Experts call for ASEAN textile industry cooperation
Experts suggest that textile and apparel businesses among ASEAN member states should cooperate to overcome the economic downturn.
ASEAN economies should leverage their strengths to generate a conglomerate-style supply chain for the textile and garment industries, experts said at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City.
R.J. Gurley, director of the ASEAN Cooperation Improvement Project, said that Thailand or Indonesia have advantages in fabrics, yarns and other materials needed by the textile and garment industry, while Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have professional garment manufacturing companies and skilled low-cost labor force.
Gurley said regional supply chains will get another boost as ASEAN members pledge to cut internal import taxes to zero by 2015. The goal of the project is to double exports of light industrial fabrics among regional member countries from US$17 million in 2007 to US$34 million in the next five years.
David Birnbaum, a garment industry expert, said that the recession has affected consumer demand for fabrics in Europe and the United States, which are ASEAN’s main export markets.
Last year, ASEAN’s textile and clothing exports fell 2% from 2007 and will fall again this year, the ASEAN Textile Industry Federation said in a report in February.
Vietnam’s textile and clothing manufacturers laid off about 10,000 workers in February, bringing the total workforce to about 2 million, official statistics show.
Experts in ASEAN say that despite strong government support for the textile and clothing industry, it will only recover when demand increases in Europe and the United States. Cooperation within ASEAN member states will contribute to the rapid recovery of industry and pave the way for strong future development.
ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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