RI to host int'l textile conference

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Textile and clothing producer countries from the developing world will meet in Bali in the first week of April to discuss trade after the elimination of the quota system, a senior official at the Ministry of Trade said on Wednesday.

The ministry's Director General for International Cooperation Pos M. Hutabarat said Indonesia would host the 41st International Textile and Clothing Bureau (ITCB) council of representatives meeting.

Established in 1984, ITCB is a group of governments from developing countries that produce and export textiles and clothing.

"During the conference, country members will evaluate the global textile and clothing trade in a world without quota restrictions," he told reporters.

Pos said the ITCB would monitor trade barriers -- tariff and non-tariff -- imposed by industrialized countries and ensure that developing countries received non-discriminatory treatment.

Moreover, the ITCB would encourage and facilitate country members to outsource raw materials such as yarn and fabrics from each other, thus reducing capital goods dependency on the developed nations, he said.

The meeting is expected to come up with a communique as a basis for ITCB's future policies.

ITCB members are Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, South Korea, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, North Korea, Macao, the Maldives, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uruguay and Vietnam.