The Handloom Export Promotion Council organised a Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) in New York between 11th & 19th September, 2001. This BSM was a follow up of the one conducted in Sept. 2000. The following participants formed the delegation:

1. M/s. The Central Cottage Industry, New Delhi
2. M/s. Synthesis, Karur
3. M/s. Cooptex International, Chennai
4. M/s. Abinaya Grineters, Karur
5. M/s. Expofab, Karur
6. M/s. Premier India, Karur
7. M/s. S.Arogiaswamy Mudaliar, Karur

The H.E.P.C. engaged M/s. CMG International, a marketing agency in New York to conduct the BSM.

In the previous years, the Council had the practice of conducting BSMs by taking up a conference hall in a prominent place and by setting up stalls to display the products of the member delegates. Three mailers and an invitation would be sent to the importers to inform them about the MEET. But the response evoked in such Meets was very discouraging, often no serious buyers visited these events. To overcome this and to make the program more effective, the HEPC changed its strategy and thought of an alternative strategy for conducting the BSM. This involved engaging of a marketing agent and with his assistance fixing personal appointments for the members of the delegation. The profiles and the brochures of the members of the delegation were circulated well in advance to the importers to enable them to decide on the importers they would like to meet. As this strategy proved to be successful in the last year, the Council decided to adopt the same method for the current BSM also. This methodology is not only effective but also saves the cost tremendously.

The marketing agent M/s. CMG International Ltd. had fixed appointments with 45 wholesale importers specialising in various items of home furnishings. The turnover of the importers selected ranged between US$ 1 million to US$ 1000 million. These appointments were divided among the seven member participants as per their product preference. An appointment schedule giving the date, time and the importers they had to meet was fixed by the Council and circulated a week in advance to all the members of the delegation.

The members of the delegation had a preliminary meeting at the office of the ITPO in New York before commencing with their schedule. Even though the appointments on the first day were completed successfully, the events fixed for the second and third day viz. 11th and 12th Sept. were a complete washout, due to the tragic event of the attack on the two towers of the 'World Trade Centre' in New York. However, Mr.Raghavan, Senior Manager, ITPO and I managed to reschedule all the appointments between 13th & 21st Sept. Despite the tragic episode, the buyers were very considerate and agreed for the rescheduling . Each member of the delegation had a minimum of 7 to 10 appointments of which at least three of them were serious buyers. In all, a total sales of US$ 25,000 was generated and sample orders have been given to the following companies:

1. M/s. Cooptex International, Chennai
2. M/s. Abinaya Grineters, Karur
3. M/s. Synthesis, Karur
4. M/s. Expofab, Karur
5. M/s. Premier India, Karur

The list of the appointments and the appointments schedule is enclosed for information.

As the Executive Director of the H.E.P.C., I accompanied the handloom delegation to coordinate all the activities. I met some of the leading wholesale importers viz.

1. M/s. Franco Manufacturing
2. M/s. Arlee Corporation,
3. M/s. Hedaya Linens,
4. M/s. Klear Vu Corporation
5. M/s. Cotsun International Ltd
6. M/s. Brown Stone Galleries & Town and Country Planning
7. M/s. Arley Group
8. M/s. Levinson Textiles

I had detailed discussions with the above mentioned importers regarding the future of the Indian Textiles in the US market visa vise the competition from China, Turkey, Israel & Pakistan. The requirement of the importers was also assessed in order to gain advantage over the competitors . The following points emerged:

1. Improvement in the quality of products
2. Innovative designs in colors suitable to the specific seasons
3. Coordinated range of products
4. Presentation of products
5. Competitive prices
6. Role to be played by the Government to assist the industry
in overcoming the existing hurdles

1. Improvement in the quality of products

The members of the industry have been adopting a very traditional method for processing and for manufacturing the end product. In the international arena, the importers have come increasingly cautious about the quality requirements as demanded by the end users. Hence, there is an urgent need for the industry to improve the quality in order to retain their status in the International market.

2. Innovative designs in colors suitable to the specific seasons

The exporters in the industry do not give much importance to the designing as they lack the infrastructure and financial resources for creating new designs. As they are not aware of the latest forecast in colors and trends, they have no idea about the latest color trends. Hence, the industry has to be assisted in creation of innovative designs in suitable colors depending on the market.

3. Coordinated range of products

Home Textiles are sold in the markets as coordinated range of products viz. table cloth, place mats and napkins which form the table linen. The kitchen Linen range comprises of Aprons and kitchen towels. Duvet covers and pillow covers which form the bed linen and so on. But unfortunately, the industry does not coordinate these ranges as per the requirements of the importers. An improvement in the coordination of the product range would definitely improve the performance of the exporters.

4. Presentation of products

The wholesale importers are very apprehensive of meeting the Indian exporters as they feel that they do not have a good range of product with them. They feel what if they have seen products of one exporter, then they have seen them all .This is mainly due to the reason that the Indian exporters are not in a position to display or present the products in the right manner to the wholesale importers. Often, they show to the importers what is not necessary and keep away the best of selection. They have to be educated about the manner of display of the products.

5. Competitive prices

With the increasing competition, India lags behind due to the higher prices in the international market and handloom being labour intensive, is lesser cost effective than any of the products manufactured with the help of automated looms. Hence, more cost effective methods have to be adopted in the handloom sector to reduce the product cost.

6. Role to be played by the Government to assist the industry in overcoming the existing hurdles

In a situation like this, when the industry is thronged from all sides, the Government surely, has to play a pivotal role to see that they are taken in the right direction. The Government should not merely stop with announcing fiscal policies but should also assist the industry to upgrade the processing, manufacturing facilities to improve the marketing strategies and to help creating innovative designs in an effective manner.

The Buyer Seller Meet has been a good learning process for all the members of the handloom delegation. They had met the various group of wholesale importers with whom they have had effective interaction . They have also understood the requirements of the importers. This, I am sure, will help them to focus themselves for approaching the market in the years to come.