Gautam Hari Singhania
Dear Friends in the Business of Fashion,
"IFF is the focal point for vibrant thoughts to converge and brainstorm on growth strategies. With clear signs of market resurgence, sharing of views from different regions will indeed help understand consumption and buying patterns across India. This will help brands, retailers and shopping centre developers create new formats to better serve consumers and also to customise for potential markets/consumer segments.”
Dear Friends in the Business of Fashion,
"IFF is the focal point for vibrant thoughts to converge and brainstorm on growth strategies. With clear signs of market resurgence, sharing of views from different regions will indeed help understand consumption and buying patterns across India. This will help brands, retailers and shopping centre developers create new formats to better serve consumers and also to customise for potential markets/consumer segments.”
AEPC Conclave @ IFF '10
Brand India is the way forward
At the India Fashion Forum (IFF) '10, there was an exclusive Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) conclave held to discuss the prospects of the home grown exporters in the domestic as well as the international markets. AEPC is the largest export promotion council in India that is sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. There are more than 8000 members of AEPC across the country. With a pan-India presence, the council has several regional and branch offices. Premal Udani, chairman of AEPC was the anchor for the debate that had some of the leading exporters from the fashion industry participate like Rahul Mehta, MD of Creative Group, Ashok Rajani, VP of AEPC and the likes.
Vimal Kirti Singh, secretary general of AEPC began by sharing that the market share of Indian exporters is 43 per cent in Europe and 42 per cent in America. But keeping in mind the global economic slump that had hit some of these markets badly in the recent past, he pointed out, "The government is looking at exploring newer potential markets such as Japan and South Africa. Also, it is interesting to note that at present it is not foreign exchange that is such a major concern, rather it is skill development on which the govenment is concentrating on." Singh also predicted that moving forward the domestic sector as well as the export sector in India will open up job opportunities for a huge number of skilled labour.
One of the key activities of AEPC apart from promotion has been education and training initiatives. Institute of Apparel Management (IAM), an initiative of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), is positioned as India's first multi-varsity for the apparel industry. The aim of this new age institute has been to churn out industry ready professionals who can meet the demands of the growing apparel industry.
Highlighting another aspect that needed to be focused upon, Udani added that compliance is becoming an important factor in this new age fashion industry. He added, "The idea is to keep to socially approved norms and build productivity in small and medium factories as well."
Summing up the various points touched upon in the course of the discussion, as a final word Mehta expressed his views about the way forward. He observed that with the right resources in place, Indian exporters should try to create domestic brands and eventually establish 'Brand India' on the global map. Sharing similar thoughts Rajani too agreed to this proposition along with the other eminent panelists.
- Sayanti Banerjee, Mumbai Bureau
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Vimal Kirti Singh, secretary general of AEPC began by sharing that the market share of Indian exporters is 43 per cent in Europe and 42 per cent in America. But keeping in mind the global economic slump that had hit some of these markets badly in the recent past, he pointed out, "The government is looking at exploring newer potential markets such as Japan and South Africa. Also, it is interesting to note that at present it is not foreign exchange that is such a major concern, rather it is skill development on which the govenment is concentrating on." Singh also predicted that moving forward the domestic sector as well as the export sector in India will open up job opportunities for a huge number of skilled labour.
One of the key activities of AEPC apart from promotion has been education and training initiatives. Institute of Apparel Management (IAM), an initiative of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), is positioned as India's first multi-varsity for the apparel industry. The aim of this new age institute has been to churn out industry ready professionals who can meet the demands of the growing apparel industry.
Highlighting another aspect that needed to be focused upon, Udani added that compliance is becoming an important factor in this new age fashion industry. He added, "The idea is to keep to socially approved norms and build productivity in small and medium factories as well."
Summing up the various points touched upon in the course of the discussion, as a final word Mehta expressed his views about the way forward. He observed that with the right resources in place, Indian exporters should try to create domestic brands and eventually establish 'Brand India' on the global map. Sharing similar thoughts Rajani too agreed to this proposition along with the other eminent panelists.
- Sayanti Banerjee, Mumbai Bureau
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