The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) held a meeting in New Delhi recently with buying agencies and liaison officers of overseas brands, to discuss efforts to increase Indian garment exports to USD 40 billion by 2030.
A press release from AEPC said that Sudhir Sekhri, chairman, spoke about the measures that need to be taken to boost exports. The council plans to participate in 17 international trade fairs this year across all continents. The focus destinations would be Saudi Arabia, Poland, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Russia, besides the traditional sourcing majors of the European Union, the US and the UK. It was also decided that the Indian textile and apparel industry would extend its outreach to buyers through the second edition of Bharat Tex, an exhibition of Indian textile and garment capabilities.
Free trade agreements (FTA) signed by India with Mauritius and Australia are paying dividends, as readymade garment exports to these countries in April – February of financial year 2023-2024 registered a 16.8 % and 5.7 % growth respectively compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. The UK accounted for 8% of India’s apparel exports and signing an FTA with it would give a much-needed fillip to garment exports, he said.
Rohit Kansal, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles, who chaired the meeting, said the manufacturers should strengthen their engagement with brands and buying houses to create the right perception among them about the industry’s readiness to meet compliances.
Shubhra, Trade Advisor, Ministry of Textiles, who co-chaired the discussions, said it was important for manufacturers to invest and scale up their capacities to instil confidence among global brands on the manufacturing ecosystem in India. She also urged the Council to consider forming a group of heads of CSR departments of major apparel companies to pro-actively keep track of “baseless allegations by vested interests about social compliance issues in the textile value chain and refute them strongly with relevant evidences,” the release said.