Mauritian textile exporters seek new markets

17 Jan '12

2 min read

External adversities seem to be pushing Mauritian textile exporters to diversify into emerging markets.

Industry Minister Cader Sayed-Hossen said euro zone crisis, along with sluggish global recovery, particularly in the United States, is pushing Mauritius' export industry to explore emerging and regional markets, and the country's textile industry is no exception to it.

Textile industry with a 65 percent share leads the Mauritian export industry. It supplies to leading European high street retailers including Marks & Spencer and Next in Britain and Zara in Spain.

The Minister said situation in Western countries is not likely to improve this year, and it is for this reason that Mauritius needs to reduce its reliance on Europe and diversify into emerging and regional markets.

He added that reducing dependence on European markets and diversification into new markets and products would help Mauritian textile export industry to grow its revenues by about 10 percent this year, while country's overall exports are expected to grow by about six percent.

Overall export earnings of Mauritius are expected to rise to around MU Rs. 46-47 billion this year, up from last year's MU Rs. 44 billion (US$ 1.49 billion).

The Mauritius Government had earlier said it is aiming to boost its exports to Asian and African markets.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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