Why Pakistan Treats Craft Like Folklore While Its Neighbours Turn It Into Billions
By Zein Ahmed
Across South Asia, crafts are more than decoration — they are identity, livelihood, and nation-branding. They are the stories of women, of rural communities, of ancestral knowledge that has survived colonization, climate crisis, and the onslaught of fast fashion.
Yet only two South Asian countries have turned craft into serious economic engines: India and Bangladesh. And Pakistan — with equally rich craft, equally skilled artisans, and equally deep heritage — is still largely absent from the global craft market. Why?
Because Pakistan treats craft as “culture,” while India and Bangladesh classify it as “exports.” And that one bureaucratic decision has created a decades-long economic gap.
India: Craft Is Not Just Culture — It Is Commerce
India recognized early that handicrafts and handmade textiles are economic power, not just symbolic heritage. So they placed craft under:
• Ministry of Commerce
• Ministry of Textiles
• Export Promotion Councils
and they built:
• The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH)
• The Handloom Export Promotion Council
• A national handicraft export strategy
• Annual international trade fair circuits
• Billions of dollars of export incentives
India treats craft the way it treats software, agriculture, or pharmaceuticals: as a national export asset. And the results show. India’s handicraft exports run into the billions, and Indian craft has global presence, visibility, and demand.
Bangladesh: Craft Is Industrial Policy
Bangladesh follows a similar model. The government placed handicrafts inside the national Export Policy, not inside “culture.” The Ministry of Commerce formally labeled crafts as a special development sector, with:
• Export subsidies
• Cottage industry support
• Craft development funds
• Structured support for women-led enterprises
• Priority status for global buyers
Bangladesh’s craft sector is now part of the country’s export success story — not an afterthought. When you categorize something as economy, the economy grows. When you categorize something as culture, it stays symbolic.
Pakistan: A Global Craft Powerhouse Still Sitting in the Wrong Folder
Pakistan has:
• Ajrak
• Ralli
• Sozni
• Chitral weaves
• Swati embroidery
• Multani pottery
• Khussas
• Sindhi stitchwork
• Mohenjo Daro's textile legacy...and the list is endless!
We have the highest level of artisanal skill in South Asia, especially among women. We have vast rural craft clusters that can produce at scale. We have halal ethical fashion growing globally at record speed. We have a diaspora hungry for identity-driven, handmade design. But we are missing from the global craft map. Not because of lack of skill or product. But because of policy misplacement. Craft in Pakistan still sits under:
• Culture
• Heritage preservation
• Museums
• Festivals
• NGO programs
We treat it like a “showcase,” not like an industry. And when you don’t categorize a sector as export:
• It receives no export incentives
• No trade missions
• No marketing subsidies
• No access to fairs
• No listing in trade policy frameworks
• No visibility in global markets
It is excluded from the spaces where commerce happens. So our story gets told for us — and our artisans remain invisible.
Why This Misclassification Hurts Pakistan
Treating craft as “culture” instead of “exports” means:
1. We lose billions in potential exports
The global craft market is valued at $526 billion.
Pakistan’s share is almost zero.
2. We lose soft power
Craft is identity. When we don’t show up, we don’t shape the narrative.
3. We lose women’s economic opportunity
Most artisans are rural women. Export integration = direct income growth.
4. We lose space in South Asia’s design map
India and Bangladesh dominate a space that should naturally include Pakistan.
5. We lose global visibility in halal ethical fashion
We should be leading the world in modest, handmade, slow fashion — but we are absent.
Moving Craft Into the Export Portfolio Is Not Just Policy — It Is National Strategy
If Pakistan shifts craft from culture → exports, here’s what becomes possible:
• A dedicated Craft Export Promotion Council
• Inclusion in the Strategic Trade Policy Framework
• TDAP-led global exhibitions
• Export rebates for handmade textiles
• Curated international trade missions
• Women-led artisan economies integrated into national GDP
• Pakistan repositioned as a global cultural + ethical fashion leader
• Foreign reserves generated through soft power, not raw commodities
This is how India and Bangladesh did it. This is how Pakistan can too.
The World Wants What We Make — We Just Aren’t at the Table
Craft is not charity. Craft is not folklore. Craft is not just heritage. Craft is:
• Identity
• Economy
• Soft power
• Women’s income
• Export
• National reputation
Pakistan has everything — the heritage, the artisans, the story, the skill. What we lack is classification. Until we move craft under commerce and exports, Pakistan will remain a cultural powerhouse with no global presence. And that is the greatest missed opportunity of our generation.
This is why I built Love Handmade. To show Pakistan — and the world — what is possible when you treat craft as creative economy, not folklore. To bring our artisans into the global market with dignity. To give Pakistan its rightful place on the world stage. And to reclaim the space in global imagination that belongs to us. Because if we don’t show up, others will tell our story for us. And we can no longer afford that.