Government sources recently said that these refunds could come handy at a time when cost of fuel and freight are soaring globally while also affecting domestic price structure. The said scheme intends to replace incentives that are not compliant with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Central government's announcement on the new duty refund scheme for exporters, Refund of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) is due this week and will unfold right after a green flag from the commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, according to TOI. The said scheme intends to replace incentives that are not compliant with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Exporters have been waiting to get their dues paid for the last eight months while the scheme was only implemented in January this year. A clearance from Commerce Ministry would partly quench their long overdue question on fund requirements. Government sources recently said that these refunds could come handy at a time when cost of fuel and freight are soaring globally while also affecting domestic price structure. As higher budgetary has been allocated by commerce and finance ministries for the scheme to cover all products, some paperwork is yet to be processed. Allocation was increased from Rs 13, 000 crore to Rs 17, 000 crore. The commerce ministry is aiming at $419 billion of exports and for that a detailed analysis has been carried out and the target was disaggregated at the level of country, commodity, region, and states across 31 commodity groups. A similar scheme- Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) was rolled out last week letting textile exporters get tax rebate on central and state tax till March 2024. Government owes roughly Rs 28,000 crores to the exporters just from three schemes namely- RoDTEP, RoSCTL and payments from the now defunct Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). Over and above the aforementioned amount the exporters are owed, they've been complaining of the tax refunds from earlier schemes (MEIS and SEIS- Service Exports from India Scheme) that were abandoned after the US dragged India to WTO over non-compliance with global trade rules. "We have actually laid down a roadmap on how we hit $500 billion in merchandise exports and when we hit a trilliondollar exports. Our guess is that, by 2027-28, very very modest estimates, we should touch $1 trillion figure in exports of merchandise," Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said said at the CII's Annual Meeting 2021. Plans for a market intelligence network for exporters as well as simplification for special economic zones are also underway to increase overall exports.
Source: Economic Times
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the virtual meeting of “National Startup Advisory Council here today. While addressing the meeting, the Minister said that implementation of ideas of Financing, Mentorship, Taxation etc. will enable us to strengthen our startup ecosystem further. He said our startup ecosystem is a reflection of our youth’s Energy, Enthusiasm and Agility and Startup India movement has brought a ‘change in mindset’ from ‘can do’ to ‘will do’. In his address, he said that our startup ecosystem has the potential & promise to make India the Innovation & Invention hub of the world and National Startup Advisory Council on AC has been working tirelessly to pave the way forward for budding Startup Entrepreneurs in India. Shri Goyal said that NSAC will nurture Startups to aim for higher Competitiveness & make India the Startup Capital. He urged that in the 75 weeks of Azadi ke Amrit Mahotsav, NSAC should facilitate 75 startups to become unicorns by the 75th Independence Day. He further added that the Prime Minister’s mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas’ finds resonance with our startups. He said our aim is to make ‘Startup India’ a symbol of National Participation & National Consciousness. In this age of COVID-19, when everyone is overcoming severe stress, he said that he was happy to see the resilience & ‘never say die’ spirit of our startup ecosystem. The Minister said the 21st century is the ‘Century of Startups’ & with our Startups it is the ‘Century of India’. He said 21 unicorns in last 6 months inspire all to Dream Big & Achieve Bigger. With nearly 60 unicorns, India has one of the largest startup stable in the entire world. The Minister urges to start a STARTUP revolution, he said with NEP 2020, schools will now sow the seeds of startup ideas at a young age. He said youth are job creators of tomorrow and drivers of innovation & leaders of 4th Industrial Revolution. Shri Goyal said that he wanted to see new startups emerge across India especially in Tier II & Tier III cities. He said, this will catalyze employment generation & strengthen forward & backward linkages. Shri Goyal asked DPIIT to now act as a ‘Facilitator’ with Open doors, Open Arms & Open Mind. He said that Government is committed to cut red tape, improve Ease of Doing Business provide financial assistance through Startup seed fund, supporting incubators, enhancing skills and this holistic approach has intended to resolve the issues relating to capital mobilization, support innovation with tinkering labs, & meet the capacity & capability requirements of startups. He said today, our vision expands beyond the traditional models of growth, our aim is to create a New India i.e. an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Startups are the key to building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat with Courage, Collaboration & Commitment and to achieve such an ambitious target we need a participative approach from all stakeholders. He said Industry must help create Startup Superstars by identifying innovators & investing in talent. Our aim must be to make our startups grow beyond our geographical boundaries & create global impact . The meeting was attended by top stake holders, officials and existing start ups in the country. Some of them include Shri M.R. Kumar, Chairman, LIC; Shri R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority; Shri Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital; Shri Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Rooms; Shri Manoj Kohli, Country Head, Softbank India; Shri Abhiraj Bhal, Co-founder, UrbanCompany; Shri Kunal Bahl, Co-founder, Snapdeal; Shri Vineet Aggarwal, President, ASSOCHAM; Shri Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Cofounder, InfoEdge; Shri Mohandas Pai, Co-founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital; Shri Prashant Prakash, Partner, Accel Partners; Smt. Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital; Shri Sharad Sharma, Founder, iSpirt; Smt. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM.
Source : PIB
"Iif any selected applicant declines the offer of approval under the scheme at any stage or exits the scheme without making full committed investment for reasons whatsoever; in such case, the bank guarantee furnished by the selected applicant shall be invoked as per the provisions," DPIIT said in a set of FAQs. A company availing benefits of production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, if for any reason, fails to make full committed investment and exits midway will have to refund the incentives taken along with interest and its bank guarantee will also be invoked, according to FAQs released by the DPIIT on Monday. In a set of FAQs on PLI scheme for white goods - ACs and LED lights, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)said that midway exit by a selected applicant without fulfilling investment criteria thwarts one of the selection criteria of maximizing gross value added (GVA) to economy, as also deprive selection opportunity to another eligible firm under the scheme. "Therefore, if any selected applicant declines the offer of approval under the scheme at any stage or exits the scheme without making full committed investment for reasons whatsoever; in such case, the bank guarantee furnished by the selected applicant shall be invoked as per the provisions... "... the applicant shall have to refund the incentive availed by it under the scheme till such date along with interest calculated at the prevailing three year SBI MCLR compounded annually," the FAQs said. The DPIIT clarified on a query relating to PLI disbursement in case investment schedules are not met due to various dynamics and external factors and what would happen if a selected applicant exits midway. The scheme for white goods, notified in April, would provide financial incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the white goods manufacturing value chain. It was approved with a budgetary outlay of Rs 6,238 crore. It will be implemented over 2021-22 to 2028-29. It has also clarified that in case an applicant does not meet criteria of threshold investment and net incremental sales for any given year, it would not be eligible for disbursement of incentive for that particular financial year. However, it added that the applicant will not be restricted from claiming incentive for subsequent years during the tenure of the scheme, provided eligibility criteria of cumulative committed investment and threshold net incremental sales are met for such subsequent financial years. Further it stated that LLPs are not covered under the Companies Act, 2013, they cannot avail the benefits under this scheme, besides an applicant which is availing benefits under any other PLI scheme of the government for the same product(s). Besides, value-added resellers also do not qualify under the scheme, be. Regarding when will the PLI be disbursed, it said that actual disbursement of the PLI for a respective year will be subsequent to that year. "For example, if the applicant chooses initial investment period as 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022 then subject to fulfilling the conditions of cumulative threshold investment up to FY 2021-22 over base year and threshold incremental sales of manufactured goods over the base year in FY 2022-23, PLI will be disbursed in FY 2023-24," it added.
Source: Economic Times
The extension of the Rebate on State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme for garments and made-ups exports till 2024 would help exporters to sign long term contracts and achieve the target of $100 billion set by the government. Manoj Patodia, Chairman, The Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council of India, said the government has recognised the potential of the made-ups and home textiles sector as an engine of economic development by providing employment, promoting inclusive growth and ensuring empowerment of women.
Reaching the target
The continuation of the RoSCTL Scheme till 2024 lays down the foundation for reaching the target of $100 billion in the textile and apparel sectors, he added.
With a stable policy regime, he said, the exporters will also be encouraged to enter into long term contracts with their buyers which will lead to higher export growth.
The textile and clothing sector will make a significant contribution realising the overall export target of $400 billion by 2024, he said.
Source : The Hindu Business Line
The global order is changing, people are looking at a China Plus One strategy. India is showing a lot of potential under these circumstances. The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme — launched in March 2020 to make the manufacturing sector globally competitive — is an important step towards fulfilling the government's vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. It aims to remove sectoral disabilities, create economies of scale and ensure efficiencies. Much has been written about the scheme and how it will change the way the manufacturing sector works in the country. Does it really have what it takes to attract global investment, generate large-scale employment and enhance export? To try and answer this question, ETRise Top MSMEs Conversation spoke to A Sakthivel, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO); Nitin Kunkolienkar, President, Manufacturers' Association of Information Technology (MAIT); Amrit Manwani, Managing Director, Sahasra Electronics, and Kunal Chaudhary, partner, EY. Edited excerpts:
Understanding the Scheme
The government had launched many schemes, some of which have been challenged by the World Trade Organization as they were only export oriented, said Chaudhary. All the schemes were primarily dependent on how much was being invested — this was different from what other countries were doing. This time around, the government wanted a shift in mindset. It wanted an output-linked scheme because it wanted companies to perform and then get incentives. It wanted to disperse incentives in an automated way. “The thought process showed that the government wanted to give incentives to companies or entrepreneurs who are successful. The government also felt that they needed to create champions, or anchor companies, who will then set off a ripple effect that will help other companies to grow,” said Chaudhary. The PLI scheme started with mobile phone manufacturing before expanding to other sectors, including IT. This sector has done well during the pandemic as everyone was working from home and there was demand for laptops and other IT products. The global order is changing, people are looking at a China Plus One strategy. India is showing a lot of potential under these circumstances. "This is the right time for the government to come out with this scheme as global players are also looking at recreating a supply chain. One of the significant differences between this and the previous schemes is that the government has mandated that they're not going to go ahead with import-substitution models this time. Instead, they are looking at export-led growth. PLI has created a scope for volumes or scale, which never existed earlier. This has created a huge opportunity for exports to grow. For this kind of scale, you need local value-add. So, you need to create a supply chain in India,” said Kunkolienkar. China is coming out against India. The prices of components are going up, which means China is anticipating a threat from this policy and so is trying to hold back supplies to India, said the president of MAIT. The Indian government should come out more forcefully on this policy. The biggest beneficiary of this scheme will be the government as its revenues will grow manifold and GST collection will go up. Other revenue streams will also become visible soon. The apparel and textile sector took a huge beating during the first two waves of Covid, but things are now looking up. Orders are picking up over the last two months as the European and American markets open up. The sector hopes to do better this year, said Sakthivel of FIEO. There is a positive sentiment towards India. Malwani said some more issues need to be sorted out. “We have major disabilities. The financial costs are higher in India than in our competitors such as Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and China. This scheme will help us overcome that. The logistics costs in India are far higher than in these countries because they have an ecosystem of supply chain, and they have a very robust infrastructure. We lag on both accounts. With this scheme, we will be able to do far better with the electronic component sector,” said Malwani. When the PLI scheme was introduced, it was with the thought of creating champions in industry, of attracting MNCs to come and set up shop in India for exporting. This will benefit the MSME sector and the component sector. Not only will they get a better scale, but working with these companies will also teach them how to become more competitive. “MNCs and large companies are trying to get into electronics. The best example is Tata’s plan to make a large investment in this sector. Such companies will give enough demand support to MSMEs and with that, we will be able to produce stuff that are competitive not only for the Indian market, but also for the global market,” said Manwani. Kunkolienkar had a different view on this subject. He said while this would benefit the MSME sector and a lot of multinationals were willing to relocate their supply chains to India, the biggest challenge here was the logistics costs. “Today, India does not have any international transshipment point. By developing one, we can address the African market, Middle Eastern markets and the European markets in a much better and faster way when compared to China from a geographical perspective. Port economics is better in China. India's best ports are equal to the most average ports in China. We need to upgrade our ports and air connectivity. The cargo handling capacity has to go up. India has to come with its own international transshipment point. There has to be a structured, economic agenda beyond the PLI. Sagarmala is coming up in a big way but that's internal connectivity. We need to tie up with ports like Salalah or Jebel Ali, or create something in Tanzania,” he added. India also needs drastic reforms in ease of doing business. Sustenance is the key. Once you start a business, you should be able to focus on it hassle free, said the MAIT chief. The faceless assessment at ports is an excellent step but the factual aspects are very worrying. The assessment is being done by people who don’t understand the product lines and keep raising queries, creating unnecessary hassles. This needs to be reviewed, he added. Today, 80% of manufacturing happens in Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Most of these states are not aligned with the central government’s policies. States need to take their policies ahead and not get involved in petty politics, the experts said.
Benefits of the PLI scheme
1. This scheme is helping the IT sector. For the first time, multinationals and global companies are showing interest in manufacturing in India.
2. There will be a demand aggregation in electronics. There is no need to get all components from India. One can start with casting, molding and sheet metal. Earlier, these came as a part of a kit and people would assemble in India which continued till 2015 but now, we can set up one of the world's best molding industries with the latest amenities and get the best skills.
3. This scheme was introduced during the pandemic when things came to a standstill everywhere. Many supply chains were affected, and they are now looking at relocating out of China. India never offered any competitive regime. There were no central incentives to attract business. Now state governments are coming up with their own plans. If these are packaged together, there is a greater opportunity.
4. As the industry scales up, components will become cheaper. This will help spread the manufacturing base within India and create multiple supply chains. For example, Noida is one supply chain for mobile, but Chennai is an emerging one. This will also balance employment and growth.
5. India will emerge as a design-led hub. Some top companies are trying to come out with an electronic hardware startup ecosystem.
6. India wants to develop Man Made Fiber garments because we have reached the saturation point for cotton garments. We import the fabric and manufacture garments. To produce the fabric, we need investment.
7. The government has agreed to extend this scheme to the textile segment. This will bring more investment.
8. The main aim of helping the mobile phone segment was to boost exports and, in some cases, for national security. For textiles, it was to boost exports and to generate employment. ETRise Top MSMEs Conversation has eBay as its Sell global partner, Deutsche Bank as Banking partner, MIDC as State partner and CARE Advisory as the Assessment partner.
Source: Economic times
Appreciating the removal of anti-dumping duty (ADD) on viscose staple fibre (VSF) originating in or exported from China and Indonesia, Coimbatore-based Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) chairman Ashwin Chandran recently said with over 2 lakh power looms in Tamil Nadu having migrated to VSF fabric production in recent years, the decision would lead to their growth. Though VSF produced by domestic manufacturers was quite expensive, its price has reduced now to match global prices to a certain extent, he said in a press release. ADD on VSF ranged between $0.103 and $0.512 per kg. He said the industry started facing a shortage of viscose fibres as the supply was restricted to only around 200 spinning mills, while polyester fibre was made amply available across the segments. Non-availability of VSF for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) badly affected the power loom and the MSME garment sectors, he said, adding that the recent government decision would greatly benefit the MSME segment. With the government recently announcing the production-linked incentive scheme earmarking ₹10,683 crores to attract investments in the man-made fibre (MMF) value chain by identifying 42 HS codes MMF apparels, 10 MMF technical textiles products and 14 MMF fabrics, Chandran said as most of these products comprise viscose and its blended textiles, the removal of ADD would facilitate achievement of the vision of creating 40 to 50 world champions in the MMF products.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
She expressed confidence that the revenue would be buoyant in the coming months. Both Goods and Services Tax (GST) and direct taxes have improved in the past few months, the minister said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that she expects inflation to remain in the prescribed range during the current fiscal. The RBI has been mandated to keep inflation at 4 per cent, with tolerance level of 2 per cent on either side. She expressed confidence that the revenue would be buoyant in the coming months. Both Goods and Services Tax (GST) and direct taxes have improved in the past few months, the minister said. On the demand pick up, she said there is enough liquidity in the market and credit growth is expected to pick up in the coming festive season.
Source: Economic Times
• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Nandan Nilekani sends a message on a weekly basis about the tax portal With glitches still haunting the new income tax portal, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the Infosys-developed website will be fixed entirely in the next few days. FM Sitharaman also said that Nandan Nilekani sends a message on a weekly basis about the tax portal. “Will inform if the deadline to file return gets extended," the Union finance minister added. The new income tax e-filing portal 'www.incometax.gov.in' had a bumpy start from the day of its launch on 7 June as it continued to face tech glitches. IT company Infosys was in 2019 awarded a contract to develop the next-generation income tax filing system to reduce processing time for returns from 63 days to one day and expedite refunds. The Centre has so far paid ₹164.5 crore to Infosys between January 2019 to June 2021 for developing the e-filing portal. FM Sitharaman had on 22 June called a meeting with key officials of Infosys to review the issues on the portal. In the meeting, the ICAI members highlighted the issues faced by taxpayers and tax professionals on the portal.
Source: Livemint
A textile mill in Surat (/topic/surat) has partnered with an Austria-based company to produce plant-based silk (/topic/plant-based-silk). Akash Kirit Marfatia, Managing Partner of GBM fabrics (/topic/gbm-fabrics) said that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Austrian yarn lenzing (/topic/yarn-lenzing) company that has invented lyocell filament yarn (/topic/lyocell-filament-yarn) which can replace traditional silk yarn. "Traditional silk yarn is obtained from the cocoon of silkworms and is harmful to the environment as it has a lot of emissions. But this yarn is produced by separating cellulose from wood through closed-loop production that leaves no residue behind," said Marfatia. Marfatia stated that the yarn is suitable for the production of different ethnic fibres like georgette, silk, satin, chiffon and crepe and will prove to be very useful for the Indian market. "This will also help us tap opportunities in the export market and the weavers and traders can use this yarn in high-value products. Today many brands are inclining towards sustainable fabric as the textile industry (/topic/textile-industry) is the second most polluting industry in the world. But the fabric made from this yarn brings style, fashion and luxury along with sustainability," he added. Marfatia expects high demand for fabric made from this yarn in the future. "I have received positive responses from the weavers and designers who were given a sample of this fabric and I expect that in the coming 3-4 years, the demand for this fabric will go up to 5000 tonnes," he stated. He further informed that this yarn can be weaved on a power loom, rapier loom and airjet loom and has a higher tenacity than silk. "It is stronger than silk and the fabric made from it is the best man-made biodegradable fabric that starts degrading in 15 days when disposed of," he added.
Source: ANI News
Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said domestic exporters should follow caution looking into the political development in Afghanistan, particularly with regard to payments, for which adequate credit insurance may be availed by them. With Kabul falling into the hands of the Taliban, bilateral trade between Afghanistan and India will get impacted significantly in these uncertain times, according to exporters. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said domestic exporters should follow caution looking into the political development in Afghanistan, particularly with regard to payments, for which adequate credit insurance may be availed by them. "The trade will be impacted. It would reduce due to the growing uncertainty in Afghanistan," he said on Monday. Former FIEO president and country's leading exporter S K Saraf too said there will be a significant fall in the bilateral trade. "We may not lose all because they need our products," Saraf said. Afghanistan stares at an uncertain future as President Ashraf Ghani left the country just before Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban on Sunday. Sharing similar views, FIEO Vice-President Khalid Khan stated there would be a complete standstill in the trade for a certain time, as the situation is out of control in Afghanistan. "It is a landlocked country and the air route is the main medium of exports and that has been disrupted. Trade will Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University said India's aid to Afghanistan was creating a market for domestic products and due to the current situation, "all this will stop". Chairman of Plastics Export Promotion Council ofIndia (PLEXCONCIL), Arvind Goenka said now private players will have to deal through third countries to export to Afghanistan. Rajiv Malhotra, proprietor of SaiInternational and an exporter to Afghanistan said exports from India would completely stop as now there will be an issue of timely payment. "We are watching the situation to decide on our next move," Malhotra said. The bilateral trade stood at USD 1.4 billion in 2020-21 as against USD 1.52 billion in 2019- 20. Exports from India were USD 826 million and imports were aggregated at USD 510 million in 2020-21. Afghan exports to India include dried raisin, walnut, almond, fig, pine nut, pistachios, dried apricot and fresh fruits such as apricot, cherry, watermelon, and medicinal herbs. India's outbound shipments to that country include tea, coffee, pepper and cotton.
Source: Economic Times
Going by the trend, the daily average is expected to pick up further in August. Average daily e-way bill generation was 19.24 lakh in the first 11 days of July, 20.4 lakh in the week ended July 18, 20.2 lakh in the week ended July 25 and 24.3 lakh in the last six days of July. Daily e-way bill generation for goods transportation under the goods and services tax (GST) system came in at 20.5 lakh in the week ended August 15, 5% higher than the daily average for the first eight days of the month, indicating a spurt in business transactions. The daily average e-way bills for the first 15 days of August were marginally lower (about 1%) than the daily average for the full month of July. Going by the trend, the daily average is expected to pick up further in August. Average daily e-way bill generation was 19.24 lakh in the first 11 days of July, 20.4 lakh in the week ended July 18, 20.2 lakh in the week ended July 25 and 24.3 lakh in the last six days of July. Between August 1 and 15, as many as 3.07 crore e-way bills were generated. Thanks to easing of lockdowns, e-way bill generation by businesses rose to 6.42 crore in July from 5.5 crore in June and 4 crore in May. GST collections came in at an impressive Rs 1.16 lakh crore in July (largely June transactions), up a third on year and a quarter on month, reflecting a smart economic recovery after the second Covid-19 wave.
Source: Financial Express
UnifyTwin is the first Industry 5.0 company that enables connected workers to do their job with a simple solution that combines the power of a digital assistant for secure operational workflows prepopulated with machine intelligence to drive higher levels of operational efficiencies. By leveraging state-of-the-art Industrial IoT (IIoT) technology, UnifyTwin announces the immediate availability of its iLens Assistant and iLens Machine. These products will improve worker safety, plant efficiency, and product quality while making production output more predictable and compliant. Bengaluru-based technology trendsetter Knowledge Lens announces the launch of UnifyTwin, the first Industry 5.0 solution that unifies machine and human intelligence to eliminate digital blind spots for smarter manufacturing operations. UnifyTwin is headquartered in California, USA and is poised to deliver the connectedworker and connected-factory of the future. Despite a 14% increase in industrial automation between 2020 and 2025, humans will still account for 53% of the work. In addition, it has been estimated that over $454 billion of manufacturing GDP will be at risk due to skills shortages. UnifyTwin is addressing these issues by being committed to delivering high quality information to workers on both the task and assets that they work on to create higher value operations outcomes. By leveraging state-of-the-art Industrial IoT (IIoT) technology, UnifyTwin announces the immediate availability of its iLens Assistant and iLens Machine. These products will improve worker safety, plant efficiency, and product quality while making production output more predictable and compliant. iLens Assistant serves as a ‘digital friend’ for frontline workers by helping their managers collaborate more efficiently. iLens Machine enables these teams to seamlessly understand the working environment of machines and assets by collecting real-time machine edgebased data. By merging additional data from IT and OT systems with these UnifyTwin solutions, customers have enriched and valuable contextual insights of their factories. Using an automated and secure approach to deliver fully intelligent digital workflows, UnifyTwin helps their customers achieve “predictable productivity". G V Subramanyam Gupta, CIO at Welspun Flooring Ltd, a US$3.5B multi-national textile manufacturer, commented, “Using the iLens Application, we are now able to take advantage of the unified contextualized insights from our connected workers and machines in real time. Our differentiated digital manufacturing solution is now driving towards predictable productivity & quality of our products in the coating plant." UnifyTwin’s Founder & Managing Director, Sudheesh Narayanan commented, “We have been working with our customers in India and US on their Digital Transformation Journey and building manufacturing data lakes. Realizing value from Industrial IoT investments is by unifying human and machine intelligence. Our customers have realized ROI on their investments in less than 8 months. It is time for industries to move towards Industry 5.0 and benefit from these technology advancements." About UnifyTwin With its headquarters in California, UnifyTwin is the first Industry 5.0 company that enables connected workers to do their job with a simple solution that combines the power of a digital assistant for secure operational workflows prepopulated with machine intelligence to drive higher levels of operational efficiencies.
Source: Live Mint
Kenya is one of the top five beneficiaries of the US-Africa trade initiative, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). It also had the second-highest utilisation rate in 2018 with over 70% of its US exports covered by the programme. Launched in 2000, the trade pact gives sub-Saharan Africa the most liberal access to the huge US market available to any country or region with which Washington does not have a free trade agreement. The initiative has had a significant impact on stimulating AfricaUS trade. Exports to the US from eligible African countries grew by over 272%, from US$22 billion in 2000 to US$82 billion in 2008. Probably due to COVID-19 disruptions, exports declined to US$18.4 billion in 2020. Despite these fluctuations, Africa maintained a positive balance of trade with the US in the 2000-2020 period, thanks to AGOA eligible products. As of 2017, the trade initiative had created over 300,000 jobs in sub-Saharan Africa, many of which were in the apparel sector. We recently carried out a Kenya country case study on the implementation of AGOA in the 2000 to 2016 period. We found that in this period, Kenya’s total exports to the US grew by $443.2 million (or 405%) from $109.4 million to $552.6 million. By 2020, the figure had risen to $569 million, with most of the country’s exports coming from eligible products. Looked at differently, in the nine years before the trade programme (1992 to 2000), Kenya’s average annual exports to the US were $101 million. In the nine years after (2002 to 2010), average annual exports to the US rose to $305 million. They rose further on average to $557 million in the 2012 to 2020 period. Moreover, in contrast with the 1990s, Kenya had a positive balance of trade with the US, averaging $158 million per year since 2016. Kenya’s exports to the US under this programme have enabled the country to build a sizeable textile and apparel export sector. As of 2016, Kenya had 111 firms in its export processing zones that produced most of its $634 million worth of exports. Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger are some of the US brands that buy Kenyan apparel and clothing products. The sector employed 52,000 workers, used over $250 million in local resources and attracted in excess of $710 million in total investments. But Kenya’s apparel export sector is overwhelmingly dependent on the US market. This over-reliance on the US market should worry Kenya because it makes its apparel sector susceptible to unpredictable swings in the US market. While Kenya’s non-textile exports to the US – mainly coffee, tea, nuts and cut flowers – also grew during the 2000-2016 period, their growth rate was less impressive. Socially, AGOA has also helped to create jobs for marginalised groups such as women and youth. Nevertheless, we found that working in these apparel firms entailed poor working conditions, low pay, temporary work, and the sexual harassment of female workers. We also found that Kenya, like many other eligible countries, is under-utilising AGOA with the near neglect of the non-texitle sectors. Whether or not the US-Africa trade programme is renewed when it expires in 2025, Kenya’s experience points to many policy implications for the country and other member countries.
Trade pact objectives
The African Growth and Opportunity Act was signed into law by former US president Bill Clinton. Its main objectives were to diversify the region’s export production, expand trade and investment between the two destinations, and accelerate economic growth in subSaharan Africa. These would be achieved in a number of ways. First, the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers. Second, the negotiation of trade agreements. Third, the integration of the region into the global economy. Finally, the expansion of US assistance to Africa’s regional integration. In many ways, its main aim was to support African economies’ ability to use the textile and apparel sectors as potential engines of industrialisation and economic growth. In this sense this mirrored the similar success in South and Southeast Asia. Much of the growth in exports to the US from Kenya and other non-oil exporting countries has come from the textile and apparel sector. There is a relatively tepid response from other sectors of the economy. These countries can make better use of the US trade initiative by not so heavily basing their exports on only a few of the thousands of eligible products.
Lessons for Africa
In our study, we found a number of policy gaps in Kenya that are relevant for other African countries. For example, the trade opportunities are largely driven by US trade policy rather than by the region’s competitive advantage. Also, the US dominates the terms and conditions of the pact’s renewal. In our view, eligible countries like Kenya should look beyond US-Africa programme and diversify their markets accordingly. Second, to make the most of their apparel exports to the US and to capture new global markets, the African countries should ensure that their apparel industries are globally competitive. They should have a good supply of the inputs and infrastructure they need to thrive. Improvements in transport infrastructure, for instance, would speed up and reduce costs of moving inputs in and finished goods out. Third, the vast majority of Kenya’s export processing zone investments are foreignowned. There is also a huge pay gap between Kenyan and foreign workers due to the cadre of jobs and skills possessed by these two types of workers. Thus, there is a need for capacity building to produce a critical mass of professionals who can lead the country’s textile and agro-processing industries to maximise their gains from current and future trade opportunities. Countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region should also strengthen their regulatory frameworks. These include mechanisms for enforcement of laws regarding labour and other forms of human rights protections envisaged under the US-Africa trade pact. This would ensure that women and youth workers in Kenya’s export-led enterprises are protected and enabled to benefit from this trade programme. These countries should also create a favourable export policy environment which is globally competitive to attract substantial manufacturing investments to the region. In Kenya, this is currently undermined by high levels of corruption and mismanagement. There is also a fair amount of political instability mostly driven by the country’s ethnicdriven and hyper-competitive elections especially at the presidential level. The country now has a new devolved government structure that promises to contribute to a more tranquil national political environment. But Kenya needs to do more to hold credible elections, and, perhaps, dilute its presidential powers which drive its overly competitive, acrimonious, and perennially destabilising elections. Finally, Kenya and other African countries should strengthen their trade negotiation ability to make the most of new international trade deals. In today’s world, the difference between winning and losing in trade substantially comes down to one’s ability to negotiate good trade deals. Therefore, African countries must not only invest in high quality capacity building training for their trade negotiators, but they must also hire, keep, and empower the right people for these roles. Kenya is in the middle of negotiating a free trade agreement with the US, the first such agreement between the US and a sub-Saharan African economy. If it succeeds, it would be the most important trade development in the region since the enactment of the AGOA in 2000.
Source: The Conversation
ROBUST growth in Vietnam’s cotton yarn and product exports is projected to drive 2020/21 cotton consumption to a record 7.3 million bales, 700,000 higher than the previous year’s downfall from COVID-19, according to the latest report from the United States Department of Agriculture. Yarn exports from Vietnam in 2020/21 have already exceeded the previous year’s record by more than 10 per cent through the first 11 months of the marketing year. Foreign demand has been primarily driven by China, with Vietnam’s cotton yarn exports to the country accounting for roughly 60pc of Vietnam’s total cotton lint consumption. China is the world’s largest cotton yarn importer and Vietnam’s largest customer with the geographic proximity and foreign investment by Chinese companies driving record exports. China’s August to June imports of Vietnamese cotton yarn were a record (for the period) and equal to roughly 4 million bales of cotton lint consumption. China’s robust demand is expected to persist with projected growth in China’s cotton fabric and product exports, in addition to greater domestic consumption of cotton products. The United States WRO (Withhold Release Order) on cotton lint from China’s Xinjiang region is further supporting current and future demand for Vietnam’s cotton yarn. Practically all cotton yarn spun in Vietnam is produced with cotton lint imported from outside of China. Garment and textile manufacturers in China seeking to circumvent the WRO are likely substituting imported cotton yarn for domestic with roughly two-thirds containing Xinjiang lint.
Yarn consumption rising Greater domestic consumption in Vietnam of cotton yarn is also driving cotton consumption higher. Significant foreign and domestic investment in Vietnam’s garment industry has driven greater demand for cotton knitted fabrics and thus domestic consumption of cotton yarn by knitters. According to Vietnam customs data, garment and textile exports in 2020/21 are expected to recover from the previous year’s decline and rise to more than $30 billion; the garment industry is one of the country’s largest valued source for exports. Vietnam’s largest export market for cotton textiles and garments is the United States, which is also the world’s largest importer. US imports from Vietnam were a record in the first 11 months at more than $5 billion. Knitted cotton sweaters, pullovers, and other similar articles of clothing were the largest product category, accounting for roughly 30 percent of the total value of U.S. cotton product imports from Vietnam. This particular category has historically been dominated by China, however, two factors have driven Vietnam’s market share of U.S. imports higher: • the 2020 and 2021 Withhold Release Orders (WROs) mentioned earlier • ongoing tariffs specific to China (Section 301 dispute in September 2019) Both have lowered US imports of knitted cotton sweaters, pullovers, etc. from China nearly 20pc thus far in 2020/21 (Aug–Jun) despite US imports of this product category rising over 10pc year-over-year during the same period. Robust export prospects for both cotton yarn and products are expected to boost 2021/22 cotton consumption even higher to 7.6 million bales, and further support Vietnam’s rise as a major global cotton importer as well as exporter and consumer of cotton yarn and products.
Source: Grain Central
The Bangladesh government has taken a special initiative to raise the volume of garment exports to the United States as the shipment of apparel items to the former’s single largest export destination is growing due to high demand, commerce minister Tipu Munshi told the concluding session of the ‘Men's Apparel Guild in California’ in Las Vegas recently. To grab more US market share, Dhaka has started assessing the improved standards of apparel, innovative designs and customers' choices for US consumers, Munshi said. Bangladesh exports nearly $7 billion worth garment items every year to the United States. He said data would be separately preserved for US customers to supply special apparel. The minister invited US retailers, brands and businesses to visit factories in his country and observe the safety, compliance, environmental and sustainability aspects in the factories, a statement from the Bangladesh commerce ministry said.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
Home textile and terry towel makers on Monday demanded import of yarn at a concessional rate of duty to keep the sector competitive on the global market. The Bangladesh Terry Towel and Linen Manufacturers and Exporters Association sent separate letters to the commerce ministry, finance ministry and National Board of Revenue, demanding import of yarn count 6s-20s at the rate of reduced tax rate to maintain the export orders. The BTTLMEA in its letter said that the export earnings from the county’s home textile sector stood at $1.16 billion in the financial year 2020-21 with a 49-per cent growth but now the export sector has been facing troubles due to the higher prices of yarn than the item produced in India and Pakistan. The trade body said that home textile and terry towel makers are completely dependent on local yarn but local mills have failed to supply yarn in line with the export deadline. ‘If the government open import of yarn with reduced rate of duty, we will be able to collect the item at lower prices from India and Pakistan that would be helpful to increase our competitiveness in the export markets,’ M Shahadat Hossain, chairman of the BTTLMEA, told New Age on Monday.
Source: Newage Bd
Kaixi Fashion Bangladesh Co Ltd, a Chinese textile company, has announced the investment of 6 million dollars in a lingerie manufacturing industry in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The new factory will produce annually 24 million pieces of ladies’ intimate wear and create over 2,000 jobs in the region. Established I 1995, Kaixi Fashion owns three subsidiaries (Shenzhen Kaixi Fashion Co., Ltd, Shantou Kaixi Lingerie Industrial Co., and Ltd Mayanmar Kaixi Lingerie Industrial Co.,Ltd.) They produce, distribute and sell products ranging from traditional knitting lingerie bra, panties, to ‘invisible’ bra pads and straps. Kaixi exports the majority of its production to the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Australia and Chile.
Source: Fashion United
