AEPC confident of meeting US$18bn apparel export target (India)

India exported garments worth US$ 11.162 billion in 2010-11, growing at a rate of 4.9 percent year-on-year, against the target of US$ 12 billion, as per the data with the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS).

 

Last fiscal, compared to its set target of US$ 14 billion, India managed to export clothing items worth US$ 13.699 billion, growing at a rate of 22.7 percent year-on-year.

 

Speaking to fibre2fashion, Mrs. Chandrima Chatterjee, Director-Economic & Consultancy Department, AEPC, said, “Every year, the Government sets ambitious targets for apparel exports and so far we have been, more or less, able to meet them. The apparel exports target for the current fiscal year is US$ 18 billion and AEPC is confident that the target can be achieved.” 

 

Enumerating the reasons for being optimistic about meeting garment export target, she says, “This year, we had a favourable dollar rate. Then, the incentives announced in the Annual Supplement to Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2009-14 are favourable for apparel exports.” 

 

“A good number of incentives by way of Focused Product & Market Scheme (FMS) have come to the apparel sector, which would also help boost apparel exports,” she adds.

 

The US and Europe have traditionally been major markets for India’s apparels. But lately, Indian garment exporters have diversified their presence in other countries. “In this context, the FMS and the Market Linked Focused Product (MLFP) scheme are very relevant,” says Mrs. Chatterjee.

 

“Since the last two years, we have increased our presence in some non-traditional markets and we have export promotion activities focused on these countries, especially Japan, along with Australia, South Africa and countries in Latin America. These are our focus areas where we are expecting good growth,” she informs.

 

A distinct feature of India’s apparel exports is that its growth in volume terms has always been lower than in value terms. Mrs. Chatterjee expects the trend to continue during the current fiscal as well.

 

“It is indicative of a rising Unit Value Realization (UVR). We are consciously trying to increase our UVR. It means that our products are now fetching a higher price, which is, of course, a desirable thing,” she explains.