BRUSSELS: Knitwear exporters in Tirupur cluster have made an appeal to expedite the signing of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and also the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with European Union (EU).
The call was made ahead of the Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman’s scheduled meeting with the EU Trade Commissioner Anna Cecilia Malmstrom to take stock of the proposed FTA and other issues.
Sakthivel, the president of Tirupur Exporter Association, said the country had exported $7.23 billion worth of ready-made garments out of the total $16.82 billion ready-made garments exported from the country during 2014-15, to the EU countries.
“FTA and CEPA will help India to increase the market share as presently, Bangladesh, one of our major competitors, is enjoying the duty free access to the market in EU countries.
“Moreover, growth in exports will help increase the job opportunities in the apparel production sector,” he added.
