Ambitious Thai Action Plans

Bangkok Fashion Week  

Thai apparel chiefs announced plans to hold an international fashion show next summer as part of an action plan to turn the country into a leading regional fashion and design hub by 2005. Actually, it was planned to hold the inaugural Bangkok Fashion Week in 2002 but the government-backed event will now go ahead in July or August of 2004.

The ambitious action plan aims to turn Thailand into a regional fashion hub by 2005 and a global fashion hub by 2012. The sector blueprint will be funded by a new multi-billion baht fund set up by the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association (TGMA) and leather and jewellery trade groups as well as the government.

To Embrace Technology

An industry official warned that one out of every four garment makers in Thailand will go bust in 2005 unless they embrace the latest technology and modern management methods. A lot of firms were still using out-of-date machinery.

The country’s 2,600 clothing factories employ around 840,000 peoples. Computer systems and modern management such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and quick-response management is needed for manufacturers to survive the upcoming WTO free-import quota in 2005.

Textile, Apparel Exports Hit $5.15bn In 2002

Despite fierce competition from apparel manufacturers in China, Vietnam and Indonesia which have low labour and production costs, total textile and apparel exports climbed 2.1% year-on-year in 2002 to $5.15 billion.

Back to Index of April 2003