As per a Business World report, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the free trade agreement (FTA) with UK during forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC says, India’s apparel export industry is falling behind competitors like Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Pakistan due to a duty disadvantage of 9.6 per cent in exporting to the United Kingdom.

The UK imported apparels worth $24.9 billion in 2019. Of this, its imports from Bangladesh were worth $3.6 billion while that from India were worth $1.4 billion. This in spite of the fact that India has a complete value chain from fiber and yarn to fabrics and apparels whereas Bangladesh has to import raw materials. He urged the government to address this duty disadvantage urgently to help India double its apparel exports in two years.