The World Crafts Council-Asia Pacific Region (WCC-APR) is one of the WCC 5 Regions: Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. Hence, it is like the WCC a non-government with a status Category A at UNESCO.
The Asia Pacific Region covers the Asian countries stretching from the furthest West, to the furthest East, and includes Australia and the South Pacific Islands. Such a frame incorporates within the following six sub-regions:
West Asia : Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE
Central Asia : Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
South Asia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
South-East Asia : Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
Far East Asia : China, Hong Kong-China, Japan, Mongolia, North and South Korea, Taiwan-China
South Pacific : Australia, New Zealand and the South-Pacific Islands
Asia Pacific Region Executive Board meets twice a year.
The Asia Pacific regional General Assembly (GA), composed of all members of the Region, meets bi-annually twice during the term (4 years).
Membership Categories
Any institution, organization, group or individual from countries of operational areas of the WCC-APR, that is involved in promotion, development and encouragement of craft in their respective countries, is eligible for membership. The Asia-Pacific Region has different categories of membership. They are:
National Entity
Associate Member
International Group
Individual Member
Honorary/Advisor Member
Student Member
On 4th November 2008, WCC-APR Board decided that each country can have two National Entities to represent the country: one governmental body and the other non-governmental organization (NGO).
The WCC-Asia Pacific Region has the same mission and objectives of the World Crafts Council (WCC) International, which are: to bring handicrafts and craftspeople (artisans) into the mainstream of life, elevate their social and economic status and build fellowship among them, upgrade the quality of their products and promote them in the local and international markets.
WCC-Asia Pacific Region is the largest, richest and most diversified in the field of handicrafts. The craftspeople in APR countries, their communities, and their governments have a great degree of awareness of the cultural, aesthetic, sentimental, creative and innovative value of handmade production. For the purpose of creating awareness locally and internationally, WCC-APR launched 3 flagship projects: “Crafts Education”, “Natural Dyes”, and “Online Encyclopedia of Handicrafts in Asia Pacific Region”.
It also initiated Inter-Regional craft events where artisans from different regions meet in one country on a common platform to be exposed to each other’s culture, to exchange knowledge and build fellowship among them. WCC-ARP organizes exhibitions, training workshops, seminars, conferences and inter-regional events.
WCC-APR publishes informative catalogues for each event. The “Online Encyclopedia of Handicrafts in Asia Pacific Region”, which is now in the final stage of launching, will be accessible to artisans, scholars, students, researchers and interested people soon.