THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1980. Textile industry faces change

Press, 20 February 1980, Page 22

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1980. Textile industry faces change

The direction in which the Government hopes the textile industry will move, is plain enough in the restructuring plans that have been announced. It wants the industry to concentrate on making those things at which it. is efficient and to get out of making those .-. things in which it is not competitive. This may seem good news for the consumer, but the textile and garment industry is one of the most sensitive in the country.

It is a big employer of labour, sometimes in districts where few other jobs are offering. It also provides jobs for many people who are not trained for anything else; some of them might at present find it difficult to find jobs elsewhere. Because it is such a big employer of labour the industry is listened to by the Government attentively and the industry’s comments on the plans, which follow, a report of the Industries Development Commission published last year, will carry some weight.

Wool is greatly in demand in the world at the moment; the more that New Zealand can add to the value of the wool it sells the better it is for New Zealand and the more employment will be available in this country. Such moves would broadly lie within the aim of having an export-oriented economy. But the international textile scene is a cold one and wool textiles still have to compete with synthetics in spite of price rises for synthetics as a result of higher oil charges. The Government is going to admit some more synthetic textiles to this country hoping that this will sort out the strengths from the weaknesses of the New Zealand industry.

In spite of popular demand for the “restructuring” of industry generally, inevitably the process is going to hurt. The assistance schemes included in the Government package for the textile and garment industry will be needed for some time. Some consideration should be given to those trained in the skills of the textile industry; they may need special help in retraining for other jobs, perhans for new jobs in the industry itself. The time is approaching when most workers in industry will need retraining several times during their working lives and if the Government plans severe dislocation in the textile industry it would be a humane and assuring act to meet the need for retraining in this instance.

The Government’s plans deal largely with the level of protective tariffs and import licences. The approach iskthat, if the industry is exposed to . competition, the challenge will force it to concentrate on those lines in which it is internationally competitive. That is a standard economic theory, which will gladden ; the hearts of certain economists and depress others. It is in tune with the Planning Council’s recommendations to the Government a year ..ago when the council set out a general prescription for change and growth in industry. This plan deals with production. It is worth considering whether it is solely on production that the industry needs to concentrate. Some of the criticisms that have been made of the textile and garment industry in New Zealand have been of the organisation,' designing, and the marketing.

Such measures as the Government is planning should, in theory, force an industry to look to its organisation, its design and its marketing as well as to the nature and scale of production; but such shifts in thinking may need more than the stimulus of competition. With rare exceptions New Zealand has not concentrated much. on design or on marketing. New Zealand mills turn out some highly serviceable fabrics but, in many instances, design is uninspired. Yet a textile industry based on wool is the perfect example of an industry based on a local primary product. New Zealand has the opportunity, as few other countries have, of turning out well-designed woollen fabrics for which there could be world-wide demand. The craftmanship and industrial design found in Sweden and in Finland create a demand around the world for some of the products of those countries. New Zealand, with its abundant supplies of wool, should have an advantage in woollen fabrics. As it is, much New Zealand wool is bought by other countries as the raw material for the designers of those countries. In the carpet industry considerable progress has already been made in turning out a product which is of interest and is competitive internationally. In its detailed plans, many of which have yet to be announced, the Government should try to bring about an emphasis on good design and. accompanying marketing in other parts of the industry.