KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian textile manufacturers are optimistic that the industry can grow by at least 30 per cent once the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is implemented.
“We are looking forward with optimism at the parliamentary endorsement of the TPP at the end of January. It has been a long wait for the industry since the negotiations started in 2010 and the industry is hopeful that the government’s decision on TPP would be worth
the wait,” Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA) president Datuk Seri Tan Thian Poh said.
He said MTMA was involved in the TPP negotiations at various levels, providing industry expectations, reference, technical assistance and support to Malaysia’s negotiation team.
“We expect that TPP will bring a new breath of life to the industry. Based on the cost-benefit analysis carried out by the Institute of Strategic and International Studies and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the textile and apparel industry is expected
to be the biggest gainer from the TPP,” said Tan.
He was speaking at a press conference after a dialogue on potential economic impact of TPP on Malaysia’s textile and apparel industry, here, yesterday.
Malaysian Knitting Manufacturers Association (MKMA) president Tang Chong Chin, meanwhile, said he is confident that the textiles and apparel industry would be able to grow at least 30 per cent immediately upon implementation of the TPP agreement.
Miti deputy secretary-general (Strategy and Monitoring), Datuk J. Jayasiri, said the United States procurement sector provided a huge market that was not previously accessible by Malaysia.
He said Malaysian textiles and apparel companies could bid to supply uniforms to the army, hospitals and schools.
Jayasiri said when the TPP agreement comes into effect, 72.9 per cent of the textile tariff on 36.44 per cent of total exports to the US would be eliminated.