Indian apparel exporters have huge potential to tap in Mexico, according to Indian Ambassador to Mexico Manpreet Vohra.
Speaking at a virtual business-to-business meeting organised by the Apparel Export Promotion Council, the Ambassador said bilateral trade between the two countries was on a rising trend. It grew 46 % to about $ 10 billion since 2014.
“Mexico is now India’s largest trading partner in Latin America and the second largest in entire America after the U.S. and has overtaken Canada and Brazil. Our trade is also fairly well balanced with only about $1 billion in India’s favour,” Mr. Vohra said.
The Ambassador said that one of the most important products in the bilateral trade was garments and textiles. India was among Mexico’s top suppliers in this segment. In 2019, Mexico imported $ 381 million worth of textiles and clothing products from India.
However, Mexico imported over $10.7 billion worth of garments and textiles from all over the world in 2019. Even 2020 data showed that from January to November, despite the pandemic, Mexico imported $ 7.9 billion worth of these items. India, therefore, had a huge potential to increase its exports to Mexico, he said.
“More than 600 companies in India are certified to produce high quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) today. Global market for this is expected to be over $92 billion by 2025, up from only $52 billion in 2019. This is another good opportunity for Indian and Mexican companies to collaborate,” Mr. Vohra said.
AEPC chairman A. Sakthivel said, “At the start of the coronavirus pandemic in India in March, production of medical textiles in the country was zero. Within 30 days, with the support of the government, production of medical textiles commenced. And, by June, India became the world’s second largest manufacturer of medical textiles.”
Sudhir Sekhri, chairman of export promotion, AEPC, said, “Of the 10 top apparel products that are exported from India to Mexico only one item is based on MMF fabric. All other items are cotton fabrics. This is where the gap is and where we see growth.”
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