Capacity cooperation in textile and apparel industry in Lancang–Mekong River six countries officially begins

Since the official launch of the Lancang – Mekong Cooperation Mechanism， in just 3 years， it has developed into one of the most dynamic cooperation mechanisms， with the most potential， in the Mekong sub-region. In addition， the Lancang – Mekong cooperation has accelerated from the incubation stage to the growth stage， showing the “Lancang– Mekong speed” and “Lancang - Mekong efficiency”， and the achievement of the Cooperation was beyond expectations.

Textile and garment industry is currently the priority areas for capacity cooperation in Lancang-Mekong River region. Since the establishment of the Cooperation Mechanism， Chinas textile industry has actively responded to its development requirement.

On October 17th， the Lancang-Mekong Textile and Apparel Cooperation Summit， hosted by China National Textile and Apparel Council， and the Sub-Council of Textile Industry， CCPIT， was held in Shengze County， Jiangsu Province. As a key textile industry cooperation project supported by the National Special Fund for Lancang-Mekong Cooperation， this Summit was fully supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other government ministries and also received positive response from the textile industry in the 5 countries along the Mekong River.

The Summit gathered a pool of more than 600 guests from 24 countries and regions at home and abroad， including the governmental officials and representatives from 5 countries along the Mekong River， global textile industrial associations， professional industrial parks， key textile and apparel enterprises， industrial research institutions， educational institutions， embassies and consulates in China， and some hundred representatives from textile and apparel companies that have had investments along the Mekong River Basin.

At the meeting， three important achievements were officially declared：

·The official release of Joint Statement on Production Capacity Cooperation among Lancang-Mekong Countries

·The official launch of the long-term cooperation mechanism of“Lancang-Mekong Textile and Garment Industry Dialogue”

·The official release of the Report on Trade and Investment Cooperation between China and Mekong River Textile and Garment Industry

The summit was hosted by Lin Yunfeng， Director of the International Trade Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council， Secretary General of the China Textile International Cooperation Union， and Vice Chairman of the Sub-Council of Textile Industry， CCPIT. As Lin Yunfeng remarked， the textile and apparel cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong Region has developed significantly in recent years. The six countries have great potential for the deep complementarity and integration of industrial chains in terms of resource endowment， industrial levels and export market. At the end of 2018， the series of special cooperation funds for the cooperation applied by the Sub-Council of Textile Industry， CCPIT， was successfully approved. At present， the work covered by the project has successfully entered the implementation stage. Today， all of you are sincerely invited to witness the achievements.

Gao Yong， Secretary General of China National Textile and Apparel Council， Chairman of the China Textile International Cooperation Union， Myint Soe， Chairman of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association， Xaybandith Rasphone， Chairman of the Lao Garment Industry Association， Truong Van Cam， Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association， Jumnong Nawasmittawong， Vice Chairman of National Federation of Thai Textile Industries， and Loo Chee Chien， Secretary General of the Garment Manufacture Association Cambodia， and other representatives of the Textile and Apparel Associations of the six countries jointly signed the “Joint Statement on Capacity Cooperation Among Lancang-Mekong Countries” at the Summit and jointly announced the official launch of the long-term cooperation mechanism for the “Lancang-Mekong textile and garment industry dialogue”.

Establishing a dialogue mechanism for the textile and apparel industry in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin is of great importace in the exchange and cooperation of the textile and apparel industries in the six countries. From now on， the six countries will work together and make full use of the strength of associations in each country to further consolidate the close cooperation between the textile and garment industries in the LancangMekong Region， and to actively promote the healthy and sustainable development of the industry in the six countries.

At the meeting， Xu Yingxin， Vice Chairman of China National Textile and Apparel Council， Executive Director of China Textile International Cooperation Union and Chairman of Sub-Council of Textile Industry， CCPIT， officially released the “Report on Trade and Investment Cooperation between China and Mekong River Textile and Garment Industry”.

In recent years， the import and export trade between China and the Mekong River in the textile and garment industry has been active， and direct investment has continued to grow. Cambodia， Laos， Myanmar， Thailand， and Vietnam have become preferred destinations for Chinese textile companies to invest abroad. In this context， the China National Textile and Apparel Council gathered industry forces to work out the “Report on Trade and Investment Cooperation between China and Mekong River Textile and Garment Industry”.

Xu Yingxin indicated that as the textile industry chain of the five countries along the Mekong River is developing towards a refined and deep processing stage， the high-quality development of Chinas textile industry will certainly bring the most high-quality industrial resources and broad market opportunities to the five Mekong River countries. The Chinese textile industry hopes to further deepen the industrial chain and supply chain cooperation with the five Mekong River countries， to build a more efficient and integrated transnational industrial system to jointly promote and facilitate the prosperity and development of the textile industry in the Lancang-Mekong region.

Ji Lingpeng， Deputy National Coordinator of the Lancang-Mekong River Cooperation Secretariat， department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， was invited to participate in the conference. He introduced the progress of cooperation from a national and macro perspective， and looked at the vision of cooperation and expressed confidence in the Lancang-Mekong cooperation of the textile industry.

In the dialogue session of the summit， the two major themes of“Cooperation in Textile and Apparel Industry - Achievements and Future” and “Focus on Hot Spots - Front-line Investment Experiences in Myanmar and Vietnam” were discussed accordingly. Yuan Hongping， deputy secretary general of the China National Textile and Apparel Council and Director of the Foreign Affairs Office， Liang Pengcheng， Director of the Marketing Department of the China National Textile and Apparel Council and Executive Vice President of the Sub-Council of Textile Industry， CCPIT， respectively held dialogues with industry peers from the five Mekong countries and pioneers in international markets.

The guests firstly introduced the development status， opportunities and challenges of the textile and apparel industry in their countries respectively， and conducted extensive discussions on how to better carry out international exchanges and cooperation， and how to strengthen the integration and innovation of the industrial chain. All attendees has given constructive opinions and suggestions on the cooperation of supply chain， industrial chain and value chain， and has also put forward requirements for government support， association services， enterprise development and other aspects， as well as the footprint of overseas investment， the management of investment in the whole industry chain， the management of industry park personnel. The hot issues such as talent training mode and investment risk aversion have been fully exchanged and shared.

At the end of the summit， the closing ceremony of the Advanced Seminar on Promotion of Development Capability in Textile & Garment Industry for Lancang-Mekong Countries 2019 was successfully held. As one of the series of projects to promote the capacity cooperation of the textile and garment industry in the six countries， the seminar lasted for 11 days. Through various forms such as lectures， roundtable discussions， enterprise cluster survey and symposiums， the summit has built platforms for the cooperation between textile and garment capacity in the Lancang–Mekong River for deep integration， and will deepen the understanding of the development process of Chinas textile and garment industry， understand the meaning of “Lancang-Mekong Cooperation”， and further enhance the understanding and participation of countries in the cooperation mechanism， so as to promote enhanced cooperation in the textile and apparel sector in the region.