Malaysia is a country on the move. The growth of Malaysia’s textiles and apparel industry accelerated in the early 1970s, when the country embarked on export-oriented industrialization. Malaysia is a net exporter of textiles and textile products to the world. Malaysia’s Textile & Clothing (T & C) exports. amounted to around US$ 3 billion, consisting mainly of knitted fabrics and garments (US$ 659 million), followed by Man-made filaments (US$ 675 million). There are 662 licensed companies in production with investments of Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 8.3 billion (US$ 2.7 billion).
The industry currently encompasses a broad range of integrated activities ranging from polymerisation and man-made fibre production, spinning, texturizing, weaving, knitting, dyeing, printing and finishing of yarn and fabrics; manufacture of made-up garments and other made-up textile goods such as carpets, bed and table linen and ropes. The industry also covers the manufacture of non-woven fabrics for personal care products, made-up garments, furniture and bedding as well as construction and engineering applications.
New growth areas in textiles industry have been targeted for promotion under the Third Industrial Master Plan (IMP3). The growth areas for the industry include: industrial and home textiles; functional fabrics; high-end fabrics and garments; ethnic fabrics; and key support facilities and services such as design houses and fashion centres, specialized dyeing and finishing facilities, etc.
Malaysia’s market size for Textiles and Clothing is about US$ 2 billion as per available trade statistics for 2010. Key constituents include:
Clothing/apparel US$ 300 million
MMF textiles US$ 550 million
Cotton textiles US$ 358 million
Carpet US$ 37 million, and
Silk US$ 18 million
India’s export of textile & clothing (T&C) to Malaysia in 2010-11 was around US$228 million. Major constituents include clothing/apparel (T&C) 19% (US$44 million), Cotton textiles 18% (US$40 million), MMF 20% (US$45 million), Carpets 37% (US$85 million) and Silk 4% (US$8 million).
