APEC Helps Small Fashion Houses Go Global
Trade officials from APEC member economies and the USD1.3 trillion fashion industry have sewn a new partnership to make it easier for up and coming designers in the Asia-Pacific to build their brands and trade internationally.
Under the arrangement, officials, together with fashion designers and industry groups, have commenced work to reduce cross-border business barriers and better position designers to integrate into production and supply chains that can enable them to “go global.”
They are focused on advancing policies in APEC economies to support these goals based on public-private sector information sharing and the findings of companion research by the Chinese University of Hong Kong—host of the APEC Study Centre in Hong Kong, China.
It is part of a broader initiative in APEC to open up trade opportunities for small business in high-growth services sectors via international production and supply chains, and which includes comparable efforts underway in logistics, software and tourism.
Apparel, hosiery and accessories business in the Asia-Pacific accounts for more than a third of the fashion industry’s total value worldwide and two per cent of the region’s GDP. The Asia-Pacific is also one of the industry’s fastest growing regions, increasing 3.6 per cent in 2016. The implications for trade are significant, with fashion already accounting for as much as 12.5 per cent of exports among APEC economies.
Top challenges to their integration into value chains include knowledge and skills gaps in areas such as production methods, new materials and technologies, and management, as case study and survey analyses by the APEC Study Centre in Hong Kong, China reveal. Business model innovation, effective use of data and digital tools, and labor and environmental issues are parallel concerns.
Its policy recommendations include support for general financing schemes and tailor-made financing channels, talent development and technological adaptation, sourcing information and manufacturing quality assurance. Public-private backed designer competitions, low-rent retail spaces for startups, fashion shows and global branding campaigns like “Cool Japan” and “Fashion Hong Kong” are also encouraged.
Trade officials will assess the overall progress of APEC’s value chain integration initiative and take next steps when they convene in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam in August.
Press-release at the official APEC web-site