New Delhi/ Gurugram/ Noida : AEPC in collaboration with DGFT and support of Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC) organized capacity building programme, under MAI scheme and Niryat Bandhu, with the objective of promoting Noida as an Apparel Export Hub. The meeting was organized in Noida, where Shri Gangadhar Panda, Additional DGFT, Shri Mithileshwar Thakur, Secretary General, AEPC and Shri Lalit Thukral, President, Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC) addressed the members of trade and industry. Large number of garment exporters were present in the meeting.
The meeting also witnessed presentations from Dr. Tamanna Chaturvedi, Dy SG, AEPC as well as institutions/ bodies like- IDH Netherlands, Reverse Resources, ENEN Green, Onlygood, etc. on sustainability. They all emphasized that sustainability was no longer a matter of choice but the need of the hour for this sector. DGFT officials in their presentation elaborated on the government schemes and support measures.
Delivering his address, Shri Gangadhar Panda Additional DGFT said, “Indian apparel has a footprint globally. Today we go anywhere in the world we can see made in India tag apparel being displayed in global supermarkets and chains. We are at 15 billion USD exports and government supportive policies can further help capturing the great market demand owing to FTA and reorienting of supply chain.”
In the message to the garment trade Shri Naren Goenka, Chairman AEPC said, “Sustainability requires a triple bottom line approach consisting of economic, environmental and social dimensions. It is promising to see that many initiatives are being taken by multiple stakeholders across the value chain to adapt to these new sustainable practices.”
Shri Mithileshwar Thakur, Secretary General, AEPC stated that, “With the same level of investment, the employment generation capacity in the apparel sector is more than six times as compared to other sectors. It is important to harness India’s demographic dividend advantage through this sector.” He also appealed to the members of trade and industry to take advantage of FTAs signed by the government recently and requested them to diversify to Man Made Fibre (MMF) based products to cater to the global demand and boost exports.
Welcoming the guests Shri Lalit Thukral, President, Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC), said, “Noida exports today products worth Rs 40,000 crore which is slated to grow to Rs 60,000 crore. The cluster employs around 8- 10 lakh people. We are making an apparel park in Jewar with 120 factories which will employ 3 lakh women workers.”
Dr. Tamanna Chatuurvedi, DSG AEPC said, “AEPC has done extensive market intelligence study product wise and has found that while most of the garment exporting countries are in sync with world import trends, India is not. Market space lost by China is being captured by Bangladesh, Vietnam and Turkey, which India could have taken advantage of” Also making strides in sustainability parameters can give us an additional business edge as it will save a lot of cost and make our factories compliant on ESG parameters, she added.
