Vietnam is rich in traditional arts and crafts. The most famous Vietnam handicrafts include cane & bamboo craft, ceramics, stones, natural fibre products, wooden handicrafts, metal craft and silk embroideries. The techniques of manufacturing crafts in Vietnam are very peculiar, high quality and cheaper than anywhere in the world informed Rakesh Kumar, Director General – EPCH.
Vietnam has traditional skills like India but more competitive in nature and have greater market share in comparison to India. To understand the traditional skills and craftsmanship with usages of technology in making high quality crafts in Vietnam, a high level delegation led by Shantmanu, Development Commissioner [Handicrafts] visited Vietnam from 18 – 21 May, 2019. RK Verma, Director – EPCH, Rajesh Jain, Zesmina Zeliang, COA Members – EPCH and other prominent member exporters of EPCH from Moradabad, Agra Khurja and North Eastern Region consisted the delegation further said Kumar.
The delegation visited Urban Lifestyle and Interior show at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, Vietnam which showcases products like furniture, handicrafts, gifts, garden accessories, decorative, lifestyle and natural fibre products. The delegation saw the various craft products produced as per international demands and customized to the need of the overseas buyers displayed in the show. The delegation also met Nguyen Chanh Phuong, Vice Chairman of Handicrafts and Wood Industry Association (HAWA), Vietnam, the organiser of the show.
EPCH Delegation met Hoang Chinh Nghia, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Industry & Trade, Agency for Regional Industry & Trade, Vietnam and also called upon HE Parvataneni Harish, Ambassador, Embassy of India in Vietnam and discussed the purpose of the visit and way forward for Indian handicrafts exporters.
A Meeting with Trinh Quoc Dat, Deputy President of Vietnam Association of Craft Villages (VICRAFTS], an EPCH MOU partner in Vietnam was also held during the visit. During visit to Vietnam a series of visit to various handicrafts clusters which included ceramics at Bat Trang Ceramics Pottery, Natural Fibre products cluster at Phu Vinh, wood carving cluster at Son Dong, Silk embroidery cluster at Van Phuc, metal casting cluster at Bac Ninh and stone craft cluster at Da Nang took place. They interacted with the entrepreneurs working at these clusters to see and understand the production processes in these important craft clusters located close to Hanoi.
The visit of high level delegation to Vietnam will help in motivating the handicrafts exporting community to start using technology in production of handicrafts products with techniques being used in Vietnam which will result in enhancing quality of Indian handicrafts as per standards and demands prevalent in the world markets said Rakesh Kumar, DG – EPCH.
India & Vietnam enjoy a very cordial relation with a total bilateral trade of $12.83 bn registering a growth of around 27 per cent. The possibility of further enhancing the trade between two countries is enormous and it is high time that there is more people to people contact between two countries so that the trade can flourish. Vietnam is an important South East Asian Country having rich tradition of handicrafts like ceramics, stoneware, natural fibre products, metal crafts, woodware and many more. The range of products, quality and finish is amongst the best in the world and is important that Indian manufacturer exporters should acquire understanding of various techniques of product development and production infrastructure so as to explore the possibility of future joint ventures and synergize the strengths of each other.
