Aim for a double-digit proportion of Colombian clothing imports, with AEPC following up on sourcing strategy in the near future
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28 January 2022, Mumbai:
By focusing on high-value garment items, Indian apparel exporters may boost India's proportion of Colombia's worldwide apparel imports. And, in order to take advantage of this opportunity, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) will implement a close sourcing approach.
This was a key lesson from AEPC and the Embassy of India in Colombia's virtual B2B conference on "India-Colombia Synergies in Garment and Textiles," which brought together Colombian customers and Indian apparel exporters. This event has about 25 Colombian importers registered.
It's also worth noting that, despite a decrease in readymade garment imports in Colombia, Indian RMG exporters have managed to preserve their market dominance in the country.
While Colombia's RMG imports from throughout the world decreased from $652 million in 2019 to $408 million in 2020, India's proportion of overall clothing imports in Colombia stayed constant at 3.2 percent, with US $21 million in 2019 and US $13 million in 2020.
"India's part of Colombia's worldwide clothing import is just 3.2 percent," said Narendra Goenka, Chairman of the AEPC, "but we are aiming at elevating this to some reasonable level in the double digits." We're concentrating on higher-value, specialized items like MMF clothing, medical, and technical fabrics."
"Colombian investors may also set up manufacturing facilities in India, either directly or through joint ventures, and collaborate with us in developing R&D, innovation, and incubation centers in India," he added.
"The majority of the apparels shipped from India form Colombia's top 10 items of import in that area," stated Sanjiv Ranjan, Indian Ambassador to Colombia. The popularity of Indian clothing and textiles in Colombia has grown over time, particularly among women, and this is an extra benefit."
He also stated that reaching the pre-pandemic level of exports of around $22 million would need considerable efforts.
The AEPC will follow up on the Ambassador's idea, which "he defined as a near sourcing approach of some sort of warehouse which could be placed in Colombia and service Latin America and be a hub," according to Gautam Nair, Chairman (Export Promotion), AEPC.
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