Asia's largest Handicrafta & Gifts Fair opens on Oct,

New Delhi, Oct 10 (UNI) Over 7,500 overseas buyers are expected to visit Asia's largest handicrafts and gifts fair, beginning on October , at the India Expo Centre & Mart located at New Delhi- Greater Noida Expressway, in which about 2,000 exhibitors will be showcasing around 1,000 types of eco-friendly products to make a dent in the 235 billion dollar competitive world market.

The 5-day 22nd Autumn edition of the Indian Handicrafts & Gifts Fair'06 (IHGF Autumn 2006) is being organised by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), a premier export body of India under the aegis of Development Commissioner (Handicrafts).

IHGF is held twice in a year -- February and October.

Since 1994, Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) has come to be recognised as 'One Stop Sourcing Event' amongst the overseas buyers community.

The product range on display at the mega fair includes gifts, decoratives, art-metal ware, wood ware, home utility items, fashion jewellery, fashion accessories like bags, purses, hand crafted home textiles and furnishings, clocks, furniture, floor coverings, Christmas and floral decorations, brocade goods, hand printed textiles and scarves.

''The products on display will carry latest designs, styles, colours, concepts and raw materials etc. All these styles are very unique of the Indian culture and heritage and are now finding a great potential in the overseas markets,'' Mr Sudhir Tyagi said at a press conference here today.

EPCH has been playing a significant role in the promotion of Indian handicrafts globally which is evident from the fact that with meagre exports of Rs 3160 crore in 1994, the exports from this sector have shot up to over Rs 14,000 crore by the end of 2005 providing an international platform to Indian artisans and exporters, Mr Kamal Soni, President, IHGF Committee said on the occasion.

International buyers are expected from the US, EU, Latin American region, Central Asia, Belgium, spain, Canada, Africa, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and many other countries, Mr Soni added.

Major competing countries for India in the world market are China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan and Turkey.

''Today the quality of the handicrafts is the biggest challenge before the handicrafts sector and we are pleased to inform that EPCH has already addressed the issue in totality. A special focus has been provided to the products from the North East region,'' said Mr Navratan Samdria, Chairman of India Expo Centre & Mart.

Internationally-renowned companies like Walmart, Kohls and BBW from the US and Debnons from UK are also expected to visit and source their requirements from the fair, Mr Samdria added.

The state-of-the-art venue, India Expo Mart Ltd., is spread over an area of 2,35,000 sq metres. with 900 permanent showrooms, 8 exhibitions halls, conference halls, banquet hall, restaurants, food kiosk, 16 escalators, 17 passengers and freight lifts, parking for 8,000 cars and 200 trucks, elaborate fire fighting system, LED screens, water fountains, signages and guided system managed through integrated building management system (IBMS).

In the business-oriented world class complex all the halls are interconnected with 100 per cent power backup for the centrally air conditioned building as also for services and facilities.