RIYADH, 15 October — India has identified a new market for its textile exports to the Kingdom, which has already seen around $50 million worth of exports enter the Saudi market.
“We have not paid attention to the ‘thobe’ market, which is currently dominated by China, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia,” Praveen Sadh, leader of the 52-member Indian textile delegation told Arab News. Sadh and K.V. Mani, director and secretary of the Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council, said India enjoys a competitive advantage over its rivals, since Indian textiles have been entering the Saudi market for centuries. “Saudi women, in particular, fancy Indian textiles, especially embroidered and ladies‚ dress material, among other items. We hope to build on the goodwill factor to enter the thobe market,” Mani said.
He pointed out that unlike its competitors — China, South Korea and Indonesia — whose products show a great deal of price fluctuation, India has been able to maintain its price line. And when it comes to hand-painted and embroidered fabrics, he said, the country remains unsurpassed. “Of course, our prices are a bit higher than those of the other countries. But they are more than offset by high quality and a wide measure of acceptability that our textiles enjoy,” he observed. According to Mani, Indian textile exports stood at $50 million last year, up over 25 percent compared to the previous year.
Textiles constitute over 30 percent of the Indian exports to Saudi Arabia, which is the second largest market for India after the UAE and its seventh largest market worldwide. Referring to the talks held yesterday at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Sadh said that Saudi businessmen mooted the idea of joint ventures in the Kingdom. He said Indian businessmen evinced interest in the proposal, which is still in an exploratory stage.
