There are many avenues of cooperation and coordination between India and Bangladesh textile & apparel industry, which can catapult the industry to capture a significant global market share, said Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Hon’ble Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development. She was speaking at the inaugural session of the ‘India-Bangladesh Virtual Conference on Textiles and Apparel Sector’ jointly organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) which saw some important action points being discussed to develop synergies between the two countries.
Measures are underway to address the logistics challenges in order to reduce the turn-around-time for movement of cargo between the two countries, and inland waterways will also be leveraged for the same, the Minister underlined. The issues being faced currently in the movement of cargo through Petrapole and Benapole ports are also being investigated, she said.
Smt Irani said that imposition of zero duty on exports of ethnic apparel from India to Bangladesh would help to increase trade She stressed that India should focus on increasing yarn and fabric exports to our neighbour. Cotton Cooperation of India (CCI) which at present is holding surplus stocks of cotton, is working out the modalities for exporting to Bangladesh, which will help serve the requirements of its spinning industry. India can also learn from the Bangladesh experience with diversified jute products and partner to capture a share in global value chain of silk as well.
H E Mr Golam Dastagir Gazi, Hon’ble Minister of Textiles and Jute, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, emphasised that there is a huge potential for further collaboration between Bangladesh and India in the textile & apparel industry, with opportunities for both countries. The Minister said that barriers to trade in the textile trade of the two countries will be resolved through mutual discussion.
Mr Ravi Capoor, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, stressed on the need for developing regional value chains, with India supplying raw materials and Bangladesh exporting value added goods like fabric and apparel clothing to the world. There was however the need for removing the irritants to trade from both sides before this could fructify.
Mr Dilip Gaur, Chairman, CII National Committee on Textiles & Apparel and Managing Director, Grasim Industries Limited and Mr Mr Kulin Lalbhai Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Textiles & Apparel & Executive Director, Arvind Limited underpinned the criticality of grabbing the opportunity thrown by the current pandemic to restructure global value chains in the sector in favour of India and Bangladesh.
Representatives of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) also spoke at the conference.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII highlighted that comparative advantage and trade complementarities in textiles & apparel sector between the two countries offer huge opportunities for bilateral investments.
30 September 2020
New Delhi