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Handicraft industry copes with difficulties (12/8)
12/08/2013 - 18 Lượt xem
Despite being listed in Vietnam’s
top 11 commodities that have the highest export revenue, the Vietnam
Handicraft Exporters Association (Vietcraft) said until now, handicraft
products are facing difficulties to fulfill the export revenue target of
US$1.5-1.6 billion.
Increased export revenue, reduced profits
According
to reports from the General Statistics Office, the export revenues of
handicraft products in the first half of this year increased by 18.3
percent year on year and higher than the country’s total export growth
rate of 16.1 percent. Of which, the export revenue of handbags, wallets,
suitcases, hats and umbrellas reached US$925 million (up 23.6 percent);
pottery products US$218 million (up 6.6 percent); and of rattan, bamboo
and sedge products reached US$110 million (up 5.3 percent).
Despite
the industry’s increased export revenue, the profits of enterprises
have sharply declined. General Secretary of Vietcraft Le Ba Ngoc said
low profits made enterprises unable to maintain investment for
production while the input costs continued to rise.
Director
of Kim Boi Handicraft Company Dang Quoc Hung said enterprises in the
handicraft industry are facing a host of difficulties from production to
finding consumer markets and price squeezes from importers. For
example, customers of Hung’s company asked to reduce sale prices by 20
percent and would not make orders until the second quarter of 2014.
Difficulties in consumer markets plus rising input costs had resulted in
lower profits for handicraft enterprises. Most of them are only
maintaining production activities without counting on business growth
and they even accept to receive orders of making cheap craft products.
At present, major export markets for Vietnam’s traditional handicraft
products include the US, Japan and Germany, of those the US is the only
market that has registered growth while others are witnessing many
difficulties.
Vietcraft
said almost every enterprise in the handicrafts industry is either a
small or medium in size. Subsequently, they have suffered a lot from
recent changes in the economy. According to the association’s
statistics, 30 percent of the industry’s enterprises recorded losses in
production in the last two years, so they had to cut production back or
even stop production.
A breakthrough needed
According
to the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and
Trade (MoIT), the export revenue of the handicraft industry in 2013 is
estimated to range from US$1.5-1.6 billion, equivalent to last year’s
figure and accounting for 1.5 percent of the world’s market share. To
realize this target, Vietcraft said enterprises must leave behind the
habit of living from hand to mouth. Instead, they should invest
technologies into production and focus on target products and
categories. They should also combine technologies and hand-making
methods in a bid to increase labor capacity while maintaining the fine
and distinctive features for the products.
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According
to MoIT’s statistics, each year the world handicraft market consumes
about US$100 billion of value, with the American market accounting for
US$40 billion (44 percent of the total market share), Japan 13 percent
and Germany – the biggest consumer in the EU from US$5-9 billion.
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In
the long term, enterprises should coordinate with other related
agencies to develop new designs for Vietnamese handicraft goods.
Vietcraft also reported that in the coming time it would organize
training courses and coordinate with international organizations to hold
seminars on promoting Vietnamese handicrafts exports to key markets,
contributing to improving production capabilities and competitiveness
for handicraft enterprises./.
Source: VEN
Source: VEN
