The textile industry

Abstract

The global textile industry is facing many drastic changes related to increasing raw material and labor and transportation costs, a politically unstable environment in several production countries, and increasing buy-side demands regarding sustainability, fair trade and the environment. At the same time, the SEMC are becoming integrated with each other, the US, and the EU through different FTA. In this chapter, we examine competitiveness in terms of trade flows, the WBDB ranking and LPI. Another indicator of increasing competitiveness is a shift from raw unprocessed textiles to processed or even technical textiles. Together with a qualitative assessment of the national strengths and weaknesses of selected countries and the regional threats and opportunities, we recommend that the SEMC substantially improve their competitiveness in order to keep their market share and thrive in the geographically opening marketplace.