Columbia’s textile and clothing industry is eyeing on expanding its export market to the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) and the country is also aiming at building new business relations with these countries.
The president of the Institute for Export and Fashion (Inexmoda) of Columbia, Mr. Carlos Eduardo Botera said the objective of Colombian textile and apparel industry in 2013 is to strengthen the trade relation between Colombo and the EU.
Globally, the Colombian textile and garment sector is contributing only 3 percent of the total exports to the EU, he informed while speaking at Colombiatex of the Americas 2013 last month.
He said the Colombian Government should offer certain trade benefits to attract foreign investors and to make the country’s textile and apparel sector more competitive.
According to him, the Colombian textile and clothing sector should be more innovative and should update with the latest technologies as well as the industry should work with value-added and niche market.
However, Ambassador Head of the EU delegation in Colombia, Ms. Maria Wilhelmina Josepha Antonia van Gool said the EU is the second largest trading partner of Columbia, after the US.
Since 2000, the exports of Columbian textile and garment products to the EU surged by 11.4 percent year-on-year and in 2011, it increased by 45.8 percent, she informed.
Colombiatex of the Americas is the trade show on textiles and inputs, clothing, home textile, machinery and equipments for the apparel industry.
