Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), India's apex body for apparel export promotion, as part of its on-going export promotion initiatives, has organized a Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) for apparel and related accessories at New York, USA for the second time this calendar year. Around 30 Indian exhibitors are displaying their Spring/Summer 2014 collections of women's, men's and children's apparel designed keeping in mind the discerning American customers. The two-day meet was inaugurated by Indian Consul General in New York Dnyaneshwar M Mulay at Penn Plaza Pavilion in Manhattan. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, AEPC chairman A Sakthivel said the Indian clothing exports are likely to grow to about US$ 17 billion over the next two years, owing to economic recovery in the US and the EU.
Although the US is the number one destination for Indian apparel exports, its exports of US$ 3.055 billion accounted for only 3.8 percent of the total garment imports made by the US in 2012, according to statistics from UNComTrade. For the period January-June 2013, India's share in US garment imports stood at US$ 1.7 billion, i.e. 4.7 percent of US's total garment imports of US$ 37.1 billion. Due to the strengths of Indian garments and textiles industry, Indian manufactures have been able to export 236 products across all categories of knitted and woven garments, a press release from the Consul General of India in New York said. India has an 11.22 million strong skilled and efficient workforce and abundant availability of natural cotton, silk fabrics and man-made fabrics.
