70 percent value addition in felt products

With more than 70 per cent value addition, felt, a kind of textile used to make handicraft and other products, has emerged as one of the promising sectors for investment in Nepal.

The felt industry which launched its products just a decade ago, exported goods worth Rs. 1.15 billion in the last fiscal year. Felt goods of about Rs. 900 million were exported in the previous fiscal.

 “This is a very promising sector for investment which has benefitted both the investors and government,” said Naindra Prasad Upadhyaya, secretary at the Ministry of Commerce.

Felt is a textile that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. It can be made of natural fibers such as wool or synthetic fibers such as acrylic.

The felt industries use sheep wool as the raw material which comes from New Zealand.

“We import the wool of about Rs. 250 million to Rs. 300 million and export finished goods of Rs. 1.15 billion. Despite the earthquakes and blockade, the export of felt products has increased this year,” informed Naresh Lal Shrestha, president of Felt Industries Association of Nepal (FIAN).

According to Trade and Export Promotion Center’s recent statistics, Nepal exported felt goods worth Rs. 746 million in the first seven months of this fiscal which is approximately 12 per cent higher than the same period in the last year.

Last year felt products of Rs. 666 million were exported from Nepal.

Upadhyaya informed that felt handicrafts worth only Rs. 4 million were exported to Belgium and Germany a decade ago.

“The same industry has grown a lot and now it employs more than 50,000 people. The products are exported to more than three dozen countries now,” he said.

Nepalese felt producers are now producing shoes, carpets, purses, bags, garments, door mats and various other handicraft items including bouquet and lamp stand.

These items are exported to Australia, Japan, Canada, America and European countries while many tourists take them as gifts and souvenirs.

However, this sector is facing labour crisis because of youth migration. “Although we periodically run training programmes to develop skilled human resources, most of them quit the job in search of work in the Gulf and other employment destinations,” said Shrestha.

FIAN runs a 15-day training programme to train youths for producing felt products.

He urged the government to collaborate with the felt industries in creating skilled human resources. “We need a lab of international standard because the buyers always ask for lab-proven goods.”

Shrestha elected as FIAN president

Incumbent president of Felt Industries Association of Nepal (FIAN) has been reelected for the same post Thursday.

FIAN’s seventh Annual General Assembly elected 10-member new working committee of the Association.

Amrit Khadka has been elected to the post of vice president, Maheshwor Shrestha as the treasurer and Amodh Dharamba as the secretary while Bimala Rijal, Shanti Shrestha, Radhesh Shrestha, Chandra Mani Devkota and Sunita Shrestha were elected as the members of FIAN.