ASEAN, China, Hong Kong cooperate for first time in textile industry

The China National Textile and Apparel Council, the ASEAN Federation of Textile Industries (AFTEX), the Textile Council of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Textiles (HKGCOT) signed their first memorandum of understanding on cooperation at a ceremony in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong Paul Chan said ASEAN has become Hong Kong's second largest export market after China. This is reshaping the industry division and supply chain layout between ASEAN, China and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong hopes to create values for enterprises and manufacturers in cross-border business by focusing on providing efficient trade, expertise, logistics as well as other added value services, he added.

AFTEX Chairman Albert Tan said that China is the largest trading partner of the ASEAN textile industry, and many countries depend on China's textile exports and wish to cooperate with this country and Hong Kong.

According to him, ASEAN can cooperate with China and Hong Kong in innovation and technology to improve productivity, while China and Hong Kong can also promote export markets in ASEAN.

The signing of the MoU is an important milestone, which will further promote trilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, industrial development, information exchange and many other fields, he stated.