“Immense Opportunities Present for Indian Apparel Exporters in Japan”: AEPC at 1st edition of UpNext India 2023

This initiative, which takes the form of a series of Reverse Buyer Seller meetings under the banner of "UPNEXT INDIA," begins with Japan and will be held on the 10th and 11th of February 2023. AEPC organizes Upnext India, which is funded by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry through the Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme.

84 prominent Japanese buyers, including trading companies and retail chains/stores, are in India to source their needs from the 112 or so Indian exhibitors displaying a diverse range of RMG reflecting Japanese tastes. Highlighting the changing market dynamics, Naren Goenka, Chairman AEPC said, "We hold a strong business opportunity in Japan reflected by the fact that China, which has been a dominant garment supplier to Japan, has witnessed a decline in the past 5 years giving significant advantage to India.

The garment industry in both countries has geared up to increase this trade, taking advantage of duty-free access for Indian RMG following the Indo-Japan CEPA agreement, as opposed to an estimated 9% for China and Turkey. The Indian garment industry is blessed with the world's largest raw material availability of cotton, jute, silk, and wool, as well as the world's second largest spinning and weaving capacity.

"This provides the industry with the opportunity for a 95% domestic value addition, allowing India to offer the world a complete value chain solution from farm to fashion, extending our competitive edge through shorter lead times to reach our buyers. After establishing itself in traditional garments, the Indian apparel industry has now expanded into newer areas of MMF garments," according to Chairman AEPC.

In a panel discussion, Goenka stated, "Japan is the world's fourth largest readymade garment importer, there is a huge untapped trade potential in the RMG sector, and also duty-free access to the Japanese market, which is why India must extensively and aggressively focus on building India-Japan trade." The Indian government is preparing a PLI scheme that will primarily include Ready Made Garments (RMG).

This PLI will have much simpler eligibility criteria, which will largely address the issue of capacity creation, according to Goenka. Sudhir Sekhri, Vice Chairman AEPC in his address stated that, "Japanese companies have two competitive advantages as apparel sourcing base: sourcing cost and flexibility and agility. Indian suppliers can accommodate small customised orders of 300 pieces as well as large orders of 3 lakh pieces of a single style. Despite Covid 19, apparel imports into Japan have increased in the last three years, providing a significant opportunity for India's apparel industry."

"Upnext India looks forward to building bridges of partnerships between the Indian Exporter community and Buyers worldwide, beginning with Japan," said Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, Fairs and Exhibition, AEPC. This Japan-focused 2023 edition of the Reverse Buyer Seller Meet welcomes interested Apparel and Fashion Accessories exporters, providing them with a platform to engage with Japanese brands and buyers.

Through this event, we hope to help Japanese brands plan for increased sourcing from India. The two days of upnext India 2023 will also feature theme pavilions for startups in the technology and sustainability domains, two critical areas in which the Indian garment industry is undergoing rapid transformations. Furthermore, the show will feature a series of panel discussions in which experts, industry leaders, and academia will discuss the trade outlook, ESG compliance, and emerging technologies in order to build the capacity for the industry to be future ready.

Koizumi Apparel co. Ltd, Marubeni Intex, X Plus co. Ltd, AIS co. Ltd, Indepp co. Ltd, Aube co. Ltd, Sumitomo Corporation Kyushu co. Ltd, Oyoshima & co. Ltd, Yagi, Muji, Amina Collection co. Ltd, United Arrows Ltd, Konaka, Nissenken quality evaluation centre, and others have attended the show. Indian RMG companies are displaying a variety of garment categories, including summer and winter collections.

Japan imported readymade garments worth US$ 23 billion in 2022 (till November), while India exported readymade garments worth US$ 0.22 billion to Japan, with a share of 0.9%, indicating that there is significant opportunity for Indian apparel manufacturers and Japanese readymade garment importers to bridge the gap and write a new chapter in the India-Japan apparel trade, Textiles.