Modern technology to rescue of handicrafts sector

10 Apr '09

2 min read

Handicraft industry across the globe and more particularly in the Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia has gone in to a tailspin since the economic crisis has erupted and is one of the sectors which has been affected the most.

But a small community of handicraft artisans from the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam has been able to meet the crisis head on by investing in the latest technology machines to produce handicrafts at competitive rates and survive the backlash.

Craftsmen are weaving mats on modern machines, installed with soft loans provided by the lending agencies and in the process have been able to nearly treble the daily output, leading to better income levels for each of them.

According to experts, the machine woven mats have better designs and patterns which will ultimately help the artisans sell them in better numbers. But at the same time they also question the use of machines, in a trade which is essentially produced by hands.

They argue the authenticity of these products will be lost if machines are used on a large scale and in the future the handicrafts may loose the sheen acquired over centuries of having been manufactured carefully and diligently with hands.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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