Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma today inaugurated the 43rd edition of IHGF- Delhi Fair Spring 2017 at a colorful ceremony at India Expo Centre and Mart in Greater Noida. The five day fair will continue upto 20th of this month. In her address, Ms Verma said, in order to be competitive, artisans and manufacturers of Indian handicrafts at craft clusters need guidance in creating new products. <br/><br/>She said, Export Promotion Council For Handicrafts, EPCH is playing a key role in handholding and providing the platform at the fair to artisans, craftspersons and up-coming entrepreneurs from different craft clusters to interact directly with international buyers. The Secretary showed great satisfaction that VRIKSH certificate for wooden items has been accepted worldwide. She added that Office of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) is working towards branding of handicraft items, just like 'India Handloom' Brand has been launched for the handloom sector. <br/><br/>She said, it will further help in quality assurance, certification and selling of handicrafts products in international markets. Ms Verma said that every time she visits the fair, she sees new product lines on display and this is the reason that large number of buyers from across the globe visit the fair to source their requirements. She congratulated EPCH for helping earn a place for IHGF-Delhi Fair in Limca Book of World Records. <br/>Buyers from renowned international buying companies such as New Edition Home B.V. Netherlands; TOK & Stok, Brazil; E&L, Australia; ROOST, USA; Accent Decor Inc., USA; Two's Company Inc., USA; MOE's Home, Canada; Kangaroo Gmbh, Germany; and Kopyko, Venezuela are visiting this edition of the show. <br/><br/>Apart from overseas buyers, domestic volume retail buyers from many leading retail chains of India as well as e-commerce companies have become regular visitors to the fair. Like previous editions, the first day of the show saw very hectic activities with buyers engaged in business negotiations in mart area as well as in exhibition halls.<br/>The exports of handicrafts during April 2016 – January 2017 has registered a growth of 13.06 per cent in rupee terms and stands at over 20 thausand 282 crores rupees. The growth in dollar terms is 9.43 per cent with exports of 3018.58 million dollars.