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Mr. A Sakthivel, Chairman
AEPC and Poppy’s Knitwear Pvt. Ltd, Tirupur,
chaired the session and introduced the subject.
Mr. Prem Malik, CEO (Textiles), Mafatlal Industries
Ltd. discussed the Global home textile and apparel
industry and its recent developments with special
reference to Asia, the future of the Asian home
textile industry and the possible areas of cooperation
between the Asian countries.
He was optimistic about the recent trends in
international trade, particularly in the finished
product segment with the India, China and Pakistan
increasing their market shares. The total trade
in Home Textile in 2003 was to the tune of 42
billion dollars of which trade in cotton made
ups was worth US$ 21.5 bn . Trade in cotton made
ups is projected to increase at a CAGR of 6% to
touch 24.2 billion during the close of this year
2005. Towels, drapery, bed and table linens and
cushion covers, together hold about 51.5% of the
total trade. China, Pakistan and India are the
top three suppliers with the market share of 19.95%
in case of China, 9.88% in case of Pakistan and
8.21% in respect of India. He highlighted the
trends and potential of the leading Asian suppliers,
China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
The areas of cooperation within the Asian countries
identified by him are:
- Setting up a preferential tariff arrangement
among the member countries.
- Organize regional trade fairs and buyer-seller
meets.
- Promote strategic alliances
- Bonded warehouses for delivery of fabrics
and accessories
- Simplification of the visa procedures
- Investment promotion missions.
- Tariff and tax concession to import plants,
machinery and equipments.
- Identify and network centers of excellence
for design, training, productivity improvement,
- research and fashion technology in Asian region
Mr. Sudripto Roy, Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Textiles spoke on “Government Schemes for
Textile Industry’. He expressed optimism
over the present trends in the industry and the
future of the Indian textile industry. He discussed
the Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS),
Technology Mission on Cotton, Textile Parks or
SITPs and their goals and achievements so far.
Mr. Matin Choudhary, MD, Rahim Textile Mills
Ltd, Bangladesh spoke on ‘Textile and Clothing
Industry in Bangladesh’. He went through
the evolution of the Bangladesh textile and garment
industry, the transition phase after Partition
and the subsequent resurgence of the industry.
The spindlage has increased from to 5 million,
rotors to 8200, looms to 17,000. Trade to US was
worth 2.2 billion dollars last year. Exports to
European Union using the GSP have increased from
100 million Euros in 2004 to 2.3 billion Euros
in 2005. Value addition has increased from 25
to 70%. With these statistics, he made an emphatic
claim that the Bangladesh industry is progressing
and confident to face the challenge posed by quota
abolition.
He pointed at cooperation opportunities. As an
LDC country Bangladesh has duty-free access to
Europe, to Japan, Canada and Australia to its
advantage. He urged India to work as a part of
the region, invest in the region – be a
partner and not just a supplier.
Mr. Dilip Jiwarajka, Managing Director, Alok
Industries Ltd spoke on ‘Home Textiles Industry
of India’. He was of the opinion that as
the Western buyers in Europe and America consolidate
their individual and collective bargaining strength,
it would be necessary for Asian countries to come
together, formulate a joint strategy for collective
growth rather than being driven to the wall by
each other.
He evaluated the strength of the home textile
sector within the overall Indian textile spectrum.
The market growth in this sector continues to
be healthy increasing by about 5 to 7% annually
even while apparel demand continues to grow only
at 1%. Production of home textiles in India was
very traditional. With the advent of companies
like Welspun, Alok, Trident, Orientcraft India
started entering the mass international market
to finer, high and basic products like bed sheets,
bed sets, toilet towels, upholstery fabrics and
complete coordinates for bedroom and living rooms.
Today, with an annual growth of over 12% per annum,
home textiles is among the best performing sectors
of the Indian Textile Industry and is primarily
driven by four products- sheets sets, terry towels,
upholstery fabric and life style made ups. He
discussed the complete range and variety of the
home textiles produced in India.
Mr. Gautam Nair, Matrix Clothing Private Ltd.,
Gurgaon spoke on ‘Supply Chain Management’.
He discussed the opportunities for supply chain
management in India and the complexities and future
of managing a supply chain in the Indian apparel
industry. The three important deliverables of
an efficient supply chain management system for
the apparel industry are quality, cost and time.
These critical components of the drivers of the
apparel business need modern manufacturing facilities
and not fragmented units with poor delivery capability.
He recommended the textile industry to make either
formal or informal alliances with manufacturers
to understand the drivers of the apparel business.
For the apparel manufacturer, he warned that the
days of small is beautiful are over. To compete
in massive activities, the industry should have
big capacities. |
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