What is happening in the old regional industry: Case study of textile industry in Taiwan

Keywords

Textile Industry, Regional Industry, Old industry

Abstract

Textile industry in Taiwan seems to have declined in recent decades. The gross production from 2005 to 2019 declined 27.7%. In addition, the export of textile and textile products have also declined. In this circumstance, the government, public research institutions (PRI), and commercial oriented non-profit organizations (NPO) try to provide some solutions. For example, there are three projects provided by the industrial development bureau in the ministry of economics in 2019. And the total budget of these projects is 75 million NTD.

On the other hand, some old textile clusters like Hemei Zhan, a town in Changhua county, might still struggle. At Hemei Zhan, the weaving industry, which is the midstream in the textile industry, is dominated. Besides, based on the context of local industry development, most of the firms are SMEs (Small and Mid-size Enterprise). Thus, facing the challenge we mentioned above, it is hard for the firms in Hemei Zhan to migrate to the upstream, which requires massive capital investment. While migrating to the downstream, like taking the branding strategy, is also not a general solution since some of the firms produce industrial fabric, and hard to apply branding. (In comparison, clothing industry, which produces daily clothing, is relatively easier to apply branding, and connect to fashion industry)

In the middle 1980s, the textile industry in Hemei Zhan took some strategies to face the changing, like importing immigrant labor, changing the production network. (王瓊足, 2000) With the new challenge and opportunity, what is happening in the textile industry in Hemei now?

The presentation will divide into three parts as follows,

  1. Recap: Introduce the decline of textile industry in Taiwan and the supporting projects
  2. About Hemei: Map the textile industry in Hemei Zhan
  3. Summer Plan: Share the interview plan during the summer

Chuan Huang

A Research Fellow in Rural Development and Revitalization