India-Thailand plan to develope textile brand

COIMBATORE: With India's strength in manufacturing and technical knowhow and Thailand's strong marketing, both nations could jointly work to develop international brands and capture a sizeable share in the global textile trade, S V Arumugam, chairman, Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) said on Wednesday.

Arumugam, who was part of a 28-member delegation, which visited Thailand in the first week of the month, said that both countries, which were going to finalise the Free Trad Agreement, have very high potential for textile trade.

Thailand, where a majority of factories are integrated units, was very strong in marketing,particularly international branding and could produce high value added items and get high profit margins, he claimed in a statement here.

"India has to go a long way to match infrastructure facilities, taxation system, power quality/tariff, marketing skills and interest rates prevailing in that nation," he said.

Though India and Thailand were the worst hit in the currency appreciation against US Dollar, the impact could not be seen in the performance of the textile industry in Thailand due to high profit margin and lower cost of production, as compared to India, Arumugam said.

The purpose of the visit was to enhance textile and clothing trade activity between the two countries, observe infrastructure facilities, competency level and the technological development there.

The delegation included members of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.