Pashmina In Peril
[The Rising Nepal, October 13, 2007]
The country's export trade has been facing a severe crisis since the last couple of years. The volume of export in terms of quantity and commodity, according to statistics provided by the Trade and Export Promotion Center (TEPC), is sliding. The concentration of the export trade to India is on the rise along with a steady decline in third country export.
Recently, the TEPC has identified 14 major new products having huge export potential. Definitely, those products could play a vital role in uplifting the country's economy if they are properly distributed in the major international markets. Out of the 14 items, five of them - including tea and pashmina - have been identified as having unparallel potential. Lack of a proper definition and accreditation, according to a study report, has exposed Nepali pashmina to grave risks of losing the leading European and Japanese markets. Nepali pashmina as of now is supplied in the international market without any brand name or identification, and is often questioned by the customers and importers abroad. But nobody has taken this issue seriously. Japanese and European markets are the major destinations for Nepalese products. They have asked the Nepalese exporters to come up with plausible solutions to protect the country?s third largest export. However, exporters accuse the government of remaining silent in this regard.
Nepali pashmina encountered an unpleasant situation in Japan in June this year when it restricted the entry of pashmina products demanding definition and standard certification. And many other countries in Europe including Italy, Spain and UK, according to exporters, are mounting pressure on Nepalese exporters to supply goods with specific brand identification and certification. The entrepreneurs have been holding talks with the concerned government officials, unfortunately things are being delayed for no reason. The entrepreneurs have even sought the involvement of the Nepal Bureau Standards and Metrology to define the quality standard of pashmina and issue quality certification. The bureau has a well-equipped laboratory, but nobody seems to be interested to work on that.
Nepali pashmina entrepreneurs are losing their markets in other countries, including the UK, USA and Canada also. On the one hand, Nepali products abroad lack promotional activities. On the other hand, our private sector is also not proactive in this regard. We really need to make concerted efforts to expedite the export trade. Nepal has many products with good potential, but efforts are needed to market them.
Improve Quality Of Pashmina
To Promote Exports: Experts
Nepal Abroad [Year 2. No. 32; Saturday Bhadra 08, 2064 B.S. / August 25, 2007]
Kathmandu Aug 23
[KP] - Lack of quality-standard labels and trademarks have become major impediments while promoting Nepali pashmina internationally, experts and traders said on Wednesday.
Presenting a paper at a program on Export Development of Nepali Pashmina, Murari Prasad Gautam, a member of a study team, said the industry needed proper production technology and well equipped laboratories. “The packaging is also not well finished while the market promotions are not that effective. That is why pashmina has not been able to bring in as much foreign currency as it should,” he said.
Stressing the need to maintain quality of pashmina, Gautam said, “Export of pashmina made from inferior raw materials is the main cause for the slowdown in exports”.
Export of pashmina, which touched US$ 82 million in the 2000/01 fiscal year, came down to US$ 7.46 million in 2006/07.
Biastiaan Bijl, a consultant of International Trade Centre (ITC), said that there were chances of attracting investment, both domestic and foreign, in laboratories to test quality of raw materials, training of pashmina technicians and wool processing, among others. Meanwhile, Shankar Prashad Panday, president of Nepal Pashmina Industries Association sought co-operation from the government in the process of trademark registration and labeling of pashmina.
Restoring Nepal’s social fabric
Alok Tumbahangphey [Nepali Times Issue #284, February 9, 2006]
Nepal’s pashmina industry is bouncing back with innovation and new markets
Until about five years ago, Nepali pashmina was haute couture among the world’s rich and famous. Cashmere was out and people flaunted their pashminas, from Buckingham Palace to Beverly Hills.
In 1997 alone Nepal exported Rs 3 million worth of the fabric, and by 2000 the figure had risen to more than Rs 5.6 billion. The industry employed over 50,000 people and made up at least 82 percent of all handicraft exports from Nepal in 2000-2001 with manufacturers producing everything from scarves, shawls, blankets and mufflers to dressing gowns. It looked like Nepal finally had a global brand name to call its own.
Pashmina making began as a cottage industry, catering mainly to the local market. The few investors who saw its potential had to be patient before profits began to flow. And just as they started earning dividends, the industry realised it had one more lesson to learn—it’s not easy doing business in an era of globalisation.
When Nepal’s neighbours saw pashmina’s potential, they brought economies of scale and just copied the product. There was a glut in the market, prices went into freefall. The Chinese had cheaper labour, lower production costs, skilled manpower and most importantly, their own raw material, something that Nepal was actually importing from the northern neighbour.
The Indians for their part used the age-old vanishing trick—importing Nepali pashmina, tinkering with it and then exporting cheaper products with the Nepal label. Low-price Indian and Chinese pashmina items, even fakes, began circulating in international markets, striking at the heart of Nepal’s industry. Unfortunately this was exactly what makers here tried to copy. "Indians totally spoilt the market for us. They had variety, and embroidery skills, which we did not. Maintaining quality in the face of competition was tough," explained Roshan Timilsina of Innoxa Pashmina, whose main markets were Italy, Japan and Korea.
By this time everyone in Nepal wanted a piece of the pashmina pie. A Rastra Bank study shows that the number of registered factories jumped from 25 in 1993 to 959 by 1999. The 70-30 formula (70 percent pashmina and 30 percent silk), which had worked fine till then succumbed to competition and woollen shawls and other items began to be passed off as pashmina.
With the markets tightening, the unregistered factories were the first to go but the long-term businessmen were wounded. Not only did exports nosedive, retail businesses that relied on tourist buyers also suffered. Shopkeepers like Bishnu Dhungel of Lovely Handicrafts in Basantapur today spend the day waiting for the odd tourist to appear. Days of no business are not uncommon. Timilsina closed his factory more than a year ago and now only calls his workers when there are large orders.
But after years of downturn, it looks like the industry is coming out of the slump. The government has promised reforms to help them, like a refund on VAT, duty drawback and bonded warehouses.
People like Pushpa Man Shrestha of Nepal Pashmina Industry, one of the main players in the business for more than two decades, are still hopeful. "The US and Europe still have a soft corner for Nepali pashmina," he says. "It’s a question of survival. The Chinese and the Indians are too large for us to compete with so we have found ways to overcome the challenge." Nepali pashmina-makes are now restricting themselves to shawls but have focused on niche markets of apparel and household items made from the fabric. The other pashmina items are: pillow cases, bedsheets and dressing gowns. Even men are wearing pashmina now in the form of mufflers, vests and sweaters.
The pashmina market is still a money-maker but the private sector alone cannot take on the giant neighbours. Securing a registered trademark for Nepali pashmina and encouraging the production of our own raw material, which is possible considering Nepalis in the north do raise sheep, could be steps to putting pashmina back on the shelves of the world’s boutiques.
Pashmina is made from the soft wool found under the coarse hair of the chyangra or mountain goat. In its raw form pashmina is softer than cotton and as a fabric it is warmer than wool and smoother than silk, thus making it one of the most desirable of fabrics. Pashmina has been used by highland communities like the Thakalis and Gurungs for daily wear since time immemorial. Only in the last two decades did the international fashion discover pashmina.
Powerloom Pashmina Prevail
Business Age [Vol. 2, No. 2: January, 2000 (Poush-Magh)]
The exports of handloom pashmina have declined heavily after powerloom pashmina have begun placing ‘handmade pashmina tags’, says Handloom Pashmina Entrepreneurs Association.
Voicing protest against this trend, the association has demanded the government to make a clear-cut policy to monitor such malpractice in pashmina exports.
"We are not against powerlooms but exporting pashmina with a fake tag is what we are opposing", said Damodar Khadka at a press conference. This trend has not only cheated the customers but has also reduced employment, he said.
Despite the difference in quality in handloom and powerloom pashmina, the machine made pashmina has captured the international market, he said. The main reason, according to Khadka, is that the buyers do not know the main difference between the two products.
"Handmade pashmina has softness whereas powerloom pashmina does not have softness", he informed. Powerloom pashmina manufacturers are very much optimistic about the future of then business. Considering this and to sustain the present boom in pashmina industry, Momento Apparels (P) Ltd. of Nepal and Huhhot Xin Chao Art Co. of China have set up Emperor’s Gold Mount, a joint venture pashmina industry in Bhadrapur with capacity to produce some 600,000 pieces of pashmina per year.
Set up at a total investment of US$ 3 million, it expects to provide employment to over 500 locals of whom 70 percent will be women, company sources say.
This shows that pashmina entrepreneurs are hopeful that the business will not meet the fate of the Nepali carpet industry.
And with a view to ensure the longevity of the pashmina industry, entrepreneurs are also diversifying their products into pashmina trousers, gowns, bags etc., state pashmina entrepreneurs.
