Textile industry's production value in Taiwan has seen decline of 4.6 percent at NT $446.5 billion (US $13.53 billion) this year compared to NT $469.3 billion the previous year.
Out of the total, garment and clothes are estimated to see a sharp decline of 16 percent at NT $39.6 billion (US $1.2 billion) as per the estimates of Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI).
Value of Taiwan's textile industry foreign trade reached US $7.2 billion providing foreign exchange worth US $4.58 billion, a decline compared to the previous year.
As Taiwan's textile exports consist mainly of upstream yarns, filament and cloths, sold mainly at low prices, they are not huge money grosser.
From 1981 to 2005, Taiwan saw the desertion of 1,640 textile manufacturers to other countries with an estimated investment of US $3.2 billion. Still most of them are having their bases in Taiwan for R&D works and only production work is done offshore.
TTRI has suggested that the textile manufacturers should shift their production strategy to value added products from low-priced items. Compared to other countries, it performed better than South Korea but lagged behind Japan and Europe.
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