increase. Even though, the size of market may not be as large as is available in the traditional markets of Europe and USA, we need to make some extra efforts to devote our energies to the markets in Central Asia, West Asia, South East Asia and latin American regions.”
The export performance of these sectors during the last years has been very impressive and that the growth in furniture and accessories exports has been 47.56 per cent (furnishing, floorings and textiles stood at 27.45 per cent and houseware and decorative stood at 21.42 per cent).
Home Expo India represents the products which have largest growth rate in the international market as they mostly relate to consumer’s requirement. India has a very versatile production base in all segments of home requirement and the raw material base is so wide and large that it can produce different types and different designs.
“What is needed is adaption and innovation in presentation and usages,” she added.The secretary suggested that perhaps the exporting community on their own also need to divert their attention from main and easily accessible markets to those markets where extra efforts are required and who will provide us safe ground in difficult times in future.
Chatterji said that she has been informed by EPCH that “Autumn edition of Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair is being launched as a Mega event with Bigger space, Grander display with more product categories and longer in duration. Extensive publicity and promotion amongst buying community overseas is being done by EPCH with the help of international design experts to induce and encourage more and more buyers of different product categories to visit the forthcoming mega event in October, 2014.”
She said that the Ministry of Textiles will extend all necessary support in the ambitious venture of Autumn edition of IHGF 2014 which is being launched as a mega event in which around 6,000 buyers, importers and representative are expected to result in much more larger orders, trade enquiries and tie ups.
The secretary lauded the role of the Council in successfully promoting handicrafts trade through trade fairs during the last more than 15 years or so. Of late, EPCH has branched out to specialised fairs which is in keeping with the trends in the international market.Earlier, in his welcome address, lekhraj Maheshwari, chairman of EPCH, said that the Home Expo India 2014 is laying emphasis on display of products from Jammu & Kashmir. last year, the focus was on tribal belts of India like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
J & K is a state where specialised kind of floorings, furnishings are produced which are typical of their craftsmanship. The furniture and accessories are broadly made of walnut wood with typical Kashmiri carving. Houseware and textiles items are also typical for their designs, colours scheme and presentation.
Though products of J&K are already being exported yet volume of export has not been substantial. It is hoped that with the special emphasis on display of J&K in Home Expo India, the products of the state will receive extra attention from the visiting overseas buying community, the Chairman elaborated. As in the past, EPCH has undertaken massive publicity and promotion amongst buying community and it is expected that buyer turn out will be very satisfactory during the show.
It is hoped that this show will not only bring more export orders but will also encourage and result in tie ups, joint ventures, business alliances and collaboration between India and foreign companies.During the course of the fair, another important aspects of the Home Expo India is the curtain raiser of IHGF Delhi Fair-Autumn 2014 being re-launched by the Council with bigger space, 12 segmented product groups and 2,750 exhibitors and longer in duration on April 16 at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida.
Two seminars, the first on power of E-commerce to boost the handicrafts exports by Amazon.com and second on trends and forecost will be held on April 17. EPCH is the nodal export promotion body for handicrafts in India and plays an important role of a catalyst between the exporters, buyers and the government with the main objective of boosting trade in Handicrafts and also project India’s image in the global market as a reliable supplier.