| | FEBRUARY 20208EXPERTS TALKWelcome to 2020 and the new decade of transformation in the textile industry in India! There are some good reasons for the renewed optimism, aside from the fact that we can only improve our share of a smaller than Bangladesh share of the global textile trade. We are at $17 billion compared to $33 billion for Bangladesh, and China is a huge $158 billion market!!The US is looking for a viable alternative to China. They are ready to engage with the players who have the quality, reliability, and scale. This provides great opportunity for India. The Trump tariffs add 15 percent to goods coming directly from China. This part is shifting rapidly to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, and Srilanka. India too will benefit! The US and China are now at loggerheads, with or without Trump, the battle lines are drawn and they are competing with each other for global supremacy.Europe sees India as a market that has aspirations and is growing. Fashion in India is becoming more and more global. Zara and H&M have both done well. Uniqlo is on the way to rewrite many rules in Indian retail. The Japanese and the Koreans already have an FTA with India. Let me plunge into what we can do about this opportunity and how technology will help lead the transformation.Technology is the enabler and is now available and packaged by several startups in India and globally. We need to leverage this tool. The idea when you are in textiles is not to be the tech company that comes-up with a tech transformational solution, our domain expertise and skillsets could be better used to be a tech-enabled textile startup that reinvents itself or comes-up with new ways of solving customer challenges. While working in manufacturing, using Tech, we would evolve and partner into tech-enabled transformational change management. The point is that not using tech in a good way can seriously hamper the possibility of you being a serious global player! I have something more to say here, and it is not about Technology. The real engagement is with a FASHION STARTUPS: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN TRANSFORMATIONBy Ravi Toshniwal, MD, Banswara SyntexAn IIT Bombay alumnus, Ravi has been associated with Banswara Syntex for over seven years now, and has even completed the Owner President Management program from the Harvard Business School.THOUGHT LEADERSHIPRavi Toshniwal, MD
< Page 7 | Page 9 >