Textile manufacturers to create value chains with CLMV countries

Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Fourth India-CLMV Business Conclave organised by the Department of Commerce and Confederation of Indian Industry said that if Indian manufacturers setup businesses in Myanmar, they will enjoy GSP benefits to export in the EU and US.

Hence, the government is encouraging Indian manufacturers to create value chains with four South Asian countries to leverage the benefits doled out by the US and EU to the exporters of less developed countries.

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam or CLMV countries get benefits under Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for developing countries under which imports are allowed at zero or less duty.

The CLMV are a part of ASEAN bloc with which India already has a free trade agreement and negotiating a broader Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement that spans across 16 countries.

It will leverage to reap the benefits given out by the US and EU to the exporters of less developed countries. This has encouraged Indian manufacturers to create value chains with four South Asian countries

The CLMV region grew an an average rate of 7.1% in 2015 compared with the ASEAN’s average of 4.8%. In the last ten years, India’s total trade with the CLMV countries has grown more than sevenfold from $1.4 billion in 2005 to $10.3 billion in 2015.

This is especially important for the textile sector. Many LDCS import cotton yarn from India and use it as an input for textile products which they later export to the US and EU. By setting some part of textile manufacturing outside India, domestic manufacturers will be able to get the export benefits and also create a value chain since they would import the yarn from India.

Moreover, developed countries have been threatening India to end preferential tariffs because of its rising share in world exports. This move would be fast tracked with the the CII opening offices in Myanmar and Vietnam.