Handicraft handicap

While Cambodian handicrafts such as silk clothing, stone and wood carvings and rattan furniture are popular with tourists, who snap up the articles at gift shops and airports, the size of the sector is nowhere near what it might be, according to industry insiders. They say production problems and the lack of an organized system to get products from local villages to international markets are holding back the sector. “The actual amount of handicraft exports is tiny,” said Mey Kaylan, a government advisor and national project director of the One Village, One Product National Committee, which promote traditional handicrafts. “It should be reaching millions of dollars every year,” he told Economics Today. But, the numbers are far below that. Acoording to figures from the Commerce Ministry, last year just US$348,359 worth of Cambodian handicrafts were sold on the international market. Admittedly, there has been growth this year- the ministry reported that during the first four months of 2012 some US$106,925 went overseas-but it is still far below potential, experts say. … According to Hun Lak, secretary general of Federation of Association for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (FASMEC), the status of the handicraft sector is a story of missed opportunity, particularly given the fact that the products are highly valued by many countries, especially the United States and Europe. …