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Apparel trade body warns members to change or perish
25 Apr '09
2 min read
“Take aggressive steps to survive through the crisis”, was the advice tendered by the President of the 1,000 member strong Thai Garment Manufacturers Association (TGMA), Mr Dej Pathanasethpong and warned by saying that half of the garment manufacturers stand to be wiped out.
TGMA was concerned by the fact that more than half of the members were still working with an outdated method of running their production units and these were the ones who would be the first to be affected by the recessionary trends prevailing across the key markets across the globe.
It also added by saying that the trade situation had changed drastically, with buyers not willing to move out of their offices to source their requirements. Under the circumstances, TGMA advised its members to reach out to the buyers in their home countries and take orders instead of waiting for the orders.
They also advised the members of the association to pay a close look to trade policy of each country and make a detailed analysis of import duties, tariff barriers, competitors etc and then plunge in to these markets, since this was very imperative under the changed circumstances in global markets.
TGMA has suggested to its members to diversify its markets rather than concentrating on its key market; the US which was facing rapid contraction and where they were also exposed to fierce competition from other countries. Instead it suggested that they should concentrate on the EU countries, which had displayed a growth in 2008.
Japan is another market which has still not been fully explored and of which China has control of 81 percent of the market, TGMA said. It said that the economic cooperation agreement between Japan and Thailand had also not been exploited to its full potential, which made the Japanese market a good alternative.
Export from the Thailand clothing industry fell 14.4 per cent to US$1.5 billion year-on-year in the first quarter. Shipments from the sector to the US plunged 23.85 per cent to $277 million, while those to the EU dropped a slight 1.04 per cent to $206.2 million. However, they rose by 21.26 percent to Japan.
TGMA was concerned by the fact that more than half of the members were still working with an outdated method of running their production units and these were the ones who would be the first to be affected by the recessionary trends prevailing across the key markets across the globe.
It also added by saying that the trade situation had changed drastically, with buyers not willing to move out of their offices to source their requirements. Under the circumstances, TGMA advised its members to reach out to the buyers in their home countries and take orders instead of waiting for the orders.
They also advised the members of the association to pay a close look to trade policy of each country and make a detailed analysis of import duties, tariff barriers, competitors etc and then plunge in to these markets, since this was very imperative under the changed circumstances in global markets.
TGMA has suggested to its members to diversify its markets rather than concentrating on its key market; the US which was facing rapid contraction and where they were also exposed to fierce competition from other countries. Instead it suggested that they should concentrate on the EU countries, which had displayed a growth in 2008.
Japan is another market which has still not been fully explored and of which China has control of 81 percent of the market, TGMA said. It said that the economic cooperation agreement between Japan and Thailand had also not been exploited to its full potential, which made the Japanese market a good alternative.
Export from the Thailand clothing industry fell 14.4 per cent to US$1.5 billion year-on-year in the first quarter. Shipments from the sector to the US plunged 23.85 per cent to $277 million, while those to the EU dropped a slight 1.04 per cent to $206.2 million. However, they rose by 21.26 percent to Japan.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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