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INDUSTRY AND TRADE
of value and employing 41 per cent of its manufacturing labour force. Within the industry, the manufacture of clothing now pre- dominates. Nevertheless the 803,700 spindles now in operation are among the most up-to-date in the world producing yarn counts ranging from 10's to 60's carded and combed, in single or multiple threads. Production of all counts in 1969 amounted to 313 million pounds, the greater part of which was consumed by local weavers. In the weaving section, some 23,300 looms produce cotton drills, shirtings, poplins and ginghams, to be bleached or dyed or printed in the finishing sector. Production of cotton piecegoods in 1969 was approximately 763 million square yards. Much was exported as cloth, but much also used by garment manufacturers.
The use of fibres other than cotton and new processes in the finishing and garment industries have assumed growing significance. A total of 13 textile concerns are producing polyester-cotton and polyester-viscose yarn for weaving into shirting and other fabrics for which there is a rapid growth in demand. The demand for woollen knitwear has likewise continued to grow. Production in the woollen and worsted spinning sector goes mostly to the domestic knitting industry. The dyeing, printing and finishing sectors produce a wide range of multi-colour screen and roller prints, pre-shrunk and permanent-pressed fabrics and polymerized materials with drip-dry characteristics.
The production of garments is the largest sector of the textile industry, employing 79,100 workers in some 1,570 factories. Gar- ments of great variety and of many materials ranging through cotton singlets, permanent press slacks and shirts to high fashion dresses are manufactured for export all over the world. Knitting mills produce a wide variety of items in cotton, wool and other fabrics. The value of clothing exports rose by 27 per cent to $3,828 million in 1969.
Other Light Industries
In the ever-widening range of light industry the most prominent, after textiles, is the manufacture of plastic articles which fall into four main groups-toys, dolls, flowers, household and miscel- laneous articles. Skill in the cutting of moulds and dies, together with the ability to meet short-notice orders, have resulted in in- creased production of a very wide variety of products, leading to