Carr says TCF back in fashion

MELBOURNE: The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Kim Carr has thrown his support behind the textile, clothing and footwear industry's ability to face increasing competitive pressures. Speaking at the Australian TCF Technology Network's annual conference earlier this week, Carr said the beauty of the TCF industry was that it was constantly reinventing itself.

"It is already moving into high-value areas such as designer fashion and technical textiles - where the industry's global future lies. We need to build on our strengths in science, research and the creative arts to accelerate that process."

Carr said everyone was aware of what challenges the industry was being forced to confront but the one thing it could not afford to do was to hang manufacturing out to dry.

If developing countries had an edge in low-value, low-tech, low capital-intensity, labour hungry segments of manufacturing then it was time Australian companies moved into high-value, high-productivity, capital-and-research-intensive segments instead, he said.

"Australia is moving down the same road but we need to pick up the pace. China isn't standing still. It is already moving up the value chain. India won't be far behind. We still have the edge on both countries - in design, research, education and management - but we really need to start exploiting that edge if we want to win the race to the top."