Nepal set to export garments to Australia

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The readymade garment (RMG) sector is set to export its products to a new export destination Australia.

“We are getting enquiry and order for Nepali readymade garments in the Australian market that is our new destination,” said president of the Garment Association-Nepal (GAN) Uday Raj Pandey. The Nepali exporters received good response for readymade garments in the Australian market during their participation at trade fair in Australia in November 2011.

“We are preparing for the production in February and March,” he said, adding that they are waiting for more order for this season from Australia.

Nepal has the capacity to export around Rs 300 million worth readymade garments to the Australian market. Australia has been importing large quantity of readymade garments from India, Bangladesh and Srilanka. However Nepali readymade garments’ unique design has attracted the Australian buyers.

“Currently, some individual traders are carrying readymade garments to Australia but its contribution is negligible to the total export,” said Pandey. “The negligible quantity of readymade garments has been indirectly exported to Australia but we have explored the Australian market, during the trade fair, which shows that we have a good opportunity.”

In the recent past single market concentration has hurt the Nepali readymade garment sector making it necessary for the exporters to diversify the markets. Though Nepal’s main focus is European Union (EU), Australian market too has a good potential.

After losing the US market, European Union (EU), along with India, had emerged as the next promising market in 2010.

With steep fall in exports to the US, there are very few small scale exporters who are still exporting to the US but in a negligible quantity. Export of readymade garments has fallen by over three times. In the fiscal year 2002-03, readymade garments worth Rs 11.5 billion were exported, which came down to Rs 4.5 billion in 2008-2009. Garment worth Rs 4.084 billion was exported in 2010-11– an increment of only 8.7 per cent compared previous fiscal.(Source:THT)