The country needs to put in place a National Textile Policy (NTP) with garments and made-ups identified in it as ‘growth drivers' if the apparel exports have to penetrate more into global niche markets, according to Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman Premal H Udani.
Inaugurating the 30th India Knit Fair here on Wednesday, he said that recession was not the reason for the recent decline of India's share in world apparel market, rather it was the high domestic production costs that made the artefacts from here uncompetitive price-wise.
Mr. Udani said that AEPC would be exploring new market initiatives to help the apparel exporters from the country to find suitable buyers in South Africa, Japan and Latin American nations. “We will try to get best terms of trade through bilateral negotiations,” he added.
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Federation of Indian Export Organisations president A. Sakthivel was present.
In all, 44 apparel manufacturers from across the country had put up stalls in the three-day fair. A fashion show was held on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony.