The Commerce and Industry Ministry is set to hold a inter-departmental meeting on Tuesday to formulate textile export strategy amid the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the European Union and the United States, The Indian Express has learned. The meeting will be attended by officials from Commerce ministry, Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) among others and is expected to discuss policy levers that could help Indian textile exporters gain a stronger foothold in key Western markets. The textile sector—one of India’s largest employment generators and a major foreign exchange earner—has emerged as a priority area in the country’s FTA push, particularly due to its labour-intensive nature and its potential to benefit from tariff concessions in the US and EU markets. While India’s apparel exports have long faced stiff competition from lower-cost producers like Bangladesh and Vietnam, trade deals with the EU and US could offer Indian exporters a competitive edge through preferential access. The meeting is expected to focus on ironing out issues such as export financing, compliance with quality and sustainability standards, and the role of production-linked incentives (PLI), as India looks to position its textile industry as a major beneficiary of its expanding trade partnerships.
Source: Indian Express
India’s trade pact with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)—comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein—will take effect by September, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said. The deal includes a $100 billion investment commitment over 15 years. India’s trade pact with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)—comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein—will take effect by September, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said. The deal includes a $100 billion investment commitment over 15 years. India's trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein will come into effect in September, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday. Goyal also said talks on a trade deal with the European Union could be concluded "faster than expected".
Source: The Economic Times
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal asserts that India's FDI is not declining, citing a 143% increase over the past eleven years. Inflows reached USD 81 billion in 2024- 25, the highest in three years, with Singapore leading as the top source. The government remains open to suggestions for further promoting FDI, despite quarterly fluctuations. There is no declining trend in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into India, though periodic fluctuations may occur sometimes due to global interest rate changes, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. He added India is seeing renewed overseas inflows and the government is open to suggestions and will adopt new measures to promote FDI in the country. Over the last eleven financial years (2014-25), India attracted FDI worth USD 748.78 billion, an increase of 143 per cent over the previous eleven years (2003- 14), which saw USD 308.38 billion in inflows. Additionally, the number of source countries for FDI increased from 89 in 2013-14 to 112 in 2024-25, underscoring India's growing global appeal as an investment destination. Given these figures, "I don't think that there is any declining trend, periodically there may be some changes, and that happens more due to changes in interest rate cycles in other countries, so if the bond yields in some countries become exorbitantly high, money tends to flow into those countries. we have once again seen money flowing back into India," Goyal told reporters here. In 2024-25, India received a total FDI of USD 81 billion, which is the highest in the last three years, he said. With USD 81 billion, India is back into the FDI growth trajectory, he said, adding, "We are a listening government. We are open to suggestions and we are always ready to adopt newer measures". The highest was USD 84.83 billion in 2021-22. The minister is here on an official visit to hold meetings with Swiss leaders and companies to boost trade and investments between the two countries. Foreign direct investment in India fell 24.5 per cent year-on-year to USD 9.34 billion in the January-March quarter of 2024-25 but grew 13 per cent to USD 50 billion during the entire previous financial year. Total FDI, which includes equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital, grew by 14 per cent to USD 81.04 billion during the last financial year. The same stood at USD 71.3 billion in 2023-24. During 2024-25, Singapore emerged as the largest source of FDI with USD 14.94 billion inflows. It was followed by Mauritius (USD 3.73 billion against USD 8.34 billion), the US (USD 5.45 billion), the Netherlands (USD 4.62 billion), the UAE (USD 3.12 billion), Japan (USD 2.47 billion), Cyprus (USD 1.2 billion), UK (USD 795 million), Germany (USD 469 million), and Cayman Islands (USD 371 million). Sectorally, inflows rose in services, trading, telecommunication, automobile, construction development, non-conventional energy and chemicals.
Source: The Economic Times
A crucial awareness workshop on ‘Advancing Sustainability & Circularity in Karur Textile Cluster’ was organised in the Karur textile cluster last week. The event brought together local manufacturers, exporters, industry associations, and government officials to discuss and commit to greener practices. Major programmes aimed at promoting sustainability and circularity will support the industry in adopting environmentally friendly production methods.
Eminent speakers from the government and industry set the context for the workshop discussions. P Gopalakrishnan, president of Karur Textile Manufacturers Exporters Association (KTMEA), in his inaugural address, emphasised the need for sustainable growth, staying updated with the latest national and international developments, and showcasing the strength and potential of the Karur cluster. M Prabhu, chairman of CII - Karur District, delivered an industry address reaffirming CII-Karur’s vision and commitment, and shared good practices from other sectors that could be adapted by the textile industry. R Kaliyappan, president of the Karur Handloom Export Cloth Manufacturers Association (KHEXMASS), highlighted the spirit of sustainability and the responsibility to leave a cleaner, greener planet for future generations.
Source: The Economic Times
Stressing India’s role as a key strategic partner at the Central Asia-India Business Council meeting in New Delhi recently, Kazakhstan’s deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu outlined a vision to triple bilateral trade, expand energy and digital cooperation, and invite Indian investment in infrastructure and innovation.
The meeting focused on main areas of partnership between the Central Asian countries and India, covering fields like transport and logistics, regional cooperation, counter-terrorism and the development of advanced technologies.
Noting a 41-per cent rise in Indian investments in Kazakhstan to over $525 million, Nurtleu said bilateral trade has the potential to rise from $1 billion in 2024 to $3 billion in the near future, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said in a release.
The minister invited Indian companies to participate in joint infrastructure projects, including multimodal routes, fibre-optic lines and regional energy grids, and the implementation of major projects aimed at further expanding the capacity of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route being developed by Kazakhstan.
Nurtleu identified transport and logistical connectivity as a key area for cooperation, and expressed its readiness to become a reliable supplier of strategic resources, including energy resources, rare earth metals and agricultural products within the framework of India’s Viksit Bharat (Developed India) initiative.
Kazakhstan is ready to strengthen cooperation with India in areas such as trade, digital transformation, critical minerals and energy security, he added.
Source: FIbre2fashion
IN a garment hub in south India, RK Sivasubramaniam is fielding requests from American retail chains Walmart and Costco who want to sidestep higher US tariffs faced by rival Asian suppliers. But rows of idle sewing lines at his factory lay bare his biggest challenge. “Even if orders come, we need labour. We don’t have sufficient labour,” said the managing director of Raft Garments which supplies underwear and t-shirts priced as low as US$1 to US brands. Considered India’s knitwear capital, Tiruppur, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, accounts for nearly one-third of the country’s US$16bil in apparel exports, and is staring at a huge opportunity as US buyers explore ramping up sourcing from India in the face of heftier tariffs on other Asian hubs.US President Donald Trump plans to hit India, the world’s sixth largest textile and apparel exporter, with a 26% tariff from July, below the 37% imposed on Bangladesh and 46% on Vietnam, all of which are bigger American suppliers.
Those tariffs will make apparel from India much more competitive.
But the mood is somber at the Tiruppur textile park as it faces a reality check: India’s hopes of capitalising on its tariff advantage are hindered by a skilled labour crunch, limited economies of scale and high costs. Raft Garments wants to expand production to tackle new orders but is importing high-end machines to automate some stitching processes, given the business for now heavily depends on migrant labour, which is very tough to find or retain. Garment exporters in India say workers have to be trained and many leave within months to work at smaller, unorganised units that allow longer hours and pay more.The larger manufacturers can’t match them due to foreign clients’ requirements on cost and workers’ conditions, according to interviews with 10 manufacturers and apparel exporter trade groups representing 9,000 businesses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has for years courted foreign investors to his ‘Make in India’ programme to turn the South Asian nation into a global manufacturing hub. A shortage of skilled workers in a nation where 90% of the labour force operates in the informal sector is seen as a big roadblock, especially in labour-intensive sectors like garments.
Tiruppur offers a glimpse of India’s labour strain.
“We need at least 100,000 workers,” said Kumar Duraiswamy of the exporters association in Tiruppur, where he said more than a million people currently work. Modi’s government last year said it was extending a programme to specifically train 300,000 people in textile-related skills, including garment making. In the textile hub, some have taken matters into their own hands. Amid a hum of sewing machines at the Cotton Blossom factory, which makes 1.2 million garments a month – including for American sporting goods retailer Bass Pro Shops – Naveen Micheal John said he has set up three centers thousands of kilometres away to train and source migrant workers. And even then, most return to their hometowns after a few months.
“We skill them there for three months, then they are here for seven months. Then they return back,” John said during a tour of his garment unit, adding he wants to look at other states where labour and government incentives both may be better.
Capacity woes
China’s US$16.5bil worth of apparel exports, Vietnam’s US$14.9bil and Bangladesh’s US$7.3bil made them the three biggest suppliers to America in 2024, when India shipped garments worth US$4.7bil, according to US government data.
US companies have for years been diversifying their supply chains amid geopolitical tensions. And even before the news of tariffs in April, now paused until July, Bangladesh’s garment industry began losing its sheen amid political turmoil there.
A survey of 30 leading US apparel brands by the United States Fashion Industry Association showed that India had emerged as the most popular sourcing hub in 2024, with nearly 60% of respondents planning to expand sourcing from there. With the tariffs, India’s exports would cost US$4.31 per sqm of apparel, compared with US$4.24 for Bangladesh, a sharp improvement on India’s competitiveness without the levies, according to Reuters calculations based on 2024 import data from the US Office of Textiles and Apparel.
But it’s in the economies of scale where India loses.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association says an average garment factory there has at least 1,200 workers, whereas in India, according to its Apparel Export Promotion Council, there are only 600 to 800.
“Bangladesh capacities are huge ... We have issues of capacity constraint, lack of economy of scale due to smaller size of factories, labour unavailability during peak seasons,” said Mithileshwar Thakur of the Indian trade group. To address those challenges, garment makers have started to set up factories in states where migrant workers come from, he said. In Tiruppur, its exports association says the largest 100 exporters contributed 50% of its US$5bil sales last fiscal year, with the rest from 2,400 units, a telling sign of the fragmented and largely smaller-scale operations. Raft makes 12 million garment pieces a year with a workforce of just 250 people. A US client is close to placing an order for three million units, which will stretch the factory to its limit and force it to consider expansion. “This one order is more than enough for us,” said Sivasubramaniam.
Pricing roadblock
Data from shipping consultants Ocean Audit showed that Walmart imported 1,100 containers of household goods and clothing between April 2 and May 4 from India, nearly double the same period last year, including cotton shirts and pleated maxi skirts. In a statement, Walmart said it sources from more than 70 countries around the world as it aims to find the right mix of suppliers and products. While US retailers are lodging more queries in Tiruppur, pricing negotiations remain contentious due to higher labour and other costs. Indian brokerage Avendus Spark said in March that Bangladesh’s cost of labour stood at US$139 per month, compared to India’s US$180.
P. Senthilkumar, a senior partner at India’s Vector Consulting Group, said India had stricter rules for overtime policies and worker shifts, further raising costs. In Dhaka, Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury of Evince Group said most of their US buyers were sticking with Bangladesh, given the “large production capacity, lower costs, and reliable quality give us a clear edge”. In India, though, Tiruppur exporters said they are in hectic talks with many US clients who love the Bangladesh cost advantage and are aggressively bargaining. At Walmart-supplier Balu Exports, Mahesh Kumar Jegadeesan said US clients had conveyed “we will not budge on the price” and were willing to move some orders only if Indian exporters can match prices. Inside the nearby Raft Garments factory, where women were stitching underwear, the smile on managing director Sivasubramaniam’s face sparked by 14 new business inquiries of recent weeks faded quickly. “All want us to match Bangladesh prices. Price is a big problem,” he said. — Reuters
Source: The Star
In order to assist small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the textile and apparel sector in their shift to a circular economy, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organised a two-day workshop in Hanoi. Government officials, UN representatives, international associations, researchers, and textile companies from ASEAN nations, China, and Peru were all present at the workshop, which was organised jointly by the APEC Secretariat and Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade. The APEC workshop, according to Pham Quynh Mai, Deputy Director of the ministry’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, was a useful project inside the APEC framework that sought to offer solutions to assist MSMEs in implementing circular business models. As the textile sector is under increasing pressure to satisfy criteria for sustainability, carbon reduction, and supply chain transparency, she underlined the urgent need to shift to a circular economy. According to Mai, MSMEs are essential to the industry despite their small, especially in emerging nations because they control employment and exports. In order to promote sustainable growth and change, the workshop exchanged experiences on how MSMEs in the textile and apparel industry have overcome obstacles in implementing circular business models. The necessity of coordinated efforts from Governments, international bodies, the private sector, and companies themselves was also emphasised by the delegates. Circular economy models present chances to cut waste and increase value through technology innovation, emphasised Carlos Obando of the APEC Secretariat. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association’s (VITAS) vice president and general secretary, Truong Van Cam, listed the industry’s advantages from new-generation free trade agreements, skilled workers, and stable macroeconomic conditions. He did, however, identify escalating difficulties, such as the need to fulfil global climate pledges and transition from rapid fashion to sustainable fashion. Waterless dyeing technology, electric boilers in place of fossil fuel boilers, rooftop solar systems, trash and fabric recycling, and worker reskilling are some of the circular economy solutions that VITAS suggested to address these issues. A textile and footwear development strategy has been authorised by the Vietnamese Government for the years 2021–2025. The strategy aims to increase exports by 7.5–8 per cent annually between 2021 and 2025, with a turnover of US $ 50–US $ 52 billion by 2025 and US $ 68–US $ 70 billion by 2030. By 2030, localisation rates are predicted to rise to as high as 60 per cent.
Source: Apparel Resource
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s garment and textile exports exceeded 17.58 billion USD in the first five months of 2025, up 9% compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, imports totalled 10.63 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of 6.95 billion USD for the sector, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS).
Truong Van Cam, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of VITAS, noted that despite ongoing challenges such as slow global demand recovery and geopolitical tensions in some regions, many enterprises have still maintained stable production, gradually improved their operations, and tapped into niche markets to seek new growth opportunities. With the US adjusting its tariff policies on many countries, including Vietnam, Cam urged businesses to explore other markets with significant potential.
He further shared those surveys conducted across six countries – Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, China, and Vietnam – show Vietnam ranks below China in just a few criteria while outperforming the others in most aspects. This indicates that the quality and pricing of Vietnamese textile and garment products are already in the mid-range or higher segment. However, Cam also pointed out that the inability to fully control supply sources of raw materials not only hinders the traceability of Vietnamese textile products – a key factor for seeking preferential tariffs, but also limits design development, thus reducing competitiveness in foreign markets. Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi stated that Russia, with the world’s fourth-largest GDP by purchasing power parity, is currently eager to enhance cooperation with Vietnam, whose apparel has high quality and designs suiting the fashion tastes and trends in this market. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses should be more active to seize market opportunities.
Source: Vietnam Plus
Vietnam is France's second largest trading partner among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Singapore, according to the former’s Ministry of Industry and Trade. France is Vietnam's fourth biggest trading partner in the European Union (EU), after the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Two-way trade last year increased by 12.9 per cent year on year (YoY) to $5.4 billion, of which Vietnam's goods exports to France were estimated at $3.4 billion—up by 7.5 per cent YoY.
In the first four months this year, bilateral trade grew by 9.7 per cent YoY to nearly $1.8 billion, a domestic news agency reported citing data from the ministry.
Vietnam's key export items include footwear, garments and textiles.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Price-, seasonal- and calendar-adjusted production in Germany’s industry in real terms was down by 1.4 per cent month on month (MoM) in April this year, according to provisional data by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The less volatile quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) comparison showed that production was 0.5 per cent higher between February and April this year than in the previous three months.
After revision of the provisional results, production increased by 2.3 per cent MoM in March this year (provisional figure was a 3-per cent rise). It dropped by 1.8 per cent YoY in April 2025 after adjustment for calendar effects, a Destatis release said. In April 2025, production in industry excluding energy and construction was down by 1.9 per cent MoM and 2.5 per cent YoY after seasonal and calendar adjustment. Within industry, the production of capital goods decreased by 2.3 per cent MoM, that of intermediate goods fell by 1.9 per cent MoM and that of consumer goods dropped by 1.5 per cent MoM. Energy production dropped by 1.6 per cent MoM. Production in energy-intensive industrial branches declined by 2.1 per cent MoM and 2.7 per cent YoY in April after elimination of seasonal and calendar effects. Such production was 0.8 per cent higher YoY between February and April 2025.
Source: Bloomberg
