August 2: According to Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal, Nepal has exported handicraft products amounting to above Rs 4.75 billion in recently concluded fiscal year (FY) 2072/2073.

As per the federation, maximum handicrafts were exported to US. Federation informed of exporting Rs 1.36m billion worth of handicrafts to US which is 30 percent of the total export. Similarly, the lowest amount of export was made to Monaco amounting Rs 25,000. Currently, Nepali handicrafts are exported to more than 60 countries including USA, Germany, UK, France, Philippines, Canada, Kuwait, Japan, China and India.

However, the total amount of exported handicraft has decreased in the last year by Rs 20 million compared to the export of FY 2071/2072. The decrease has been attributed to the devastating earthquake followed by Indian blockade of the last year. Among the handicraft products exported in 2072/2073, metal handicrafts were the number one exported item. During the period, metal handicrafts worth Rs 1.223 billion were exported.

“There is high demand of Nepali handicraft products such as natural fibers, glass utensils, garlands of Bodhichitta and Rudrakchhya,” said Dharma Raj Shakya, President of Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal. According to him, the demand of new handicraft product is increasing in international market rather than traditional handicraft products.