Forum taking shape for exchange of information on textile trade

Forum taking shape for exchange of information on textile trade

textile association itec 2005 CHENNAI: : An international council of institutions imparting textile education is shaping up, primarily to serve as a forum for exchange of information on the latest trends and to strive to meet the industry's demand for skilled manpower.

M.S. Mathivanan, president, Textile Association (India), announced this at the first international textile educational conference here on Saturday. Leaders of the industry, academicians and policymakers underlined the need for measures to enhance supply of trained manpower to match the estimated growth in global textile trade.

V.K. Subburaj, Commissioner, Handlooms and Textiles, said textile education was important for the growth of the industry, the largest employer and revenue earner. Though the textile sector was poised for "much more growth," one limiting factor was the availability of skilled manpower.

Unless skills were improved, achieving the textile export target of $50 billion would not be possible. This needed a change from the existing system in which most of the people employed in the industry "learn the job, on the job."

S.B. Mohapatra, former secretary, Union Textiles Ministry, said global trade in textile was expected to double in the next five years from $350 billion.

Chennai Deputy Mayor `Karate' R. Thiyagarajan said there was need for a good textile education. Vivek Jacob, CEO, Carrera Holdings, Italy, a leading vertically integrated textile company, said textile education should prepare students to meet the ever-growing needs of the units. Besides equipping the students with technical information, the institutions must impart knowledge on issues concerning competitiveness.

Academicians from foreign institutions, including Phillip Yeung of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Jiri Militky of the Technical University of Liberee, Czech Republic, Toshihiro Hirai of Shinshu University, Japan, and Mark Bradshaw of De Montfort University, U.K., stressed the significance of the forum.

Mr. Jacob told presspersons that Carrera planned to invest $250 million in setting up facilities, including a yarn and grey fabric exchange and 50 retailing stores, in the country in five years. Much of the investment would be made in Maharashtra, where the world's second largest jeans manufacturer planned to establish a garment processing house and a loom and finishing machine manufacturing facility.

CHENNAI: A-day International Textile Conference (ITEC) began here on Saturday, underlining the significance of the sector, which is the 'biggest' employer as well as the largest foreign revenue earner for the Government.

The Tamil Nadu Handlooms and Textiles Commissioner V K Subburaj, in his address, said 27 per cent of the foreign exchange earned came from the sector, which also generated eight per cent through excise revenue.

The sector was responsible for 21 per cent employment generation, directly employing 35 million people of the total 90 million employed in the sector, he added.

All these were clear indications that emphasis had to be on textile education.

Stating that the textile industry was poised for growth, he said by 2020, Tirupur alone would be able to export Rs one lakh-crore of knitted garments but that needed necessary infrastructure. Its current annual turnover was Rs 6,000 crore.

Mr Subburaj said a major limitation the sector faced was lack of skilled expertise but the government was taking all steps to overcome this. "Unless we improve skills, whatever target we set is not realisable."

The Textile Association (India) President M S Mathivanan, who is also the organising Committee Chairman, pointed out that the per-capita consumption of textiles had gone up in the US to 35 kg per person from 20 kg per person a decade ago. - UNI

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