End of quotas sends UAE garment units overseas
by VM Sathish on Saturday,January 19,2014
Emirates Business 24/7, United Arab Emirates
Hopes of a revival of the UAE’s garment industry have been hit by the suspension of talks with the United States on a free trade agreement. And delays to negotiations between the Gulf Co-operation Council and the European Union – the longest ever for a free trade pact – have added to the gloom.
The industry flourished until January 2005 when the garment quota system – which gave guaranteed access to markets in the US and Europe – was scrapped. Many of the 400 factories across the Emirates have either closed or shifted operations to countries that still have preferential access such as Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and Bangladesh. But the managers of 20 large units still operating in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, Sharjah, Ajman, Abu Dhabi and Umm Al Quwain remained confident that business would pick up once a trade deal was reached Read more about End of quotas sends UAE garment units overseas …