Speaking at the opening ceremony Asian Textile Conference on December 1, India’s Union Minister of Textiles, Shri Shankersinh Vaghela, called upon the Asian textile industry to harness its advantages to withstand global competition. The minister, who delivered the inaugural address, told delegates from Asia and Europe that Asia has a strong base in raw materials, an expanding man-made fibre industry and a large pool of technical and managerial man-power. He said an infusion of new funds could bring back the buoyancy to the textile industry. 

He added that the advantages enjoyed by Asian countries need to be harnessed through upgrading technology and improving quality to retain the competitive edge, leading to a quantum leap in the quality share of the Asian textile exports in the post quota regime. However, he also emphasised that the bottom line for success in the post quota regime would be quality, prices, marketing skills, adherence to delivery schedules and work place norms insisted upon by the buyers. The minister also expressed the need to enhance relationships between trade, export promotion bodies and various departments responsible for operating export promotion schemes and facilitation services.