The 37th general assembly of the World Crafts Council-Asia Pacific Region (WCC-APR) kicked off in the Capital on Thursday with the objective to promote and develop the handicrafts market in the international arena.

The three-day event has been organised by the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN) in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the Nepal Tourism Board and the WCC-APR.

Dharma Raj Shakya, chairman of FHAN, said that the event would be instrumental in promoting and strengthening the status of the handicrafts market in the country, and in improving the economy of the country.

Shakya, who has also been elected as one of the vice presidents for APR of WCC, said that the demand for Nepali handicrafts has been on the rise in the international market and that stakeholders should play an active role in promoting their products and developing market linkages. “If promoted and marketed well, the handicrafts business can be a major source of foreign-currency income,” he said.

“We have also been making efforts to declare Lalitpur Metropolitan City as a World Craft City. We have fulfilled all the requirements and hope that WCC-APR will declare Lalitpur as a world craft city soon,” Shakya said. Dr Ghada Hijjawi-Qaddumi, president of WCC-APR, said that WCC-APR is keen to protect and promote the craft industry in Nepal, and that the organisation is well aware of the burgeoning Nepali handicrafts market.

The WCC-APR initiative, which covers five regions in the world, started in 2013 as an inter-regional project and will continue till 2020. The project aims at getting artisans together from different countries in one specific region annually. Events such as these will increase the skills and technical knowledge of artists, he said. “From the economic point of view, the project provides various opportunities for local as well as international artists to market handcrafted products. It also opens the host country’s access to international markets.”

According to the organisers, representatives from 17 different countries such as India, China, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Australia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand are participating in the conference.