EPCH hosts seminar on “Trend & Design Forecast – Autumn / Winter 2022” for member exporters
NEW DELHI – 29th NOVEMBER’ 2021 – Today, EPCH organized an awareness seminar on Importance of insurance in Exports; TREND & DESIGN FORECAST – AUTUMN/WINTER 2022 and VRIKSH – Indian Timber Legality Assessment & verification Scheme for member exporters at Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and was part of an ongoing exercise that EPCH undertakes in various craft clusters across the country on a regular basis informed Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General-EPCH.
The programme was attended by Haji Fazlur Rehman, Member of the Parliament (LS) from Saharanpur, Raj Kumar Malhotra, Chairman-EPCH, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General-EPCH & Chairman IEML, Neeraj Khanna, COA Member EPCH, Avdesh Agarwal, Co-Opted Member COA & Regional Coordinator CR EPCH, Mohd. Ausaf, Co-Opted Member COA & Joint Convener CR EPCH, Irfan Ul Haq, President, Saharanpur Wood Carving Manufacturer’s Association, Ramji Suneja, Member, Regional Committee CR EPCH, Najmul Islam, Prominent Exporter from Moradabad, Mohit Chopra, Member, Regional Committee CR EPCH and Shiraj Alvi, President, Roorkee exporters association. The programme was also attended by over 100 exporters from the region.
Adding further, Dr. Kumar said in today’s business environment it is very important that new products with latest designs are developed as per the trends and forecasts so as to remain competitive in the international market. He further said that necessary compliances with respect to timber legality is another aspect which is to be taken care of by the wooden handicraft exporters and EPCH’s Timber legality assessment & verification scheme – VRIKSH which is acceptable in 183 CITES signatory countries aims to do the same for the exporter. Adding further he said, we are witnessing very uncertain times with the ongoing pandemic, hence it becomes even more important to insure the export merchandise for which he introduced M/s Alliance Insurance brokers who made a presentation today. He congratulated the Saharanpur Wood Carving Manufacturer’s Association for the cluster development initiative at Saharanpur.
Dr Kumar laid stress on introducing the youngsters in the handicrafts business as they have new ideas and with fresh ideas, sector can grow in future. Exporter’s must adopt technology for volume production. Adding further, he said, the need for adopting b2b e-commerce and warehousing facility in the overseas markets so as to provide just-in-time delivery of the goods in the destination countries. This approach has become even more important in today’s time when the exports is facing acute shortage of containers.
Rajkumar Malhotra said that Saharanpur is one of the very important wooden handicraft clusters of the country with exports of around Rs. 1000 Crores during the year 2020-21. Keeping in view the long tradition of woodworking in this cluster, it has immense potential for exports and with better design and product development support the exports can Increase many fold in the years ahead.
Malhotra informed the gathering that Mohd. Ausaf (Guddu), General Secretary of Saharanpur Wood Carving Manufacturers Association and Shining Handicrafts from Saharanpur has been co-opted as the Co-opted member from Saharanpur Region in Committee of Administration of EPCH and with his representation in the council we hope that suggestions pertaining to the development of Handicrafts sector from the region would be taken up and addressed in a much faster way.
Haji Fazlur Rehman, member of the parliament (LS) thanked EPCH for the role it played in promoting the exports of handicrafts from Saharanpur. He proposed that keeping in view, Dr. Kumar’s tireless efforts towards growth of exports from the region, cluster gate may be named after him in his honour in the cluster. After this Ramji Suneja supported this.
Shishir Sandipan, Business Head, M/s Alliance Insurance explained the importance of export shipment insurance to the participants and urged exporters to avail the insurance facilities to safeguard their export consignments.
Amla Srivastava, Head Designer, EPCH, Trends & Forecasts faculty elaborated on the subject and informed that the participants that a post-pandemic reflection fuels a sense of perspective; we can find joy in trying times and create change in the world. Customers are in an explorative mood, seeking out and indulging new facets of their own personality. Exporters must understand the mindset of the consumer and then design and develop your products,
EPCH is a nodal agency for promoting exports of handicrafts from the Country to various destinations of the world and projecting India’s image abroad as a reliable supplier of high quality handicrafts goods & services. The Handicrafts exports during the seven months of current financial year from April to October, 2021-22 is Rs. 19119.48 Crores registering a growth of over 50.88% over the same period last year.
