Lao handicrafts encouraged to value add for export
Lao handicrafts encouraged to value add for export
Lao handicraft makers can increase domestic and export sales with value adding by developing attractive desig ns and using improved craft methods.
That was the opinion of Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Mr Somchith Inthamith who spoke recently during the opening of a cooperative seminar titled “New Lao Gift, New Lao Handicraft,” organised by Lao Handicraft Association and Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO).
The seminar provided handicraft group representatives the chance to listen to Japanese experts on how to make their products more attractive and other ways to value add thereby increasing sales to tourists in the country and on international markets.
JETRO opened its Vientiane office last year, aiming to make it easier for Japanese companies to send missions to Laos and help promote loca l industries such as silk weaving and wooden handicrafts for export to Japan.
Mr S omchith explained that 80 percent of Lao people live in rural areas and are involved in handicraft related production, so if they could produce and design more appealing products, particularly by employing value addi ng techniques, this would attract more interest from the Japanese market.
“In 2008 the value of exports to the Japanese market reached US$80 million, increased to over US$100 million in 2010 and was about US$250 million last year.”
Japan is currently ranked seventh for investment in Laos, with the most popular exports to Japan being handicrafts such as fabrics and wood products, plus coffee and tea, according to a Trade and Product Promotion Department report.
“Handicraft products are also an important income source for people living in rural areas as well as cities and a way to improve their living conditions,” Mr Somchith explained.
Laos will integrate with the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by the end of this year resulting in increasing competition for entrepreneurs across all sectors of the economy meaning they'll have to improve their products to compete.
Representative of JETRO in Laos, Mr Shibata Tetsuo said Laos could benefit from hosting the Asean Summit in 2016 and use it as a way to promote its handicraft products.
Mr Tetsuo believed that enhancing handicraft product development would encourage Lao craftspeople to participate further in international marketing, especially once the country integrates with the AEC.
