Fiji's sick garment industry will face more problems if free trade agreement is signed between Australia and China, as they already confront a stiff competition from China, says Fiji Textile Clothing and Footwear President, Ramesh Solanki.
Employment and export revenue have registered a downward slide in textile sector for the past five years in a row, he informed.
Textile industry provides employment to poor uneducated females who will find it difficult to get job elsewhere if the industry collapses, he laments.
This will create further social problems and deride the poverty alleviation program, Solanki said.
Fiji's garment exports declined from $313 million in 2000 to less than $200 million in 2005, recording a decrease of 35 per cent.
Fiji garment industry would suffer once China-Australia negotiations fructify, observed Fiji Employers Federation President, Sangeeta Niranjan.
Meanwhile, Philip Levy from Petersen Levy and Associates, a consultant to textile, clothing and footwear industries, will conduct a seminar on measures to be adopted to counter free trade agreement between Australia and China.
Industry can benefit from seminar in terms of getting a comprehensive picture of the FTA, said Solanki.
The seminar is scheduled to be held on February 28 in Lautoka, and March 1, in Suva.
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