Despite the strong baht and higher raw material costs, Thailand's textile and garment exports this year are expected to reach US$7.5 billion, thanks to increasing demand, says Virat Tandejanurat, director of the Thai Textile Institute.

For the first seven months of this year, the sector's exports totaled $4.26 billion, a 16.2% increase from the same period last year. Of the total, $1.8 billion came from garments and $2.45 billion from textiles.

"I am confident that the value of exports this year should be a lot higher than the $6.4 billion seen last year. There have been so many orders that we can barely keep up," said Mr Virat.

(Source: Bangkok Post)