Kathmandu, May 7:

A continuous fall of exports of readymade garment to the United States market, which is the largest single market, dipped for yet another month. The month of April 2007, though, saw a marginal decline of three per cent, it is the consecutive fourth month that the Nepali apparel products has been losing its upbeat.

The garment exports to the US has been suffering from the very beginning of this year as it witnessed a whopping decline of 54 per cent in January, 64 per cent in February and 47 per cent in March.

The industry is in doldrums for the last two years following the termination of quota regime under multi-fibre arrangement (MFA) in January 2005.

The exports had suffered a loss of 30 per cent in 2004, 41 per cent in 2005 and six per cent 2006. As the US alone absorbs more than 80 per cent of the total Nepali garment exports, single market concentration is blamed to be one of the reasons for such a plummet in exports.

The garments and apparel products valued over $2.48 million were exported to the US in April, reveals the figures provided by the Garment Association of Nepal (GAN), today. The continuous fall in exports indicates a difficult time ahead for the Nepali garment manufacturers and exporters, as the markets have already been opened for all the competitors without quota restrictions, an exporter told this daily. He opined that Nepali manufacturers need to enhance competitive strength of domestic products to compete with big suppliers from India and China and other fervent players like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

According to the quantitative analysis of garment exports to the US, altogether 6548 kg of the commodity were exported during the month, whereas the figure for 2007 April stood at 3369 kg.

Internal factors and other non-tariff barriers such as social compliance, procedural complications, lengthy customs process and documentations among others are said to be the major setbacks for Nepali apparel products that make them dearly and less competitive.

Gradual collapse of the industry, which generates 12 per cent of the total industrial employment and earns 40 per cent of foreign exchange among the overseas exports earnings, will have a multifaceted adverse impact to the national economy.

Besides building up competitive strength, diversification of markets and products has remained a major challenge for the Nepali apparel industries. A gradual increment of the exports to the European Union (EU) and Canada has however shown some rays of hopes to the garment manufacturers and exporters. These two big and potential markets have already provided duty free access to the exports from the least developed countries (LDCs) including Nepal.

However, Nepal’s share of garment exports to these markets is still as low as 20 per cent of the total exports, according to GAN.