site.btaTextiles and Apparel Sector Expects to End Year with Exports Reaching Record 2014 Volume

Textiles and Apparel Sector Expects to End Year with Exports Reaching Record 2014 Volume

Sofia, October 21 (BTA) - The Textiles and Apparel sector
expects to end 2015 with a value of exports reaching the
record-high figure of 1.86 billion euro reported for 2014,
Anastasia Simeonova, a project manager director of the Bulgarian
 Association of Apparel and Textile Manufacturers and Exporters,
 says in an interview to BTA. Simeonova said that the principal
market of the Bulgarian apparel and textile companies continues
to be the EU. More than 90 per cent of the output is exported
and the trend persists on account of the yet weak domestic
demand. The main trade partners are Italy and Germany, which
together account for almost half of the exports. Other important
 partners are Britain, France, Greece and Spain.

The sanctions against Russia have led to a drop of nearly 13 per
 cent on an annual basis of the exports to the country but in
absolute values the figures are not that high to cause concern,
Simeonova said. Rather, the weaker Russian market may indirectly
 reduce orders from customers operating in Russia, she said.

Simeonova spoke about the persistent loss of work force in the
sector: 60,000 people have left it since 2007 to date. At the
moment, 104,000 people work in the sector, which is a drop of 5
per cent year-on-year.

Simeonova said that the shortage of work force, both qualified
and unqualified, is the main problem of the sector. She voiced
strong support for the idea to introduce as fast as possible the
 system of dual vocational education. The sector also needs
urgent amendments in the Labour Code to make the labour market
more flexible and competitive, she said.

The biggest regional competitors of the Bulgarian apparel and
textile makers are Romania and Turkey, as well as Serbia,
Macedonia and Albania, Simeonova said, adding that the
competition from Asia in the face of Bangladesh, Cambodia and
Vietnam is also strong, while that of China seems to weaken as
the country is becoming an ever more expensive production
destination.