Apparel is the largest labor-intensive manufacturing industry in South Asia, and is a major
employer of women. Although South Asia’s apparel sector benefits from many of the same
favorable conditions as East Asia’s, performance in South Asian apparel remains well below that
of East Asia. For example, South Asia accounts for 12 percent of global exports, compared with
43 percent for China alone. South Asia has the opportunity to significantly boost employment in
apparel, capitalizing on lower wages than in East Asia, especially in China. However, increasing
apparel exports to global markets will require meeting ever more stringent buyers’ conditions in
terms of cost, quality, lead time, reliability and social/environmental compliance.