Textiles minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar has stressed the need for strengthening apparel export industry as it plays a significant role in country’s economy.
Inaugurating the 56th India International Garment Fair (IIGF) in New Delhi, Gangwar said,“Whenever I come to IIGF, I find more and more exporters are participating with large number of reputed overseas buyers. The ministry of textiles will continue providing support for organization of IIGF, as this industry provides large employment and earns foreign exchange for the country.”
He said several new initiatives have been undertaken by the centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make development participative and inclusive, in line with the core governance philosophy of ‘SabkaSaath, SabkaVikaas’. The textiles ministry has initiated several measures for promotion of the textiles industry in general and in assisting the youth, women and disadvantaged segments of the society in particular, the minister said.
Speaking on the occasion, Ashok G Rajani, AEPC chairman pointed out that the garment export sector is currently worth about 17,000 million US dollar having a world market share of barely 3.5 per cent. “Our industry has a potential to grow much faster and achieve double the exports in relatively short time. There is a need for employment linked incentive scheme for this sector. AEPC would work under the leadership of our textiles minister andtextile secretary for carving out a policy in this direction,” he said.
Rajani said, “Exporters are concerned with zero duty access in EU market by Vietnamand its exports are likely to grow faster due to implementation of zero duty from 2017. (India faces import duty of 9.6 per cent). The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement allows export opportunities in Vietnam to USA with a benefit of 17 to 30 per cent export duty relief. India-EU Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) are yet to be finalized, exporters are expecting faster conclusion of the talk so that they can compete with Bangladesh and Vietnam.”
