Vietnam earned 73 million U.S. dollars from exporting handicraft items made from bamboo, rattan, sedge, leaves or lacquer in the first four months of this year, a year-on- year rise of 19.4 percent, according to a local trade agency on Wednesday.

Vietnam's handicraft exports to the European Union are estimated at 191.9 million dollars in 2007, up from 182.1 million dollars in 2006 and 178.3 million dollars in 2005, the Trade Information Center under the Trade Ministry said, noting that the country's biggest handicraft importers include Germany, the United States, Japan, Britain, Belgium, China's Taiwan, France and Spain.

To ensure stable supply of materials for handicraft production and to meet big orders, some 1,120 handicraft exporters in Vietnam are seeking ways to establish material zones, alliances and an industry association.

The country, home to over 2,000 craft villages with more than 1. 3 million people engaging in handicraft production, reaped handicraft export earnings of 195 million dollars in 2006, said the center.