ITAC 2006 to focus on critical issues of textile industry

Mumbai, Apr 16: To debate on the critical issues faced by the Indian textile industry since the removal of Multi Fiber Arragement under the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Technopak Advisors Pvt Ltd., has organised the fourth 'International Textile and Apparel Congress 2006' from April 20-21 at Hilton Tower Mumbai.

The event will provide options for buyers to source cost-effective vendors across the globe, while, suppliers would get the feel of stiff global competition driven by low costs and new legislation.

Commenting on the opportunities, Technopak Advisors Chief Operating Officer Harminder Sahni said, ''With the impact of globalisation retailers are looking to work differently with suppliers. After China, South Asia is emerging as key sourcing desination. And in such a competitive arena, we need to revaluate our resources, tools, human resource management and information technology in order to facilitate a growth in business. India should strive towards gaining a large piece of that share.'' However, industry estimates,that the sector needs investments in excess of Rs 45000 crore to meet the export target of USD 50 billion by 2010, notwithstanding, the recent spate of capacity expansion and diversification projects undertaken by some Indian companies like Alok Industries, Welspun, and Abhishek Industries A recent study on the impact of liberalisation on Indian textiles and clothing sector by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) senior economists, Prasad Ananthakrishnan and Sonali Jain-Chandra, reveals that India has much to gain from improvng its infrastructure, by encouraging technology transfer, and by integrating the supply chain to minimise the lead time. Also emphasis should be given to foster textile clusters capable of coordinating all stages of production.

The report further suggests, India can benefit from quota elimination, only if it is able to leverage its innate assets - relatively low-cost labour force, a sizable domestic supply of fabrics, a strong and diverse raw material base for manufacturing natural and artificial fibres and a capacity-based advantage in spinning - and remove the existing constraints.

UNI