Exim Bank signs MoC with CNIR to boost handicraft industry

New Delhi, July 28 (UNI) In a bid to link the rural handicraft industry to the global markets, EXIM Bank today signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI) here.

Under the agreement, the bank will help NGOs and self-help groups (SHGs) to produce value-added products and to sell them in the Indian corporates as well in overseas market.

The bank will provide the marketing skills expertise to the rural artisans and SHGs through the training centers developed for the purpose at Bangalore, Ahemdabad and Pune. Moreover, it will train them regarding the packaging of the products.

''The MoC has opened a new vistas for the exports of the handicrafts as the grassroot enterprises can know much about market intelligence, skill upgradation and design improvement,'' CNRI Co Chairman L V Saptharishi said.

He further said that trade fairs should be encouraged and international fairs should also be looked upon.

Exim Bank is also planning for e-marketing and will launch a joint portal along with CNRI to showcase the rich handicraft products world over.

''Banks have now become an instrument of change and not merely money-lenders. The grassroot problems of quality standards and a better market access for the handicraft products can be solved be making the rural artisans learn the marketing skills,'' Exim Bank Chairman and Managing Director TC Venkat Subramanian said.

Addressing an interactive session on ''Linking rural industry to global markets-Role of Exim Bank'', Mr Subramanian said that there is a big market for handicrafs products in the Indian corporate sector as well as in overseas market.

In this direction, CNRI will have to consolidate the NGOs on a common platform as well as ratings to be provided to these NGOs on the basis of their performance, he added.

World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) have also shown their interest to support the handicraft sector. In this direction, IFC has made the provision of a display center in US to showcase the rural products, Mr Subramanian said.

The benefit of the globalisation should reach upto grassroot enterprises, he said adding that knowledge sharing between them can do wonders for the sector.

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