Japan is a major textile importing country with almost 97% of their textile requirement being sourced through imports in which India accounts for just 1.24% and hence it is looking to expand its share of the Japanese textile market by getting its government to pitch in and help Indian exporters by improving the testing standards and better understanding the requirements of their customers.

Kick-starting the initiative, the Centre held a workshop in association with Japanese quality regulator QTEC. Subrata Gupta, joint secretary in the textiles ministry said that the idea is to change the "mindset" and "enhance" the quantum of textiles exports to Japan.

The association with QTEC is important in view of the fact that India's exports have been going down compared to countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam. For instance, it could only notch up $40 billion in revenues from textile exports as against a target of $47.5 billion set in 2015-16.

The association with QTEC is expected to not only expose Indian exporters to quality expectations from Japanese buyers but also help the textile ministry give a push to overall exports.

Ajit B Chavan, secretary, textiles committee said that once the Indian exporters understood the requirements of the Japanese market would not be difficult to facing the competitors although the Chinese presence is likely to be an obstacle .

This is the first of many other measures they plan to increase exports to Japan, which is one of the major textile importing countries. It's a market which has tremendous potential for India.