Fiji textile industry eyes PNG market

THE Fiji textile, clothing and footwear industry views Papua New Guinea as an untapped market and is promoting its products and services through an agency arrangement with a Papua New Guinea company.
Industry president Kaushik Kumar told Pacific Periscope that demand was steady, helped by PNG’s duty-free benefit under the Melanesian Spearhead Group agreement.
He hopes that another government trade mission to Papua New Guinea will promote the sector further.
Kumar said the ability of Fiji’s garment industry to have specialised products, niche industries, producing smaller volumes with flexibility in delivery times, and relatively competitive pricing and proximity to its main markets of Australia and New Zealand, had helped a great deal.
Kumar said United Apparel exported to Australia under a favourable developing country criteria, meaning they had preferential export terms, something that had benefited the company.
He said the industry was gradually climbing its way out of a 12-year trough, with its eyes on growing markets in the Melanesian Spearhead Group nations of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.
Kumar said the company was committed to the Pacific market and had two marketing staff members working on growing exports in the region.
United Apparel is a leading producer of quality apparel including corporate uniforms and school wear.
Kumar said they had been exporting small volumes to Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa. The Fiji Times Online