Taiwan To Boost Tamil Nadu Textile Industry Via Technical Textiles

A 15-member delegation from Tamil Nadu’s textile industry visited Taiwan to explore emerging opportunities in the segment of technical textiles under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CCI).

The Tamil Nadu textile sector is at a critical juncture as it seeks to expand and diversify its portfolio in line with emerging global opportunities.

Currently, the textile and garment sector in Tamil Nadu is mainly cotton fibre oriented, but a few have diversified into production of manmade fibre textiles.

But both, cotton as well as manmade fibres have to be sourced from outside the state and also have limited value addition and branding capabilities.

To address this challenge and compete with countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Indonesia, the delegation visited Taiwan to explore trade opportunities.

Taiwan is known for its focus on technical textiles, especially in athleisure and outdoor wear since 25 years and around 80 percent of Taiwan’s textile exports come from technical textiles.

This offers a significant potential for collaboration and growth between Taiwan and Tamil Nadu textile industry.

The CII delegation explored avenues for investment, joint ventures, and technology transfers during their visit. In return, a Taiwanese delegation is scheduled to visit Tamil Nadu early next year.

Taiwan wants to take advantage of the ‘China Plus One’ policy and so aims to diversify its manufacturing base and Tamil Nadu, with its conducive business environment and synergies, offers an attractive proposition.

By capitalising on Taiwan’s technical expertise and Tamil Nadu’s production capacity, the partnership has the potential to double India’s exports in technical textiles.

Tamil Nadu, recognising the need to shift towards manmade fibres, has already announced special incentives and subsidies for textile units under the state’s industrial policy.

The state government is also expected to unveil a revised textile policy to further encourage investments in manmade fibre units with smaller investments.

With Taiwan’s expertise and Tamil Nadu’s favourable business environment, it is anticipated that the partnership will open doors to new opportunities and drive the sector’s transformation towards technical textiles.