'Fortunate that clothing quota was not implemented' – Expert

15 Apr '09

2 min read

The South African Government was in the recent past contemplating putting a cap on about 65 percent of textile and apparels imports from China. An expert from the industry has said that it was fortunate that the quota was never implemented, which would have led to a creation of another set of problems.

Divulging vital information, Mr Morris, a professor of economic development at the University of Cape Town said that, “Even considering that there had been no demand growth in the previous year, the country would have to import a large quantity of textiles and apparels from other countries if the quota had been implemented”.

Continuing he said, “It would have created a scarcity of 172.9 million units of clothing, and if this quantity was to be produced locally, it would no doubt have generated 60,000 new jobs in an industry which employs 74,600 employees, meaning which the industry would have had to nearly double its existing capacity”.

He concluded by saying, “Though the employment prospects look good, it would have been highly impossible to create a pool of 60,000 skilled workers in such a short period of time, which is why the proposal fell through, which is very fortunate, otherwise the country would definitely have had to import from other countries”.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India