Nice Apparel, the country's biggest garment manufacturer and exporter, was licensed by sportswear giant Adidas to produce 500,000 replica France, Japan, Spain, Germany and Argentina shirts to meet this demand, which is expected to continue until the end of the year.

Prasop Jirawatwong, the firm's managing director, said Adidas had not placed all their orders with just one country but allocated them to suppliers around the world. For instance, China, he said, produced large quantities of sportswear focusing on only Germany, while Thailand manufactured smaller quantities as parts of bigger lots.

The production lines of NK Apparel Co Ltd in Khon Kaen, a subsidiary of Nice Apparel, have been busy producing blue and white Argentina sportswear, as well as other Adidas designs.

Adidas has about 12 suppliers in Thailand, but Nice Apparel is their biggest.

Prasop said Nice Apparel had implemented a new strategy several years ago to make itself more attractive to foreign brands looking to outsource their manufacturing in preparation for quota liberalisation early last year.

Nice Apparel also produces clothing for Nike and Under Armour, as well as for European Union and US retailers Decathlon and Foot Locker, and Uniqlo of Japan.

The strategy allows the company to serve customer demands on big volume and designs while encouraging improvements in supply-chain management, quality control and on-site product development, Prasop said.

"We want to group our manufacturing by brand or style to allow us to achieve speedy delivery," he said.

The company's capacity reached 22 million pieces last year and is projected to grow by an average of 10 to 15 per cent per year. Sales revenue reached Bt4.54 billion last year. Of the firm's production, 85 per cent is sportswear and the remaining casual.

Prasop said his five-year business plan aimed to achieve a capacity of 43 million pieces and sales of Bt8.4 billion by 2010.

"We hope that free-trade agreements will boost our exports to reach the goal," he said.

The company employs 10,500 people in Thailand via Nice Apparel, and its subsidiaries NK Apparel, NC Apparel and NE Apparel, along with its offshore manufacturing plant in China.

The company began exploring opportunities overseas in preparation for a quota-free market four years ago. The result is the group's first offshore plant in Qingdao, in China, where Bt100 million was invested to set up a factory employing 600 workers.

Prasop said, however, that its products from China had faced problems entering the United States due to quota limitations aimed at preventing the US from being flooded with Chinese textiles. In response, the company shifted to other products without quota restrictions, he said.

The group's manufacturing in China is not focused only on exports but also on domestic markets, Prasop said, adding that he was also studying other potential countries in Asia to expand investment.

India, he said, showed high potential for investment in terms of IT manpower, cotton supply sources, and ports, followed by China.

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation

Khon Kaen