Textiles and Clothing in Eastern Europe: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia
A Textiles Intelligence research report in four volumes, from the Visegrad countries to Southern Europe, the Baltic states and the CIS
The speed of change sweeping through Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s took the world by surprise. After decades of looking inwards, markets started to open up in East European countries, and the region began to welcome foreign investment. This Textiles Intelligence report looks at the textile and clothing industries across the region in four volumes. It gives a brief overview of each country's political and economic features and provides analyses of the textile and clothing industries in terms of history, location and size; production trends; material supply, technology and manpower; foreign trade; joint ventures; and future prospects. The four Visegrad countries — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — receive the fullest treatment, in their own volume.
Volume 1: The Region as a Whole
The first volume sets the scene for the country studies. A regional survey and a chapter on the passage from a command economy to a market economy explain the system the industries were emerging from and the reforms reshaping them. A statistical overview of textiles and clothing in Eastern Europe puts the country chapters on a common footing, and a chapter on business opportunities draws out what the opening of the region meant for Western companies — as a sourcing base, an export market and a place to invest.
Volume 2: The Visegrad Countries
The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia each receive a full chapter. For each country the report covers political and economic features briefly, then analyses the textile and clothing industries by history, location and size, production trends, material supply, technology and manpower, foreign trade and joint ventures, closing with future prospects. Read together, the four chapters let a sourcing manager or investor compare neighbouring countries on the same measures — which is how decisions between them were actually made, since the four competed for much the same Western European outward-processing and investment business.
Volumes 3 and 4: Southern Europe, the Baltics and the CIS
Volume 3 covers Southern Europe country by country: Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. Volume 4 moves north and east: the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, then the Commonwealth of Independent States — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. A final chapter on future prospects draws the regional picture together.
The structure is deliberate. The Visegrad volume serves readers comparing the front-running reform economies; the Southern Europe and Baltic/CIS volumes serve readers scanning the wider region for lower-cost capacity, new markets or first-mover investment positions. Throughout, the same analytical template — history and size, production, materials and technology, trade, joint ventures, prospects — makes unlike countries directly comparable, and the regional survey volume explains the shared background: command-economy structures, statistical series and the business opportunities created as the markets opened.
Common Questions
Which countries does the Eastern Europe report cover in most depth?
The four Visegrad countries — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — which receive a dedicated volume with a full chapter each.
How is the report organised?
In four volumes: a regional survey with a statistical overview and business opportunities; the Visegrad countries; Southern Europe (Albania to Slovenia); and the Baltic states and CIS countries, closing with future prospects.
On what measures is each country's industry analysed?
History, location and size; production trends; material supply, technology and manpower; foreign trade; joint ventures; and future prospects, preceded by a brief overview of the country's political and economic features.