KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Textiles and clothing are archetypal industries through which Asean member states achieve and integration into the global economy, according to Global Value Chains in Asean: Textiles and Clothing published by the Asean-Japan Centre.
According to a statement, it is essential to recognise the significant intra-industry variation in terms of technological attributes and factor intensity. For Asean, the most vibrant is clothing, which is often a major exporter, generating significant employment.
Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Viet Nam are the world’s major exporters of clothing. Textiles, in contrast, play a less salient role in its overall export structure because of their technology and capital intensity.
In the clothing industry, the lower-income Asean countries tend to sindustrialisation pecialise in labour-intensive activities such as cut, make and trim operations, while knowledge-intensive processes such as design and marketing are concentrated in the more advanced economies of the region.
Process and product upgrading occur primarily through technological transfer from lead firms (buyers) in global value chains. However, functional upgrading is typically achieved through local and regional markets.
In 2017, the domestic value added in exports of textiles, clothing and leather in Asean was about US$51 billion (RM220 billion) or 68 per cent of the total exports, which became part of the Asean GDP, while the foreign value added was the remaining balance of about US$24 billion or 32 per cent.
More details at https://www.asean.or.jp/en/centre-wide-info/gvc_database_paper14/. — Bernama
