It’s indeed great news that handicraft exports from India have grown tremendously. And without doubt I would say the credit goes to the exporters and also to Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts whose ceaseless effort have borne fruit.

Moreover, the exporters' entry into newer geographies too has accounted for this 30 percent increase and now stands at USD 484 million in April-December 2004.

Over the years I have seen that exporters today are not shy to venture into relatively newer markets. Another aspect I have noticed is that the neo-exporter is always on his toes changing the product line as per customer designs, improving quality and cutting down production costs.

However, we still have a long way to go from here. We have to understand both our strong and weak points and act accordingly. We are still to set foot in markets that have remained untouched by our products till now. The coming years are crucial and who else would know that better than our exporters themselves. I see them working overtime already. And why not? Strike when the iron is hot!