Apparel exports to register 40 per cent expansion this fiscal, claims AEPC

New Delhi, Sep 3 (KNN) Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) on Thursday claimed that the apparel exports from India will expand by about 40 per cent this fiscal.

“We are working with 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 USD 15.4 billion last fiscal to about USD 22 billion in 2020-21,” said Chairman Dr A Sakthivel while addressing the members at the 41st Annual General Meeting of the Council.

The chairman said that though Covid-19 is the most disruptive health crisis in modern human history, India and the world will achieve faster progress and new quality of development post Covid as “every adversity presents multiple new opportunities”.

Congratulating Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal for announcing India’s readiness to sign the initial limited trade package with America, Dr Sakthivel said the trading atmosphere in the US is looking good and there are positive sentiments for engaging with India as a reliable partner in the global value chain.

The chairman said that the council has already requested the government for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US and this initial limited trade package could be a precursor for the much desired bilateral FTA.

Besides, the AEPC has requested the government to thoroughly review all the existing trade pacts with the EU, UK, US, Australia and Canada to remove the disadvantages. FTA with USA, UK and EU along with CEPA with Australia and Canada can help double apparel exports in three years, he said.

Dr Sakthivel also thanked Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani for taking several bold and pragmatic initiatives to help the industry. Besides urging international buyers to do ‘Commerce with Compassion’ and honour their export orders, the Minister facilitated the Apparel Industry’s foray into production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) making India the second largest producer of medical textiles within a short span of a few months since the outbreak of coronavirus.

While recognizing 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, the chairman 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,” Dr 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.

The chairman expressed his gratitude to MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari for revising the definition of MSMEs, which increased the investment limit of medium enterprises to Rs 50 crore and turnover to Rs 250 crore. It also replaced purchase price of plant and machinery with its written down value while calculating the investment, and excluded export earnings while calculating the turnover of an MSME.

Further, the chairman shared the council’s plans of foraying into Virtual Trade Fairs & Exhibitions by setting up AEPC’s own virtual platform as lockdowns in many countries have impacted international trade, disrupted global value chains and restricted physical movement. The objective is to reach out to audiences across segments, irrespective of geographical boundaries and develop personalized connect with buyers. For this, it is imperative to create interactions on a B2B, B2C and B2G mode.

“This is aimed at MSMEs who would otherwise not be able to access international buyers during these trying times. We have initiated dialogues with virtual fair platform agencies,” he added.

Dr Sakthivel appreciated the dynamic leadership provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman for taking decisive and timely actions to protect the Apparel Industry and the millions of workers engaged in the sector during the pandemic.