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CHANGE MAKERS

FROM RUGS to riches

Karupannya weaving hope for country

Md Fazlur Rahman
Bangladesh was never seen in rugs business in foreign markets until Karupannya set foot in Europe to make a story of success.
The man behind Karupannya, Shafiqul Alam Selim began his journey in 1991 in Rangpur with just 15 craftsmen and now he has 5,000 workers and employees producing carpets, the majority of which are exported to
the European Union, the US and Asia.
Under the brand name Shatoronji, Karupannya Rangpur Ltd exports two containers of handmade carpets a day.
Talking about how the rugs business in the country was before he came to the business, Selim said a handful of families had been engaged in weaving floor mats in villages during the British rule.
Many of them withdrew from the business
even before Bangladesh achieved independencein 1971.
One year after the birth of Bangladesh, the
government launched a project in the northern region to rehabilitate people affected by the war. People were trained in rug making at the time so that they could make a living.
But the initiative did not make much progress.
State-run Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), which was established to support small initiatives across the country, took over the project in the early 1980s. But it was not successful either.
Then Selim took over the project from BSCIC in 1991 and launched Karupannya as a handicraft manufacturing and retail business.
He had a knack for craftsmanship and probably that was what helped him achieve success in the business. He used to produce portraits out of straws and sell them in the mid-1980s when he was still a university student.
Selim took a stall in an industrial fair in Dhaka to showcase his portraits, which earned him fame among local people.
There were many challenges for him in the little-explored business. The main hurdle was how to arrange skilled manpower and money.
To start off, he organised experienced people with the knowledge of weaving rugs and gave them raw materials and designs to help train young people.
Selim, managing director of Karupannya, then participated in various fairs and exhibitions across the country to popularise handmade rugs.
In 2002, he decided to try his luck on foreign markets and so took part in an exhibition in Germany. Since then he did not look back.
Started with $230,000 of exports the following year, Karupannya's overseas sales grew by more than 50 times in the last one decade.
Last year the company's turnover was $12 million. This year it hopes to earn $20 million. His products are now exported to 36 countries in Europe and Asia and the US.
The company has been focusing on export markets, as the rugs are popular in predominantly colder countries. It has only three outlets in Bangladesh: two in Rangpur and one in Dhaka.
Selim, however, said the company would explore its potential in the domestic market as well in the coming years and open more outlets.
As many as 1,000 people produce rugs for his company from their homes for the local markets.
Karupannya produces about 15 types of products - all floor coverings from waste from the garment and textile sector, jute, waste yam, rope and short fibre. It also produces some home textiles and products for a number of local furniture makers as per their designs.
Selim, who studied political science at Carmichael College and Rajshahi University, now plans to create jobs for another 5,000 people in the next two years.
He, however, is not willing to take all the credit of the business's success.
The 49-year-old says the government and BSCIC made efforts to keep
the business alive.
"Thanks to those initiatives, the trade did not disappear completely. Rather, some people were still there with knowledge of making rugs.”
He plans to transform his company into an institution which can inspire others.
Thirty-five other entrepreneurs have already opened up factories to produce rugs.
"Now you will find rugs in many shops. But we don't produce all of them," said Selim, a father of two.
He added that Shatoronji became a pride for Rangpur. His initiative has also economically benefited the region, which was once known as poverty-stricken region.
He says he has been empowering women through his initiative as 90 percent of his workers are women.
He has four units in Rangpur and one in Kurigram. The employees directly and indirectly support more than 20,000 people.
Selim said he has to upgrade the quality of his products, enhance the efficiency of workers and modernise the company to keep up with the competition from producers in China and India.
He reinvests most of the profits the company makes in its expansion, which is why he takes meagre salaries, much lower than many of his senior executives.
Entrepreneurs have major responsibility in society as they take forward the civilisation.
"They will have to see his workers and employees as a key driver of their companies," Selim said. Entrepreneurs should not enjoy all the fortunes alone while workers and employees toil.
"Otherwise, they might progress in life but the society will not advance."