The textile industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8 per cent over the forecast period of 2019 to 2024, according to a report titled `GCC textile industry – growth, trends, and forecast (2019 – 2024)’ by a research firm Mordor Intelligence.

In the GCC, the UAE has a large textile industry, although it is not advertised or marketed. They make products such as child safety seats, curtains, luggage, and some high end fashion for local purchase. However, their best-selling textile are woven goods like knitwear, the report said.

This industry has become so large in the country that textiles are only behind oil for income and employment, it claimed. Although the UAE sells to over 50 countries, they also have a large customer base domestically. In cities like Dubai, the local male consumer has become intrinsic to the growth of the high fashion industry, the report stated.

Additionally, among the GCC countries, particularly, the UAE has garnered a lot of business from other countries moving their base of operation to Fujairah, a UAE emirate. Fujairah is called a ‘’free zone’’, which means that companies located there are not required to pay taxes or pay any fees for repatriation. This is one of the major factors that brought many companies and people into the UAE, which adds a larger customer base for their garments and textiles, it said.

Some of the key market trends seen in the GCC textiles market are:

EMERGING INDUSTRY IN UAE

The textile industry in the UAE is thriving on supportive government initiatives in terms of infrastructure development, tax exemptions, and transparency in paper work. The most recent development in the fashion frontier has been of setting Dubai as a fashion hub by 2020.

The Dubai Design and Fashion Council is being established, which will encourage creativity and attract domestic and international brands and designers for various fashion events.

“The existence of an ever booming economy to luxury clothing has made UAE an important centre for apparel and textile business. The UAE has become a major textile hub in the world that includes fibres, fabrics, apparels, cloth, outerwear, home textiles, and technical textiles,” it said.

Increase in labour cost has led to automation in textile and apparel industries. Development of technical textiles and providing innovative textile products is what the UAE manufacturers are aiming at and are showing active interest in. This will increase the productivity, improve the quality of products, and aid in delivering timely shipments of the orders, the study further noted.

The UAE is becoming an ideal destination for investment in the textile and apparel industries, due to its lack of restriction on profit, competitive labour costs, extremely low import duty, and low corporate taxes. Availability of high skilled and productive workers, stable economy, and absence of hidden costs adds to the country’s positive textile environment.

CHANGING BUYING PATTERN

Technology plays a pivotal role in the lives of this youthful consumer. From Facebook to Instagram, Arab Gen Yers expect luxury brands to be online and easily accessible.

More than 30 per cent of the consumers in the GCC region shop online in a month primarily due to ease of access. With millennials driving the region’s connectivity and mobile phone usage, the GCC is considered to have a strong foundation to adapt to the expansion of online shopping.

The UAE has the largest e-commerce market, there is still a huge potential for growth within the coming year. Research conducted by MasterCard indicates that at least half of the population shop for goods online.

The huge spending power, jet-setting lifestyle and tech-savvy habits of this new generation mean they are simultaneously internationalists and traditionalists. While they shop and travel around the world, their cultural and faith-based values remain firmly entrenched in a long history of customs being passed down from one generation to the next.

Some of the major players present in the GCC textile market are: Embee Group; Unirab Polvara; Misr Amreya; Avgol; Kabale. In terms of market share, the companies in the textile industry do not have considerable amount of market share as the market is competitive and moderately fragmented.