A small share of insurance to cover the risk of manufacturers

According to Monetary Financial News, quoting the public relations of Cooperative Insurance, giving importance to handicrafts and its exports, both shows the cultural and civil authority and the support of these goods, monopoly and supply power in global markets provides Iran. Handicrafts have been considered by many countries due to income generation and job creation, and experts emphasize on the development and support of products in this field compared to the products of other industries, which is one of the supportive strategies to enter the insurance industry and reduce production risk in this sector. Is. Many economic actors also consider the role of the insurance industry in protecting handicrafts to be very important.

On the pretext of World Handicrafts Day, Samat talked to insurance experts about the role of various types of insurance in supporting artists active in the field of handicraft production.

The role of insurance in reducing production risk

Asal Ashtari, an insurance expert, told Samat about the role of insurance in the development of handicrafts: “Today, economic growth and social progress are not possible without considering the main sectors of society, including labor and capital.”

In this, handicrafts have a significant role, because this art-industry is in many cases a source of household income and seeks to preserve indigenous culture and originality.

Emphasizing that the insurance industry can play an important role in reducing the risk of tourism and handicrafts, he said: “In the insurance industry, effective arrangements for industries such as tourism and handicrafts are not considered and there is a lot of work to be done.”

Prosperity returns to abandoned jobs

“Insurers are now competing and sometimes breaking premiums,” he said.

Asked what insurance solutions can boost the handicraft sector, Ashtari said: “New insurance policies should be designed to create a competitive advantage in the community in addition to innovation and creativity, and in order to cultivate and support insurance for private sector investors.” Take a big step, especially in handicrafts and tourism.

He continued: “Insurance companies can focus more on political, economic, natural disasters and emergencies in the field of handicrafts.”

Of course, the most important point is that in the current situation, there are many insurances that support these industries.

Actual capacities to support handicrafts

“There is a lot of potential to support handicrafts,” she said. “Family and life supplementary health insurance for women working in the handicraft industry, and liability insurance for small and large manufacturing workshops, including support for the handicraft insurance industry.”

He added: “Liability insurance includes all the responsibilities of the employer towards employees and covers work-related accidents.”

The insurance expert expressed hope that the insurance industry, through design and innovation, could save small businesses from bankruptcy and provide support to them in society.

He attributed the impact of the insurance industry on the handicrafts to four factors and said: “Insurance increases financial stability and is a substitute and complement to social security programs.”

The insurance industry also helps to equip savings and reduce losses.

Asked if insurance companies were able to offset losses in the handicraft industry after the Corona Pandemic, the insurer explained: “During the Corona Pandemic, some insurers obtained design policies and licenses for the exclusive sale of these policies from Central Insurance.”

This process was able to help more than 2,000 small and large businesses, and handicrafts were no exception.

The role of insurance in the financing system

Ashtari explained the role of the insurance industry in facilitating and boosting the sale of handicrafts: Insurance does not play a direct role in improving the business and sales environment, but by influencing the financial markets, it can provide the conditions for development. One of the most important indicators of improving the business environment is the index of obtaining credit as well as investor protection, which can provide the necessary support to the industry in credit insurance in accordance with Regulation 51 of the Supreme Insurance Council.

Brought.

He added: “One of the possible solutions to develop the role of the insurance industry in improving the environment of small and large businesses, including handicrafts, is to increase the role of the insurance industry in the financing system, as well as the development and use of insurance disciplines.”

Fields such as life and savings insurance, credit insurance, stock insurance and deposit insurance contribute significantly to the craftsman and boost sales and investment.

Corona fatal blow to the body of handicraft sales

Handicrafts were one of the sectors that faced many problems during the Corona epidemic. Morteza Nayeri, an activist in the field of handicrafts, told Samat about the problems of this industry in the period before and after Corona: Has been located.

Buyer, only foreign tourist

He said that during the Corona era, with the decrease in the number of tourists, handicrafts also faced sales problems, adding that about 95% of handicraft sales are to foreign tourists; Therefore, with the cessation of tourist entry into the country with the spread of the corona, a great blow was dealt to the bodies of artists and other activists in the field of handicrafts; About 70% of employees in this field were forced to close their workplaces.

He added: with the corona epidemic, occasion fairs and urban and Nowruz bazaars were closed. In addition, the closure of markets and urban areas led to the closure of handicraft shops. On the other hand, at this time, with the closure of the tourism industry and the cessation of travel, which is one of the neighborhoods for buying and selling handicrafts, there was no possibility for supply and sale. All this together caused the field of handicrafts and traditional arts of Iran to face serious problems in the last 2 years and has not experienced a good situation so far.

Expensive raw materials

The activist in the field of handicrafts considered the supply of raw materials needed for production as one of the most important challenges in this field and added: the high cost of raw materials is effective in increasing the cost of handicrafts, so that the economic downturn in the handicrafts market has followed. In fact, there should be support in providing raw materials for handicrafts.

The need to support handicraft activists

Regarding the role of the insurance industry in the prosperity of arts and crafts, Nairi said: “Apart from the usual insurance such as liability insurance, fire and compulsory insurance of the employer, the insurance industry does not provide any other support to craftsmen and all insurance premiums are taken from the employer or owner.” In such a situation, many business owners in the corona were forced to close due to lack of insurance protections.

He added: “Insurance and the situation of sales of handicraft products are among the many problems that artists in this field have been struggling with for a long time.”

The activist added: “Another part is the problems related to distribution and sales, which include the high cost of handicraft products in competition with foreign products, lack of competitiveness of handicraft products in domestic and global markets, the existence of duplicated handicrafts (especially by the Chinese) at the rate Cheap, consumers ‘acceptance of foreign products compared to similar domestic samples, foreign tourists’ poor reception of handicraft products in the last 2 years, products do not fit the interests and tastes of target markets and the weakness and limitation of integrated distribution channels at the national and local levels.

Referring to the problem of marketing and branding as another problem of artists and activists in the field of handicrafts, Nairi said: “Insufficient knowledge of domestic and global markets and the needs and preferences of target markets, as well as how to enter them is one of the most important issues.” Weak research in the field of exports and handicraft markets, lack of communication with markets (countries) with high purchasing power due to political problems and unfamiliarity with marketing techniques, methods and skills are other shortcomings of the handicraft market.

In addition to the above, artists’ unfamiliarity with e-commerce and new ways of promoting products and weak branding have exacerbated the problems of handicraft suppliers.

Trouble with the new handicraft insurance law

Referring to the 1401 budget law, he said: “One of the cases of this law that has caused concern to handicraft artists is the details of the insurance exemption for carpet weavers and handicraft workers.”

Due to these details, from the beginning of 1401, full exemptions for the “insured without an employer”, including those covered by carpet weavers, carpet weavers and handicraft workers, are subject to the results of the “Skills Assessment” test by the Ministry of Labor Cooperation and Social Welfare. Has been.

The activist added: “Insurance is one of the major problems in the field of handicrafts, which even before the details of the bill were approved, artists have always been concerned about it, because attending skills tests for many artists far from the center.” Or even professors, it is a difficult task.

He added: “With the implementation of the skills assessment law, many self-employed artists may be excluded from the insurance umbrella, because the government is only obliged to pay the insurance premium of qualified craftsmen (certified) and how many artists are masters in their work but for reasons of art.” They have not received their ID.

Problems related to government and organizations

Nairi stressed that the lack of a commercial view of the handicrafts sector at large levels, the inadequacy of insurance laws in this area, shortcomings in the policies of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts in the field of handicrafts and mass imports of foreign goods into the country Zadeh added that the lack of cheap and inefficient facilities to support production has also led to the closure of small workshops, especially in the post-Corona era.

Concluding remarks

Today, in addition to art and national identity, handicrafts are considered as an important source of income, but over the years, this art and artists have been abandoned; Especially in the years of Corona, there was no support for activists in this field. Artists and craftsmen suffered greatly from the Corona pandemic; Therefore, in order to continue the life of handicrafts and produce more products in this field, it seems necessary to support this group. It is necessary to try to apply handicraft products purposefully. Insurance as a security umbrella can support these indigenous and national industries to both enter the global market and boost employment by entering global markets. Measures should also be taken to obtain cheap and convenient raw materials.

Since handicraft trade can make a major and significant contribution to the growth of the economy and increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings from non-oil industries, special attention of officials to this sector, especially insurance coverage, can help prevent the industry from being neglected.