Manipur Inks Pact With Amazon For Easy Access To Traditional Handicraft Across India

Imphal: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Manipur Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation (MHHDC) and e-commerce giants Amazon on June 6 to set up an e-market platform for traditional handloom and handicraft items.

The MoU was signed during the Manipur Heritage Expo, which is underway at Imphal.

The Panthoibi Emporium happens to be a part of the Manipur Handloom & Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (MHHDCL), a government venture that provides assistance to local artists to flourish. It is run under the patronage of the Directorate of Handlooms & Textiles.

Customers spanning across the country can now purchase a plethora of unique and handcrafted Manipuri items.

Handwoven clothes, handcrafted hats and bags, terracotta products, and Kauna craft — a handicraft unique to Manipur that uses Kauna wood or water reed to produce things like baskets, wallets and bags— are all available on the Panthoibi Emporium's Amazon.in store.

Apart from these, Manipuri Rani Phee, which is a handwoven shawl made of silk, can also be found on the website.

Moreover, food items peculiar to Manipur, such as black rice, forest forage teas, GI-tagged chilli, lemons, and oranges, are also available for purchase.

Sumit Sahay, Amazon India's Director of Selling Partner Services, conveyed that the objective of the program is to digitize 10 million small enterprises by 2025.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has called this initiative as an "important development" and he emphasized that it is of utmost significance "that the e-commerce ecosystem and its key stakeholders work towards enabling more and more small businesses with capacity-building activities".

The Manipur CM took to his official Twitter handle to share this news.

"Attended the Manipur Heritage Expo-2022 in Imphal today wherein an MOU was signed between the Amazon Karigar and Manipur Handlooms & Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (MHHDCL). Also, distributed 2475 looms to the people of the 16 districts of Manipur," he tweeted.

"The products will be listed on Amazon platform. This will help our weavers and entrepreneurs immensely. The event was also attended by Hon'ble Minister Smt @KipgenNemcha, Hon'ble MLA Shri S. Rajen Singh, Hon'ble MLA Shri L. Rameshwor Meetei and other esteemed dignitaries", the CM's tweet further added.

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