Thereafter the sector regained its composure by regaining some lost ground in 2006 and 2007 with sales of 595 million and 643 million respectively. Imports of textile machinery in retrospective have shown steady growth in the period 2004-07. From Euro 573 million in 2004, it grew to 582 million in 2005, slipped to 576 million in 2006 and jumped to 632 million in 2007 to record a growth of 10 percent over 2006. The inward shipments of machinery in to the country have actually grown by nearly 12 percent when compared with figures of 2004. The main reason for lowering of production and domestic sales could be attributed to the stagnating domestic demand in the last 4 years. Demand has stayed nearly the same in 2007 when compared with to the same period in 2004. Domestic demand which was Euro 1271 million in 2004 fell to 1117 million in 2005, ascended to 1171 million in 2006 and registered 1274 million in 2007. A flat growth compared to 2004, but a growth of 9 percent corresponding to 2006. It must be emphasised that the Italian textile machinery industry would need to put in greater efforts towards product and process innovation. The sector would also need to be flexible and penetrate new markets if at all, to get itself out from the downslide.

Europe:

EU-27 T&C sector records 1.2 % revenue growth

According to data available with the enterprise & industry section of the European Commission total employment levels in the textile and clothing sector within the EU-27 countries totaled 2,474,932 in 2007 resulting in a loss of 6.4 percent employment compared to 2006. The total number of firms registered from the textile industry is 175,830 in 2007 and the combined turnover of all the companies reached Euros 211.3 billion in 2007. The year on year growth in revenues recorded a marginal growth of 1.2 percent corresponding to 2006. The investments made in the industry touched Euros 5.6 billion which translated in to a growth of just 0.9 percent in 2007, when evaluated against figures of 2006.

Indonesia:

Textile industry growing from strength to strength

According to statistics released by the Department of textiles, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Indonesia, the textile and garment industry in the country is growing from strength to strength. The sector is witnessing all-round growth whether related to employment, production, investment or exports. The growth varies from a high of 11.23 percent in production by volume to a low of 1 percent in the number of new companies set up in 2007 when compared with 2006. Production in the industry grew from Indonesian rupiah (IDR) 99.15 billion to IDR 102.27 billion in 2007, which represents an increase of 3.09 percent corresponding to the same period in 2006. Exports from the country saw a growth of 3.86 percent by value though it witnessed a miniscule negative growth of 0.35 percent by volume. It grew from US $ 9.44 billion in value to $9.81 billion in 2007. Compared to exports, imports however saw a phenomenal growth. Imports grew by 16.56 percent to reach US $1.99 billion in 2007 in contrast to $1.71 billion in 2006, as a result of which the sector recorded a trade surplus of $8.02 billion in 2007 versus $7.73 billion in 2006. Employment numbers jumped from 1,190,656 to 1,234,250, number of companies from 2,699 to 2,726 in 2006 and 2007 to register a growth of 3.66 percent and 1.00 percent respectively. Irrespective of the all the issues affecting the sector in general, including the recession in USA and a very likely one in the European Union, the textile and garment industry of Indonesia has shown its resilience to withstand adversities in its path. The industry is expected to fare much better in the current year, particularly in shipments to the Japanese markets, since that country has granted a zero percent duty status for imports of textiles goods from Indonesia effective from July 1, 2008.