The readymade garment exporters are gearing up to counter subdued exports.
They are working on modalities to make a central database or a portal for exporters where their products will be listed category-wise on the lines of e-commerce to facilitate buyers. Through this mechanism, it will be easy for the buyers to reach out to potential exporters. Also, to counter skill shortage in the industry a proposal is in offing to set up a garment university, most probably in Gurugram.
Currently, individual exporters reach out to their respective buyers and negotiate. Moreover, the importers don’t have much options.
“Once the portal is in place, we will ask the exporters to list their products category-wise such as T-shirts, shirts and trousers on the lines of e-commerce platform. When an importer will search for a particular product, the software will send mailers/alerts to all exporters who produce such items and also to the importer. This will increase buyer-seller interface and help both importers and exporters,” said an exporter wishing not to be quoted.
“The portal will be a boon for Punjab and Haryana as these two states house over 200 readymade garment exporters having base of around 2 million workers,” said Harish Dua, an exporter from Punjab.
On being asked about other initiatives, he said to counter skill shortage in the industry there is a proposal to set up a university dedicated to garment sector in Gurugram. Currently, the Apparel Export Promotion Council runs Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC) which offers shop floor, supervisory and managerial-level trainings/courses within the education and training ecosystem.
According to exporters, exports of readymade garments are very important for a country as it is a labour-intensive sector.
Readymade garments exports increased by merely 2.2% to $7.8 billion in April-September period. Industry insiders say the miniscule exports were due to the fact that Indian textiles were not competitive enough and around 10% costlier than other countries.
According to Care Ratings, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam have low production cost as compared to India and their exporters enjoy preferential duty access in key markets. This has also contributed to making India’s exports less attractive.
According to experts, Indian exporters face higher trade barriers as compared to countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan in the US and the European Union (EU). The average tariffs levied on Indian textile exports are around 6% in the EU and 6.2% in the US as compared to zero per cent and 3.9%, respectively, on the exports from Bangladesh.
Published On : 02-11-2019
Source : Tribune India
