Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) has urged the ministry of commerce to announce Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS) at 2% for knitwear garment exports made to the US for one year.
Welcoming the export incentives announced by Union commerce minister Anand Sharma A Sakthivel, president of the association pointed out that the knitwear garment sector is still facing problems and requires support from the ministry so as to face competition in the US market. The one way which could help the exporters face the competitive US market is with MLFPS at 2%, he said.
According to industry players, the US market is yet to recover completely from the impact of the economic slowdown and if the benefit of 2% of the free-on-board value of exports to the country under MLPFS is extended to knitwear garments, exporters would be benefitted to a certain extent and they would be able to compete well in terms of pricing in the market. The incentive, it may be recalled, was earlier given to the knitwear garment segment for exports made to the US to help the exporters during the time of crisis but was suspended after September 2010, they said.
In a letter to the commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, TEA president expressed confidence that with the right kind of initiatives, the merchandise exports would reach the set target of $200 million this year. He further said that the incentives given out by the ministry would help to enhance competitiveness of labour intensive sector including textiles.
Recently, the commerce ministry has announced new initiatives worth Rs 500 crore for exporters of certain items to help them tide over the global economic slow down including the problems in Europe and rising interest rate.