India and Australia will intensify cooperation in the field of textiles, clothing, handloom and fashion, with the government approving an agreement between the two nations in this regard. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Textiles and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia will benefit weavers. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the pact at a meeting here. As per the agreement, the participants will jointly identify appropriate measures to connect the Australian and Indian textile and fashion sectors; promote collaboration and international engagement between those sectors. They will also nurture the skills and talents; promote economic opportunities and encourage professional engagement, training, skill development and public exhibition of products derived from these sectors in the two countries. However, Intellectual Property Rights of either side will stand protected. "The MoU will facilitate cooperation in relation to matters within the textiles and fashion sectors that may be of mutual interest and benefit to the participants," an official statement said. "The weavers including ancillary workers will be benefited from activities to be taken under MoU," it added. The initiative also aims to increase the handloom fabric production by establishing market linkages, encourage innovation in designs and techniques for improvement in design capability, diversification of product lines and value addition and provide better access to domestic and export markets so that weavers are able to get continuous employment and improve their living standards. According to the statement, Australian fashion designers producing garments using Indian woven and other textiles for Indian and Australian market have evinced interest to work with stakeholders in India which includes cooperation with textiles, handloom sector with a view to provide state-of- the-art designing of textiles and handloom products and market them in India as well as international market. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Government of Australia) had proposed to sign an MoU with the Ministry of Textiles in this regard.
Source: The Times of India