The textile and apparel industry in China was no doubt a huge pressure to Taiwan’s apparel firms as well as all the other countries in Asia. Almost all spinners, weavers, knitters, and apparel makers in China have made huge investment in expanding their facility between 1995 and 2005. However, the global market’s growth was not large enough to apatite all the new capacity. Then, price competition followed to decrease all the possible benefits of textile mills and apparel firms. Nowadays, China announced a series of new policy for slowing down such competitiveness resulted by the low cost of Chinese industry. The appreciation of RMB, the deduction of tax refund rate, the strict regulation on environmental protection, the new law to strengthen labor benefits and rights etc. are more or less decreasing the pressure of price competition. Asian textile and apparel business people still wonder whether the newly developed economies, such as India, Vietnam and so on would take place of China and then cause the price competition worse.

Firstly, TTF will keep high-lighting the image of Taiwan innovated functional textiles in many trade fairs in Asia, Europe, and the USA. A strategy to make it a success is to emphasize that Taiwan textile industry can provide the international market with F4 plus 1, which we promise to supply innovative textiles with “from Fiber to Fabrics, for Fashion with Functions, and will provide you with Full package services”. In other words, Taiwan’s functional textiles are of durable performance owing to the fabrics are made by functional fibers. Moreover, Taiwan’s textiles are fashionable enough to meet the fashion trend.

Secondly, Taiwan’s apparel firms located in everywhere around the world, which will be convenient to international clients to make use of the diversified manufacturing bases and then deliver the goods to appointed venue.

Thirdly, TTF plays a role between international retailers/importers and Taiwan textile mills as a bridge to help both sides get acquainted with each other. TTF, every year, thus organizes a number of trade missions to visit to Japanese, American, and European retailers and introduce Taiwan’s newly developed textiles.

In particular, TTF also transfers latest international market trend to local textile mills and encourages them to develop new textiles for meeting the trend. One of the most important trendy textiles is of environmentally friendly textile. There is a good example to show you about this. A series of Taiwan textile mills, including up, mid, and down-stream textile firms worked together on the development of recycled PET textiles and apparel. They jointly innovated a series of functional and recycled PET textiles, and then presented the development during the last TITAS show in Taipei. It attracted lots of international buyers’ attention.

TTF intends to help Taiwan textile industry play a role as a strategic base of production and R&D for innovative and functional textiles in Asia. On one hand, TTF will organize appropriate programs to assist Taiwan industry in fast development of innovative/functional textiles by means of cultivating several manufacturing clusters in Taiwan. On the other hand, TTF will take actions to promote the clusters to international clients and let the clusters directly connect latest requirements given by the clients. Furthermore, TTF will invite leading retailers/brands from overseas to come to Taiwan and meet with Taiwan’s textile mills for exploring trade opportunities.

In Southeast Asia, there have been many Taiwanese invested factories. TTF is planning to build up a network to link the overseas Taiwanese manufacturing capability with Taiwan’s domestic R&D power, and then jointly develop a prosperous business opportunities for each other.