Indian apparel sector can ride out a second dip – Expert

18 Nov '10

5 min read

So, to conclude, I would advise Indian apparel exporters to upgrade their technologies and machinery as having old machinery will not help them to become globally competitive. Also they should stick to their core competencies. At one time, it was said that having cheap labour was enough, since you could employ more people to achieve more output. But times are now changing, as buyers expect you to adopt the latest technology to deliver high quality goods at reduced costs.

F2F - There is a view that, the US and EU countries face the prospect of a second recession due to the liquidly crisis in a few European countries, which could have an impact on the worldwide textile and apparel sector. Your opinion on the same.

Mr Anson – Despite assurances from many countries, certainly, there are lot of fears about a second dip but leaders don't want to talk about it as this could lead to a lack of confidence and trigger another recession. Fortunately the recession had less of an impact on Indian producers than it did on many other Asian exporters because of India's its strongly growing domestic market. But if there were a second recession Indian producers could be quite badly affected.

I had mentioned in my presentation that there is a big fear over growing unemployment figures in the UK as well as the US. This fear, togther with rising prices, could put a big question mark over the purchasing power of consumers in these countries. As mentioned earlier, since India has a strong domestic market, it may be able to withstand and ride out a second dip. But Bangladesh, which is solely dependant on garment exports, could face trouble.

F2F – Your impressions on the denim conference.
Mr Anson – think it has been one of the most informative conferences I have ever attended. The range of speakers has been enormous and the subjects that were discussed were of very high quality.

I was under the impression that I knew many things about the denim sector, but this conference was an eye-opener as I learned of lot of detail I was not previously aware about. Also the conference threw a lot of light on the dynamism of the Indian denim industry. I will be leaving Indian shores impressed by the conference, as well what the Indian industry can achieve.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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