APEC expects 40% increase in apparel exports led by medical textiles

Council chief Welcomes Govt's readiness to sign limited deal with US, urges review of key trading pacts in order to remove disadvantages

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) expects that exports from the country will increase by 40 per cent, mainly led by medical textiles. AEPC is the official organisation recognised by the Government for promoting the export of apparels.

Addressing APEC's AGM today, its Chairman A Sakthivel said, “We are working on a target to achieve a 40 per cent increase in apparel exports this financial year with major focus on new medical textiles. This will take our total apparel exports up from $15.4 billion last fiscal to about $22 billion in 2020-21.”

Welcoming the Government's readiness to sign the initial limited trade package with the US, Sakthivel said, the trading atmosphere in the US is looking good and there is positive sentiment for engaging with India as a reliable partner in the global value chain.

AEPC has requested the government to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US and this initial limited trade package could be a precursor for the much desired bilateral FTA.

The Council also urged the Government to review all the existing trade pacts with the European Union, UK, US, Australia and Canada to remove the disadvantages. FTAs with the US, UK and EU, along with CEPA with Australia and Canada can help double apparel exports in three years, he said.

While recognising medical textiles as a new source of business for the Apparel Industry and forex earner for India, now that the government has lifted the export ban on many of the PPE items, he exhorted the members to get into Man Made Fibre (MMF) based garments in a big way going by the global demand pattern.

“The need of the hour is to quickly engage in product diversification into MMF. We plan to sign MoUs with a number of MMF manufacturers, including Reliance Industries Ltd, to improve the sector. MMF is the key to increasing India’s textile exports to the global market,” Sakthivel said, stressing on the need to improve design and processing.

This would need extensive R&D into the various fibre base, technologies, processing and sample development. For facilitating R&D into these activities, the Council is setting up a dedicated R&D Centre at its head office in Apparel House, Gurugram.