Textile Ministry has said that Narendra Kumar Goenka has been appointed as new chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council, AEPC. Former chairman Padma Dr A Sakthivel handed over the charge to him today. Ministry said, Mr. Goenka has been associated with the Council for more than two decades. He was the Vice Chairman of the apex body of Indian apparel exporters before taking charge as Chairman of AEPC.<br />''<br />''On the occasion, Mr. Goenka said that country is witnessing a robust growth in apparel exports. Going by the export orders in hand, this positive trend will further accelerate in the last quarter. He added, apparel exports were 22 percent up at 1.46 billion dollar in December 2021 from 1.20 billion dollar in December 2020. The same in the first nine months of this fiscal stood at 11.13 billion dollar, 35 percent more than 8.22 billion dollar in April-December 2020. The trend is getting stronger.<br />''<br />''Mr. Goenka said that this major turnaround in apparel exports was possible due to the highly efficient management by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Indian apparel exporters. He said, with global demand picking up gradually and industry reporting handsome orders in hand, apparel exports are likely to pick up in 2022. He emphasized the need to strongly focus on efforts for promoting Brand India taking suitable measures to ensure sustainability and other social compliances.<br />''<br />