Smart textiles to receive impetus from govt

14 Dec '09

2 min read

The South Korean Government is planning to heave up the struggling textile sector in the country by providing it an impetus, by which it hopes to revive and transform the industry into a growth engine for the future.

According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy it is working on a project which would provide and increase support for technical textiles, which includes functional, smart, nano and environmentally-friendly textiles.

The government said it will first collect opinions from professionals in the textile industry and then create a road map mostly centered on research and development projects. It hopes to develop the blueprint by the end of the first half of 2010.

According to the ministry, the textile industry has proposed a plan that includes providing US $946.2 million, to 110 projects over the next 10 years. Among the projects, technical textiles are considered to be the next-generation material in the textile industry.

Some of these textiles are known to be stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum, and experts hope they can be used in the development of electric vehicles. Smart textiles could find new uses in the medical industry too.

This was proposed after the textile sector and the ministry reached a consensus that the limits to which the textile industry can be taken too have already been crossed and in order to revive it, something new needs to be done.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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