The Hindu Business Line : Tex-Summit 2007 to focus on industry’s concerns

Despite its growth potentials in employment and investment in a quota-free global trade regime, India’s textile exports in the last two years showed a deceleration.

Our Bureau

Coimbatore, Aug. 14 The textile conference, ‘Tex-Summit 2007’, proposed to be held in Delhi this month end, will come as the first major initiative from the Union Ministry of Textiles in recent times to gather all sub-sects in the textile chain that stand spilled lacking in homogeneity, with a view to focus on some of their pressing mid/long-term issues faced by it in its entirety.

The proceedings of the conference with the theme ‘Exploring Growth Paradigms’ to be held on August 31 and September 1, 2007, at Vigyan Bhavan are designed to take care of the interests of all stakeholders starting from cotton growers, synthetic fibre producers through spinners, weavers, knitters, processors and garmenters.

Current Concerns

Besides the wide spectrum of industry/trade bodies representatives and respective export promotion councils, the conference has also roped in the academicians, economists and policy/decision makers, who will deliberate some of the current concerns of the textile industry, according to Mr J.N. Singh, Textile Commissioner.

Despite its growth potentials in employment and investment in a quota-free global trade regime, India’s textile exports in the last two years showed a deceleration with exporters especially in the past four months remaining despondent on account of rupee appreciation.

The high transaction costs, technology obsolescence, labour issues and high power costs are some of the other hangovers still pulling the industry down, said Mr Singh.

While briefing the press persons on the significance of the two-day Delhi summit here, the Textile Commissioner said the conference structured to cover all critical aspects such as raw material, technology, investments, emerging trade barriers, human resources management, supportive policy frameworks would carry the deliberations through four working groups.

Policy Guidelines

The highlight of the Summit is the participation of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who will be sensitised on issues faced the industry, according to the Textile Commissioner. The Prime Minister, expected to participate in the valedictory, is likely to come with some policy guidelines eagerly looked forward by the industry, Mr Singh added.

Also present in the press briefing were Mr S.V. Arumugam, Chairman of the Southern India Mills Association;, Mr Sanjeev Saran, Chairman of Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council; and Mr Prem Malik, Chairman of Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council; who felt that some mechanism to counter the higher transaction costs that rendered Indian textiles high cost should be found for which the industry needed steadfast decision-making at ‘highest level’ in the Government.