Nepal's garment export up

 Kathmandu, Aug. 6

Garment Association of Nepal (GAN) said on Sunday that garment worth Rs. 8.61 billion was exported by its member companies in the last Fiscal Year 2022/23,  which is up by Rs. 1.26 billion from FY 2021/22.

In 2021/22, Nepal exported garment items worth Rs. 7.35 billion.

The GAN said in a statement that this was a significant achievement made at the time of economic recession, contraction in banking facilities, increase in the price of raw materials in the international market, low productivity and high cost.

Meanwhile, the statistics of the Department of Customs (DoC) have shown that Nepal exported garments and related items worth Rs. 12.57 billion. Major markets of Nepali garments include the United States of America, Canada, Denmark, Australia and China.

President of the Association, Pashupati Dev Pandey informed that on the basis of the amount of exported goods, garment stands at the fifth position, and it indicated a promising future for the export of such goods from the country. The export is cumulative of readymade garments, woolen apparel, cotton socks, bags and garments.

A recent study on Nepal's export estimated that Nepal has been losing the export opportunity of about Rs. 1200 billion every year. "But in recent years, Nepal's exportable goods and destination countries both have been reduced. The country has failed to diversify the trade – neither its export-based economy has been changed nor the destination markets," read the statement issued by the GAN.

It has maintained that among the goods that missed the export opportunity, the garment is the topmost item. According to it, the production and exports are affected by the difficulty in obtaining bank loans, lack of service digitalisation, e-commerce law, absence of raw material industry in the country and favourable policy in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam.

"However, the inclusion of garments in the National Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) has given hope. Now we need to conduct market promotion and branding activities in the international markets and participate in the international trade fairs to promote the goods made in Nepal," said GAN.

It also suggested that domestically produced goods should be used by the government and non-government organisations.

The Association has demanded that the cash incentives should be paid on time and the cash subsidy should be raised to 10 per cent from the current 4 per cent.

"In the international markets, textile and apparel are combined in the single category so garment industries in Nepal should be provided with the concessional loan at 5 per cent interest as textile and yarn industries are currently enjoying," read the statement.

It also suggested the government develop a payment gateway and allow vendors like eBay and PayPal to promote e-commerce, implement export credit insurance, and exercise diplomatic activities to increase access to readymade garments in the American and European markets.

GAN also expressed its serious concerns about the scrapping of the Cotton Development Board and said that the government should promote the farming of cotton instead.

"The government should run export cargo ambulance to allow export without any disturbance. The Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company Limited should operate 100 containers trucks and 500 international standard shipping containers to reduce the transportation cost," it said. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 7 August 2023.