Garment exports to US falls by 64 percent

Export of readymade garments to the United States has declined by 64 percent in the month of February.

According to Garment Association - Nepal (GAN), Nepal's export of the product was valued at a mere US$ 2.33 million during the month falling down to second position among the largest foreign currency exports.

In the same month of 2006, the garment export to the US was valued at US$ 6.53 million. According to the GAN officials, this decline is the largest slide over the last two years.

The GAN statistics shows that Nepal's garment export to the US totaled US$ 4.92 million in the first two months of 2007 while it was recorded at US$ 11.13 million during the same months of 2006.

The decline in the two months of 2007 has been about 56 percent compared to the exports recorded during the same period last year. The GAN officials said that this reduction was caused by various sorts of strikes and labor disputes.

Nepali readymade garment industry has been going through a declining trend from 2002, when it lost to Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean competitors, after the US provided duty-free market access to those countries.