'Kashmir handicrafts can sell like hot cakes if better

Laying stress upon better branding of Kashmir Handicrafts, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today called for a concerted effort to overcome challenges in better marketing of hand-made products in the burgeoning domestic and international markets.
Describing today's entrepreneur as a 'technopreneur' who is ready to take on the world, Sayeed said the export-oriented handicraft products will sell like hot cakes, even in wake of fierce competition, if we stick to globally-recognised benchmarks in originality and pricing.
Investors should take a cue from the remarkable success of International Buyer-Seller meet held earlier this year that saw enquiries and online bookings reach a new high, Sayeed told a delegation of KCCI which called on him here.

"Our products will continue to capture foreign markets if we sell them genuine items with certified price tags," he said, while laying stress on GI (Geographical Indication) registration of famed hand-made items," the Chief Minister said.
"Our initiatives on selling original products have seen the markets bracing for the prospect of heavy influx of Kashmir Handicraft," he told the delegation, while emphasising upon enhancing the volume of production to meet huge demand from new emerging markets.
Expressing concern over markets swarming with fakes in the name of Kashmir Handicraft, the Chief Minister asked the delegation to play its role in identifying persons who masquerade as sellers of genuine products, thus bringing a bad name to the industry.

He said aggressive marketing is required to make people turn their heads towards products made with such finesse.
Kashmir Expo-2015, which attracted business delegates from as many as 21 countries in the summer capital in May, saw sales worth USD 700,000 made on the first two days.