SAFSA Boosts Performance
of ASEAN Garment and Textile Industries

Conceptualized by the AEC Project under the budget sponsorship by USAID and ASEAN Federation of Textile Industry (AFTEX), SAFSA incorporates 10 ASEAN nations to strengthen their offerings of quality products and services and to develop ASEAN as the sourcing and service hub of textile and garment products for global buyers.

The Potential of Thai Textile in ASEAN  
Upon 2015, the complete integration of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will render “Single market and production base” status by relocating production factors and processes freely within the region to use raw materials and labours in any countries without paying taxes.
               
Mr. Pilan Dhammongkol, Chairman, The National Federation of Thai Textile Industries, noted “Thailand has benefited from various FTA, especially FTA between ASEAN and Japan. Upon the complete integration of AEC, Thailand will enjoy more benefits due to its strategic location that facilitates the logistic processes.”

Mr. Phongsak Assakul, Chairman Emeritus, AFTEX, remarked “SAFSA is a perfect opportunity for Thailand to expand market base from merely 60 million local consumers to 600 million consumers across the region while promoting the capability to expand market to third countries and supporting the one-stop service concept for global buyers. SAFSA will cluster the garment and textile factories across ASEAN under the Virtual Vertical Factory (VVF) concept by combining the strengths of individual country to supply garments for global brands. Currently, there are 15 VVFs.”

Mr. Suchart Chantaranakaracha, Managing Director, Gold Mine Garment Co., Ltd., commented “The export value of textile and garment products from Thailand to ASEAN increased 50 percent since the AFTA implementation. Moreover, Europe has granted the tariff privileges for Cambodia, Lao, Malaysia and Vietnam for garment products using 40 percent of raw materials made in ASEAN. This will also promote their imports of Thai textiles as Thailand has more advanced development of textile industry than other ASEAN countries.”

Get Ready for AEC!
Mr. Phongsak added “Thai producers must change their mindset by understanding the market demands and select the appropriate technologies to produce what they can to compete in global arena. They should be keen on their expertise while adopting innovations to produce innovative products.”

Mr. Pilan concluded “Operators must be more open, join the related associations and develop network across ASEAN to learn market information and movements. Finally they should be ready to change mindset to get ready for the upcoming challenges.”

(Source: Textile Digest Magazine)