LOOKING TO JAPAN
With uncertainty persisting in the US market, exporters are increasingly turning to more predictable ones.
“We don’t know what will happen (in the US). Tomorrow, there might be new tariffs again,” said Thukral.
“Now increasingly, exporters are looking at Japan as a possible destination – it’s a market that takes high quality products. And business delegations are travelling to Japan for this,” he added.
India is one of the world’s largest textile and apparel exporters, but its presence in Japan remains limited. Shipments account for less than 1 per cent of Tokyo’s US$30 billion textile import market.
Still, some companies see opportunity.
Mukesh Khinchi, general manager for sales and marketing (Far East) at Banswara Syntex Limited, said the Japanese market holds immense potential for Indian traders if they can meet its requirements.
“It’s not an easy market to get into because the quality standards are quite high vis-a-vis the European or the American market. It took us almost two years to get our initial breakthroughs,” he noted.
Khinchi’s company has been exporting to Japan since 2016, adapting its products to local preferences and expectations.
“Japan is a more product-conscious market where, along with the price and other things, you need to offer a solution – and you need to make a product which is more durable and more long-lasting with higher performance,” he added.
New Delhi already has an economic partnership agreement with Tokyo, which exporters say makes it easier to operate there.
However, analysts caution that demand from Japan is unlikely to match the scale of the US market, underscoring the need for Indian exporters to diversify beyond a single dominant market.
The government has also been encouraging this shift, having recently signed trade deals with the European Union and Australia.
Some experts say more needs to be done to strengthen India’s global competitiveness.
“We haven’t been able to create something like a ‘wow’ factor for Indian textiles and apparels. And I think that is the way we should move forward,” said Arpita Mukherjee, a professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
“That (textile) ministry needs to move forward with that target, with a vision plan and with an action document to build brand India.”
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