Russian folk art goods are now in great demand abroad. But, according to Anna Nesterova, chairman of the board of directors of the international marketplace Global Rus Trade, in order to gain a foothold in foreign markets, crafts need to be adapted to modern trends.

"Russian creative goods are in demand abroad, they have serious potential. But our past shows that we work well for the state order of the planned economy, but as soon as we need to enter foreign markets, let alone domestic sales, we have difficulties", - she said, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

According to Nesterova, the masters themselves feel that they need to restructure their work format.

"Masters of Palekh miniature came to us. They say: "We understand that the goods we produce now are not in such demand. We are ready to enter a new segment, tell us what the consumer, the foreign consumer needs, we are ready to adjust to modern trends. We know how to produce, we have been trained, we know how to create a highly artistic product, but we do not know how to commercialize what we have created," she said.

The expert noted that manufacturers need help from international organizations, modern trading platforms and the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to do this.

"All this collaboration of tools that we have will give us an opportunity to increase the exports that we have now. We, as a marketplace, are ready to show and demonstrate this," she stressed.

In this regard, she noted that with the assistance of Global Rus Trade, Palekh craftsmen created a joint project with the legendary watch factory "Polet". "Palekh masters were able to create a lacquer miniature, which is seriously appreciated abroad, put it on the dial. We, the customer company, were able to assemble it at the Polet factory and create such an industrial collaboration of our arts and crafts and industrial enterprise. It is a new product. Today we offer it to our foreign partners", - she shared.

We would remind, earlier at the SPIEF, experts stressed that for successful integration into the new world economy, Russia should consider the trend of creation, rather than production.

"Countries that have made a breakthrough in the creative economy have seen several important positive effects. First, it creates opportunities for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. This is a driver we are now placing quite a big bet on. Second, it creates jobs, which is also a sensitive issue for Russia. It is also a great opportunity for the diversification of the development of the non-resource segment of the economy, improvement of the quality of human capital and the effective creation of a comfortable environment", said Lilia Ovcharova, the pro-rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

Made in Russia // Made in Russia

Author: Maria Buzanakova