Bulgaria Textile Sales Up 5.5 Pct Y/Y Q1 2006

Bulgaria's tailoring sector registered a 5.5 pct year-on-year rise in sales from January to March 2006, an analysis of the Bulgarian Industrial Association showed on August 23, 2006.

Bulgaria's textile and garments export rose by 9.3 mln euro ($11.9 mln) or 4.4 pct year-on-year in the first quarter of 2006, while textile and garments import increased by about 12 pct on the year through March, the analysis showed.

The lack of local raw materials - cotton, hemp and flax is a major problem the sector faces alongside with the lack of an adequate government policy.

Over 90 pct of the garments and tailoring products manufactured in Bulgaria are exported mainly to the EU whereas the domestic market is flooded by cheap Turkish and Chinese products, the chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Apparel and Textile Producers and Exporters, Petko Shishkov, said.