Apparel in South Asia

Apparel is the largest labor-intensive manufacturing industry in South Asia, and is a major employer of women. Although South Asia’s apparel sector benefits from many of the same favorable conditions as East Asia’s, performance in South Asian appar...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys, Robertson, Raymond
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2016
Subjects:	export competitiveness apparel sector employment trade policy textile imports trade logistics SME microenterprises female labor force participation global value chains import tariffs environmental standards labor standards working conditions labor unrest
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/10/26845357/extended-version-industry-case-study-done-south-asia’s-turn-policies-boost-competitiveness-create-next-export-powerhouse http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25117

id	okr-10986-25117
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-251172021-05-25T08:52:13Z Apparel in South Asia Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys Robertson, Raymond export competitiveness apparel sector employment trade policy textile imports trade logistics SME microenterprises female labor force participation global value chains import tariffs environmental standards labor standards working conditions labor unrest Apparel is the largest labor-intensive manufacturing industry in South Asia, and is a major employer of women. Although South Asia’s apparel sector benefits from many of the same favorable conditions as East Asia’s, performance in South Asian apparel remains well below that of East Asia. The objective of this study is to identify the policy changes necessary for South Asia to capitalize on this opportunity. The authors review the apparel sectors in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and compare them with Vietnam and China. The report uses quantitative data (analysis based on a gravity model, enterprise and buyer surveys) and qualitative information (interviews with leading firms) to identify changes in policies that would enable South Asia to meet the requirements of global buyers. Low productivity and poor trade logistics make it difficult for South Asia’s apparel sector to compete in global markets, despite a cost advantage due to lower wages than other major exporters. Leading firms exhibit that world class operational performance can be achieved in South Asia by investing in training and technology. These firms overcame constraints in the external environment by achieving economies of scale, and in the case of India and Pakistan, by integrating vertically to avoid barriers to sourcing high-quality inputs on the global market. All countries should promote Plug and Play industrial zones with ready to use industrial buildings and facilities to promote women labor force participation, as female workers would be the main beneficiaries of growth in apparel production. 2016-10-06T17:06:52Z 2016-10-06T17:06:52Z 2016-10-05 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/10/26845357/extended-version-industry-case-study-done-south-asia’s-turn-policies-boost-competitiveness-create-next-export-powerhouse http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25117 English en_US CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Working Paper South Asia South Asia Bangladesh India Pakistan Sri Lanka
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English en_US
topic	export competitiveness apparel sector employment trade policy textile imports trade logistics SME microenterprises female labor force participation global value chains import tariffs environmental standards labor standards working conditions labor unrest
spellingShingle	export competitiveness apparel sector employment trade policy textile imports trade logistics SME microenterprises female labor force participation global value chains import tariffs environmental standards labor standards working conditions labor unrest Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys Robertson, Raymond Apparel in South Asia
geographic_facet	South Asia South Asia Bangladesh India Pakistan Sri Lanka
description	Apparel is the largest labor-intensive manufacturing industry in South Asia, and is a major employer of women. Although South Asia’s apparel sector benefits from many of the same favorable conditions as East Asia’s, performance in South Asian apparel remains well below that of East Asia. The objective of this study is to identify the policy changes necessary for South Asia to capitalize on this opportunity. The authors review the apparel sectors in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and compare them with Vietnam and China. The report uses quantitative data (analysis based on a gravity model, enterprise and buyer surveys) and qualitative information (interviews with leading firms) to identify changes in policies that would enable South Asia to meet the requirements of global buyers. Low productivity and poor trade logistics make it difficult for South Asia’s apparel sector to compete in global markets, despite a cost advantage due to lower wages than other major exporters. Leading firms exhibit that world class operational performance can be achieved in South Asia by investing in training and technology. These firms overcame constraints in the external environment by achieving economies of scale, and in the case of India and Pakistan, by integrating vertically to avoid barriers to sourcing high-quality inputs on the global market. All countries should promote Plug and Play industrial zones with ready to use industrial buildings and facilities to promote women labor force participation, as female workers would be the main beneficiaries of growth in apparel production.
format	Working Paper
author	Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys Robertson, Raymond
author_facet	Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys Robertson, Raymond
author_sort	Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys
title	Apparel in South Asia
title_short	Apparel in South Asia
title_full	Apparel in South Asia
title_fullStr	Apparel in South Asia
title_full_unstemmed	Apparel in South Asia
title_sort	apparel in south asia
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2016
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/10/26845357/extended-version-industry-case-study-done-south-asia’s-turn-policies-boost-competitiveness-create-next-export-powerhouse http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25117
_version_	1764458563933044736

Apparel in South Asia

Similar Items