BAMBOO expert U Kyaw Win stated that more people are interested in making bamboo handicrafts as the market share for bamboo handicrafts increases.

“More people have become interested in bamboo handi­crafts. The market share has also increased. With more in­terest and higher consumption, demand increases. Local de­mand rises with good trading,” he said.

More tea shops, tourism businesses, and restaurants were seen to use bamboo hand­icrafts widely, and individuals bought them a lot. Some entre­preneurs are exporting bamboo products while some are focus­sing on domestic sales as local consumption is increasing.

With the current rising costs of labour and raw mate­rials, the price of bamboo hand­icrafts has increased slightly.

“Recently, the costs have changed, so the prices of hand­icrafts have increased by about one-third. Higher costs include costs for skilled labour, raw ma­terials and chemicals,” he said.

In the domestic market, there is a strong demand for bamboo handicrafts, and if more products with prices ranging from a few thousand to a hundred of thousands are produced, demand and supply will favour an easier condition to the entrepreneurs for busi­ness continuity, he added. — MT/ZN