Thailand Garment Enterprises Need Help From The Government To Open Up Overseas Markets.

Textile industry in Thailand has been severely weakened due to a sharp decline in European exports and a serious labour crisis.

Enterprises call on the government to reduce tariff barriers, promote their marketing activities in the new target market, and support their investment in other countries.

Following the convening of the conference on textile and clothing exporters, Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director general of the international trade promotion agency, said that a priority area was planned for textile and apparel exporters, which urgently needed government help, because exports dropped sharply in the first half of this year.

Thailand's textiles and clothing sector relies heavily on the US, European and Japanese markets, but these markets are experiencing slow economic growth.

Thailand's textile and clothing exports plummeted to $3 billion 590 million in the first half of this year, or 113 billion baht, down 15.3% from the same period last year.

Nuntawan said that Thailand textile and garment enterprises asked the government to make a plan to promote their overseas investment, because they found it difficult to expand their business in the domestic market.

They hope that the government will provide tax incentives in accordance with the rules of the investment committee to help local businesses invest in neighboring countries. At the same time, when they bring funds back to Thailand, they will be allowed to reduce or exemption from corporate income tax.

The company even appealed to the Ministry of Commerce to support the establishment of the Thailand fashion design center, increase the added value of Thailand clothing, and provide innovative designs for Thailand products.

The representatives of the textile and garment industry asked the government to help them strengthen trade promotion activities, including new markets such as ASEAN, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, which have strong economic growth in recent years.

They also urged the government to provide comprehensive market demand information for all target countries, allowing exporters to plan their marketing strategies to better compete with counterparts in other countries.

Although the government appealed to the government to reduce the import tariff of chemical fiber yarn to 1% to promote production, the exporter urged the government to pay close attention to the anti-dumping actions China might take, because Thailand enterprises would be introduced to compete.

Vallop Vitanakorn, Secretary General of Thailand Garment Manufacturers Association (TGMA), said that Thailand's textile and clothing exports could decline by 12-15% this year, seriously affected by the euro zone crisis.