High demand for Lankan handicrafts in Los Angeles

ANJANA Samarasinghe

HANDICRAFTS: The National Chamber of Handicrafts of Sri Lanka (NCHSL) was able to gain USD 5,000 worth of orders at the sources of Los Angeles, an international trade fair for giftware items which was held in USA recently.

CEO of NCHSL, A.C. Nawagamuwa said that the tour was successful and the Chamber received orders for brass elephants and soft toys such as jigsaw puzzles.

There were inquiries for textile-based products such as cushion covers, batik items, cosmetics bags, jewellery and recyclable papers. Now the chamber is in the process of sending relevant details for buyers. Most of these buyers are representing sports clubs and charity organisations.

There were inquiries about Laksha furniture. One of the American furniture companies has asked the Chamber to supply Laksha components for their products. They produce Laksha ornaments and this is a new concept.

Some of the buyers wanted to place large orders which members couldn't cater to. The main reason is all these are hand made products and it takes a long time to complete large orders which will be unable to meet the buyers' deadlines. The Chamber will group their members who produce these products to cater to these markets.

Comparing with other participants at the Fair, Sri Lankan textile based products are of a good quality and high in demand.

But local brass items were expensive compared to items from India, Bangladesh and China. These countries manufacture brass metals with no additional cost for imports, he said.

According to Nawagamuwa there is a huge demand in the giftware market for utility products.

The Chamber has also made arrangements to promote handicraft products in USA with the help of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington DC and the HWK Koblenz Chamber of Germany through the chamber development project of the FCCISL has funded for the tour.

The Chamber also expects to participate in the Venture Sri Lanka, trade fair to be held in India next month.