Moscow may be the next target for Russia’s textile sector.
According to Russian analysts and technical textiles producers, the Moscow region is projected to become one of Russia’s main textile manufacturing hubs in the future, thanks to the area’s investment potential and increased state support, Innovation In Textiles reported.
For the past few years, the Moscow city government has prioritized the technical textiles industry with development initiatives. According to a spokesperson from Moscow’s department of economic policy, in 2016, over 30 vicinity technical textiles and nonwovens producers were supported by the Moscow city government in the form of benefits and tax incentives.
In 2017, the Moscow city government plans to support an additional 28 textile companies, which will contribute to tax burden reductions for local textile producers. This policy will boost the state’s share of domestically-made technical textile products from 25 percent to approximately 60 percent of the market.
Moscow Department of Economic Policy and Development head Maxim Reshetnikov said that the textile industry development will allow Moscow authorities to open approximately 10 technology parks and technolopolises in the vicinity. Priority will be given to domestic producers, and residents of the new facilities will have reduced rents and likely other benefits, including the elimination of income tax and property tax.
The textile industry development plans are part of an existing regional program to support the real economy for import substitution inMoscow city and the Moscow region, launched by the city’s government in 2016. In exchange for the support from the provision, investors will make commitments to fund at least $15 million in Moscow’s textile industry development over the next five years.
Although Moscow’s future as a textile center is promising, the city also remains the largest consumer of technical textiles in Russia, which poses potential issues. Moscow will require long-term investments to support future textile facilities and an inter-city distribution network for raw materials, semi-finished and finished products remains absent, which further complicates the city’s textile industry development.
Even though obstacles remain, however, Moscow, with the help of government funding and local investors, could become one of Russia’s leading textile production centers in the future. As a textile manufacturing center, Moscow could position Russia as a global authority in textiles and boost the nation’s economic prosperity in the coming years.