India Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman H K L Magu said, exports of 2005-06 grew by 35%, up to 8 billion U.S. dollars, but still did not meet this year's target. He said that it was expected to reach 9.5 billion U.S. dollars of exports this year, because up to July, the growth rate was 14%.
He added that India's clothing style is outdated and as fashion trends are changing in the international market, buyers are gradually standing off Indian garment. Meanwhile, India s commodities still rely on exporters, thus buyers orders are postponed.
As Indian exporters expected, since the global quotas were eliminated in January 2005, the export growth would increase.
Magu also said that the exporters asked to prolong the time of Technical Transformation Fund Scheme. Originally, the plan will end in 2007, but exporters are worried about it. They may appeal to the government to extend the program to 2010 to avoid the increase on imports of machinery costs.
AEPC is negotiating with the government on labor issues, which is another problem faced by exporters.
