| | DECEMBER 20208EXPERTS TALKBy Nina Lekhi, MD & Chief Design Curator, BaggitNina Lekhi is an accidental entrepreneur, who got in to handbags design to deflect her low feelings, after failing in her first year design course at sophia college. she never imagined that the business will become this big giving employment to over 1000 families as at present. Competing with China & Winning in International MarketsBackground: The Chinese have taken over 60% of the Indian Ladies Handbags market, like in many other Consumer Prod-uct categories. The Canton Fair is the larg-est market place for all importers to see the latest range of products at mouth-watering prices. The ecosystem that the Chinese have built in terms of materials; advance process-es and scale is unmatched and that explains their dominance in most consumer product categories. The Chinese mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic has dented their allure and most countries want to partly diversify their sourcing away from China. Vietnam; Thailand and India stand to benefit from the new sourcing opportunities as the trend to de-risk from concentration of supply chain gathers momentum. We discuss how Indian Brands can benefit from this Mega Trend and establish India as a quality and reliable sourcing destination.Strategic Imperative: History tells us that Brands that want to do well in interna-tional markets need to be strong and prof-itable in their domestic markets. The prof-its in the domestic market will be needed to invest in international expansion, where the cash-flow is likely to be negative in the initial years. The Custom duty of 20 percent on imports and the general attitude of "at-manirbhar" are tailwinds offering benefits THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Nina Lekhi
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