Centre has decided to set up two laboratories in Delhi and Srinagar to test Pashmina shawls for any Shahtoosh strains in a bid to boost exports. Official sources said the government would set up a testing facility at Srinagar and New Delhi airports. “The testing facility was very much required and has been a long pending demand of the exporters and artisans. Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce, and Industries, and Consumer Affairs Piyush Goyal has agreed to the demand and the facility will be soon set up at Srinagar airport, ” sources said. Pashmina exports from the valley were badly hit because of a lack of testing labs. Shawls were sent to Dehradun for testing and it was taking weeks before the consignments were cleared for exports. “There won’t be any more testing at other airports for the consignment. It will save time for exporters. The consignment will reach the destination on time. Simultaneously the local testing facilities will be upgraded with state-of-the-art machines,” sources said. Pashmina is fine wool extracted from a goat found in the cold desert of Ladakh. The wool is used by the artisans and craftsmen of Kashmir for making the exquisite handmade shawls that have a huge demand world over. A plain 100 percent handmade pashmina shawl sells at Rs 10,000 at the manufacturing level. Design and embroidery work on the shawl determines its ultimate market value. Intricate embroidery and its design can push the cost of pashmina fabric including shawls to Rs five lakh or more. Pashmina is among six traditional crafts of Kashmiri origin including Sozni-embroidery, Kani-shawl, Papier-Mâché, Khatamband, and Walnut Woodcarving that have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) symbolizing their exclusivity in the international market Director Handicrafts and Handloom department Mahmood Ahmad Shah said they had been pressing the centre to set up a testing facility for pashmina shawls. “We have a testing facility here. We wanted a facility for checking the use of Shahtoosh. Our consignments would get delayed for 15 to 20 days due to the testing process. Now we look forward to have such a facility in Kashmir,” he said.Shahtoosh trade was banned nationally in the mid-1990s. In 1975, the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) also banned all trade in Shahtoosh. The announcement of establishing a testing facility in Kashmir has brought cheers to Pashmina exporters. “It was a long pending demand of exporters. We hope that the laboratory is established very soon. We have 30 shipments held up in New Delhi right now due to the lack of a testing facility. This facility will bring a sigh of relief to exporters who often face delays in the shipping,” said Musadiq Shah, Senior Vice-President, Kashmir Pashmina Organisation.
Source: The Kashmir Monitor
Meanwhile, an article in the Jerusalem Post newspaper pointed out that there are economic and defence industry advantages to the new ties External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterparts from Israel, the US and the UAE have agreed to establish a forum for economic cooperation at a quadrilateral meeting during which they discussed possibilities for joint infrastructure projects in the fields of transportation, technology, maritime security, and economics and trade. Jaishankar, who is currently on a five-day visit to Israel, was accompanied by his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, during the virtual meeting on Monday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan participated virtually as the four leaders also exchanged views on shared issues of concern in the region. "The ministers decided to establish an international forum for economic cooperation, said a statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry after the meeting. It said the four ministers held a discussion on possibilities for joint infrastructure projects in the fields of transportation, technology, maritime security, and economics and trade, as well as for additional joint projects. At the end of the conversation, it was decided that each minister will appoint senior-level professionals to a joint working group that will formulate options for cooperation in the areas identified by the ministers, the statement said. The intention is to hold an in-person meeting of the ministers in the coming months at Expo 2020 in Dubai, the statement said. "I think the word we're looking for here is synergy, because this is what we're going to try and create starting with this meeting. Synergy that will help us work together on infrastructure, digital infrastructure, transport, maritime security and other things that preoccupy us all, Israeli Foreign Minister, who initiated the meeting during his visit to Washington, said at the start of the meeting Monday evening. "The key to success is how quickly can we move from government-to-government' to business-to-business'? Lapid said. How quickly can we turn this into a working process that will put boots on the ground, changing infrastructure around the world. Jaishankar described the meeting as fruitful and said they discussed working together more closely on economic growth and global issues. Agreed on expeditious follow-up," he said in a tweet. "I think it is very clear that on the big issues of our times we all think very similarly and what would be helpful would be if we could agree on some practical things to work upon," he said. Meanwhile, an article in the Jerusalem Post newspaper pointed out that there are economic and defence industry advantages to the new ties and the ability to synergise the network of ties between Washington, Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. "That means that the whole can be more than the sum of its parts, it said. Citing the growing power of near-peer rivals such as Russia and China, as well as regional states that oppose US policy, such as Iran and Turkey, the article said That may be where the US-UAE-Israel-India connection comes together most of all, in presenting a moderate alternative to the aggressive extremist and authoritarian countries.
Source: Business Standard
Business Standard brings you the fortnightly Q&A on SMEs Q. We are an EOU, exporting our goods through Chennai Customs. We pay IGST on all our imported inputs and do not claim GST refund on any goods procured from domestic sources. When we export on payment of IGST, the Customs are refusing the refund on the ground that we have imported our capital goods without IGST payment. Is their stand correct? Rule 96(10)(b) of the CGST Rules, 2017 says that the person claiming IGST refund should not have availed the benefit of notification 78/2017-Cus dated October 13, 2017, that covers imports of capital goods and inputs by the EOU without IGST payment, and also the benefit of notification 79/2017-Cus dated October 13, 2017, that covers imports of inputs under advance authorisation and imports of capital goods under EPCG authorisations by DTA units without IGST payment. However, the said Rule 96(10)(b) has an exception, in the sense that the refund is not to be denied where the person claiming refund has imported capital goods without IGST payment under the EPCG scheme. A similar dispensation should have been made available to the EOUs. I think it is a drafting flaw that the exception does not cover import of capital goods without IGST payment under the notification for the EOU scheme also. In my opinion, the Chennai Customs are reading the provisions strictly, taking undue advantage of the flawed wording of Rule 96(10)(b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, and seeking to deny refund. You should take up the matter with the CBIC through your Export Promotion Council and get Rule 96(10)(b) suitably amended. Since that may take time, a quick clarification from CBIC will help avoid unnecessary litigation. Q. Our overseas buyer is proposing 20 per cent advance payment and the balance against shipping documents, but he wants a third party to pay the 80 per cent balance. Is this allowed? Para A3(v) of the RBI Master Direction no.16/2015-16 dated January 1, 2016 (as amended), on Export of Goods and Services deals with payment from a third party against exports. It does not deal with a situation where part payment is to be received from a third party. In my opinion, that does not mean such an arrangement is not allowed, so long as the other conditions mentioned in Para A3(v) are fulfilled. Q. Are we required to submit copies of our shipping bills or bills of export to banks after every shipment? No. In case of exports through non-EDI Customs stations, one copy of the shipping bill marked “Exchange Control (EC) Copy”, duly endorsed by the customs, must be submitted to the AD bank within 21 days from the date of export. However, where the shipments are made through EDI Customs stations, the EC copy of the shipping bill is not printed in terms of CBEC’s Circular No. 55/2016-Customs dated November 23, 2016, and data of the shipping bill is integrated with EDPMS, there is no requirement of submission of the EC copy of the shipping bill with the AD bank.
Source: Business Standard
At a meeting of the third India-EU Strategic Partnership Review in Brussels, the two sides also discussed the launching of negotiations on a separate agreement on geographical indications, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. India and the European Union on Tuesday discussed steps to operationalise the decision of their leaders to resume negotiations for a trade agreement and also launch talks for a stand-alone investment protection pact. At a meeting of the third India-EU Strategic Partnership Review in Brussels, the two sides also discussed the launching of negotiations on a separate agreement on geographical indications, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. India and the EU also exchanged views concerning best ways to join forces in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on economies, societies as well as individuals. Following the India-EU Leaders' Meeting of May 8, 2021, which set a clear path for further deepening ties between India and the EU, the meeting allowed for a comprehensive review of the strategic India-EU partnership, guided by the 'IndiaEU Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025', the MEA said. The discussions focused notably on cooperation in addressing the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and contributing to the success of the upcoming Climate COP26, it said. India and the EU also discussed next steps to operationalise the decision of Indian and EU Leaders to resume negotiations for a "balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement", the MEA said. They discussed launching negotiations on a stand-alone investment protection agreement and on a separate agreement on geographical indica India and the EU further discussed ways to further cooperate in the areas of research, technology and digital transformation, as well as continued implementation of the Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility, the statement said. Recalling the successful 9th India-EU Human Rights Dialogue in April 2021, India and the EU looked forward to the next edition of the Dialogue in 2022, the MEA said. The meeting was co-chaired by Reenat Sandhu, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs and Helena König, Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues, European External Action Service.
Source: Economic Times
The GST Council, at its Lucknow meeting on September 17, has decided to impose 12% GST on all textile products except cotton to correct inverted duty structure in the sector. With a unified goods and service tax (GST) rate on textile products set to kick in from January 1, 2022, Gujarat-based textile industry fears that synthetic textile prices would surge by nearly three times. The GST Council, at its Lucknow meeting on September 17, has decided to impose 12% GST on all textile products except cotton to correct inverted duty structure in the sector. The new rates will be effective from January 1, 2022. Currently, man-made fibre-based textile value chain is witnessing 5-18% GST rate at different levels. GST rate is 18% on mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA), 12% on polyester partially-oriented yarn (POY) and 5% on grey fabric, finished fabric and garments. This has led to a tax structure where the rate on inputs is higher than that on the outputs, leading to inverted duty structure. Experts have pointed out that correction of inverted duty will lead to seamless input tax credits, making the impact benign on the entire value chain. Biggest impact of the proposed change in tax structure would be on man-made fibrebased textile value chain, mainly developed in Surat and South Gujarat region, claimed Ashish Gujarati, president of South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SGCCI). “We want the GST council to rethink its decision. The new slab suggested by the council would directly affect the prices of yarns as well as the weaving process. Besides, prices of other petroleum-based raw materials. Overall cascading impact would finally be on the end users,” Gujarati said. Recently SGCCI delegation met Gujarat’s Chief Commissioner of GST who is also member of GST Council’s fitment committee. In the representation, SGCCI said that due to proposed uniform tax rates, the government’s GST revenue wouldn’t increase much but the end-users will end up paying more. According to Bharat Gandhi, president, Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI), people working in the synthetic textile value chain could hardly understand the GST structure implemented from July 2017. Now the government is again coming up with further changes to the tax structure which is going to enhance production cost, Gandhi said. Not only synthetic fabric segment, uniform tax rate would adversely affect hundreds of embroidery units also, apart from silk fabric makers. Already embroidery units are forced to increase job-work rates by 10% in view of inflated rates of petroleum products, coal and packaging materials, said Hitesh Bhikhadia, president of Embroidery job-work association in Surat. With nearly 30 million metres of raw fabric and 25 million metres of processed fabric, Surat commands a 45% share in synthetic textile produced in India. Directly and indirectly, the synthetic textile value chain right from spinning, weaving, processing and garmenting provide job opportunities to more than two million people. Nearly 300 textile markets in the city provide employment opportunities to another half a million people.
Source: Financial Express
“We will have to bring down our production if the cost escalates in a spiralling manner. To begin with, units will work five days a week, as against six days a week, from next month,” Jitendra P Vakaharia, president, South Gujarat Textile Processing Association, told ET. The coal crisis in the country has hit the textile processing units in Surat hard. Nearly 400 units in this southern Gujarat city, employing close to 500,000 people, plan to cut down production from next month because of rising coal prices. Industry executives said an increase of nearly 50% in costs of colour and other chemicals in the past two months has added to the woes of textile processors. The processors are importing coal from Indonesia, prices of which have shot up to Rs 18,800 per tonne from Rs 5,000 per tonne a few months ago. Lignite coal production in the country has been affected due to the monsoon, which is why the units are now depending on imported coal to meet 80-90% of their requirement. The system involves the weavers selling grey cloth to textile wholesalers who then send it to the mills for dyeing, printing and finishing. The boilers in dyeing and printing units generate steam using coal. “We will have to bring down our production if the cost escalates in a spiralling manner. To begin with, units will work five days a week, as against six days a week, from next month,” Jitendra P Vakaharia, president, South Gujarat Textile Processing Association, told ET. “The processors will meet again on October 23 to take stock of the situation and decide future course of action.” The processing units in Surat are major suppliers of cotton and rayon textiles across India. They process the raw fabrics and send them to the textile wholesalers. In Surat alone, there are nearly 60,000 textile wholesalers. Pramod Chaudhary, chairman of Pratibha Group of Industries, said the cost of production has gone up 25-30% following the increase in coal prices. Rising freight cost has added to the production cost. “Prices are continuously moving up, with little respite. We do not see the situation normalising before February,” said Choudhary. Textile processors are also discussing the price rise with textile wholesalers. “The following five months is the peak period for demand. So we have to be cautious too while increasing prices so that it does not impact demand,” said Chaudhary. The processors feel that if prices of coal do not cool off before Diwali then they will be forced to close down the units for a month. “We are in a spot now. If we keep the mills running, we will have to face huge losses daily. If we keep the mills closed, we will have to spend a huge amount to restart the machines. The migrant workers will also leave, creating a short supply in the workforce,” said Chaudhary.
Source: Economic Times
For the retail credit, rise in stressed assets is pegged at 4-5 per cent in March 2022 from 3 per cent estimated in March 2021 The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic pain is likely to push the stressed assets — bad loans plus restructured credit — in the micro, small enterprise (MSME) pool to 17-18 per cent by March 2022, from 14 per cent in March 2021, according to CRISIL. For the retail credit, rise in stressed assets is pegged at 4-5 per cent in March 2022 from 3 per cent estimated in March 2021. Krishnan Sitaraman, Senior Director and Deputy Chief Ratings Officer, CRISIL Ratings, said: “The retail and MSME segments, which together form 40 per cent of bank credit, are expected to see higher accretion of NPAs and stressed assets this time around."
Source: Business Standard
India’s department of revenue under the finance ministry recently imposed definitive anti-dumping duty (ADD) on arylide imports from China. Laxmi Organics Industries— the sole producer of arylides in India—had filed a petition seeking an anti-dumping probe on such imports from the Asian giant. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) issued a gazette notification announcing the development. The ADD on arylides—aceto acetyl derivatives of aromatic and heterocyclic compounds— will last for five years. The revenue department imposed a definitive ADD of 24.79 per cent of cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value in the case of arylides produced by Qingdao Haiwan Speciality Chemicals and 26.64 per cent of CIF value in the case of arylides produced by Nantong Acetic Acid Chemical. For all other producers and exporters from China, the definitive ADD has been pegged at 44.90 per cent of CIF value of imports. Industries like paper, plastic and textiles use arylides in production of pigments, dyestuffs and printing inks. These intermediates are used primarily in manufacturing pigment yellow, acid yellow, pigment orange and pigment red for inks and dyes. The period of investigation was from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. The injury investigation period covered 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 and the period of investigation.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
The demise of the index is a good time to take stock of the true state of what it is like to run a business in India In September, the World Bank discontinued its Doing Business Report and Ease of Doing Business Index (EBDI), after 18 years, following the uncovering of possibly serious data irregularities, motivated by political influence. The current MD of the IMF has come under fire for her role in these issues when she was at the Bank. I think I first wrote about the EBDI in this column in 2005, in its early days. That year, India was ranked 116 out of 155 countries, triggering a defensive response from some of India’s industry associations. The EBDI has 10 components, and rankings on each one helped to highlight where India did relatively the worst. These were: enforcing contracts, trading across borders, dealing with licenses, closing a business, and hiring and firing. In many of these areas, India has made little real progress. Its ranking changed little through 2017, over a decade. But bankruptcy law reforms, and some other changes, contributed to a rapid improvement, from 130 out of 189 in 2017, to 63 in 2020. This triggered some triumphalism, but the real picture is less rosy. The EBDI was always subjected to scrutiny and criticism, as well as to the potential of misuse through overstating its implications. Its simplicity and salience are what led to increasing pressures for manipulation. Because of its attempt at broad global coverage, the EBDI was always going to be both shallow and incomplete. But obligatory cautions to this effect from its producers were inevitably submerged by the needs of politicians for evidence of concrete progress. In that respect, perhaps it was no worse than other such indicators, like the Human Development Index (HDI), or other variants of measurable development goals. Indeed, broader measures that are more politically charged, like the Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index, have even greater problems. The demise of the EBDI is a good time to take stock of the true state of what it is like to run a business in India. By contrast to the country’s soaring EBDI ranking, it has been struggling in this period with weak investment, stagnant exports, a manufacturing sector that is still failing to take off, inadequate employment growth, and failing small businesses. Some of this was due to the Covid pandemic, but much of it is connected to a central problem of Indian business, one that the EBDI did not capture at all. The EBDI included getting credit and investor protection as two components. Like the rest of the exercise, these measures reflected external legal and regulatory perspectives, with larger businesses as the model. Indian industry is well known for having a “missing middle”—some corporate giants, many very small businesses, and not enough in the rest of the distribution of firms by size. When all but the largest firms sell to those giants, or to the government, or to foreign buyers, they are constantly subject to delays in payment, and sometimes even nonpayment. These firms are invariably short of working capital, and subject to cash flow crises, let alone having the ability to accumulate retained earnings and grow. The pandemic was a terrible blow to these firms. What is worse, the implementation of the GST, which began in 2017, has compounded these existing problems. As the government is withdrawing its temporary forbearance in GST collection from smaller firms, they are going to be hurt even more. The problem is systemic, because, at the best of times, a small supplier has to pay GST up front, and recover this cash outlay when its large customer finally pays. Essentially, the operation of GST for smaller firms is a body blow in a system where smaller suppliers cannot collect payments from buyers in a timely manner, and have no access to working capital loans, bridge loans, or factoring arrangements. None of this was ever captured in the EBDI. But it is a problem that was apparent in India well before the pandemic (bit.ly/3jgmMmV). India’s manufacturing sector will not evolve into a balanced and robust ecosystem of firms that can grow and generate employment at the level that the country needs, until it develops an effective system of small-firm finance for everyday operations. Meanwhile, it should be possible to modify GST implementation to make large buyers responsible for tax payments, so that when they delay payments to their smaller suppliers, the latter are not being hit twice.
Source: Financial Express
RBI must appropriately communicate its demand-condition readings; analysts are differing significantly with it Gauging the strength and durability of demand recovery from the pandemic depths is challenging central banks the world over. Even those with singular data on unemployment permitting multidimensional insights are prone to misgivings due to distortions induced by the pandemic, unsure of their protraction, and wary of unknown ones. Most worry about erring on the side of caution, preventing policy adjustment in line with evolving recoveries; others with lesser capacities are compelled by the lack of choice. Unlike markets and analysts who tend to be surer, central banks are more persuaded to wait, watch and confirm the early rebounds will not dissipate. The understanding of macroeconomic conditions is tougher because of sudden shortages, bottlenecks, supply chain breakages and unstable new formations, geopolitical obstructions, jump in energy costs and other prices; such troublers increase apprehensions about more in the offing. Informed guesses on the clearing of supply issues are speculations at best. As result, no central bank is able to assess demand with sufficient confidence, usually possible for monetary policy in normal upswings. Viewed in this light, Indian monetary policy is possibly at an inflection point in more ways than apparent from the start of liquidity normalisation announced by RBI on October 8. A quarter ago, the dominating apprehension was of igniting inflation from several sources within ultra-loose monetary conditions (bit.ly/2XpIVar). The anticipated pressures did not materialise however, creating doubt if demand was correctly assessed. In fact, the pendulum swung to the other side—either demand was deeply depressed or the output gap was more enlarged than believed before (bit.ly/2Z1iGrX). This evolution, reflective of similar challenges faced elsewhere, is now critically poised: Lurking in the background of gradual normalisation of surplus liquidity is the precise state of demand. In its policy review, RBI made it clear that halting the GSAP did not mean a steep reduction in liquidity and assured a gradual, non-disruptive rowing to the ‘visible shore’. The central bank also retained its accommodative stance for as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and mitigate the Covid-19 impact upon the economy, while ensuring inflation remains within target ahead. There’s a noticeable segregation RBI has made between repatriation of excess liquidity and standard monetary policy or interest rate changes. Some might draw a parallel with the US Federal Reserve, which successfully delinked its asset purchase rollback from interest rate increases, with the latter still distant at this point. The similarity is irrelevant to the policy discourse, but the distinction is not. Central to this is the size of the output gap, and differing assessments of RBI and those of the markets and analysts. If there was a tussle between the two on inflation readings not so long ago, that is now about the demand gap and speed of its closure. Markets and most analysts believe the output gap is closing very quickly, way beyond the expected speediness; therefore, inflation risks cannot be ignored and RBI would be falling behind the curve if it does not begin to normalise monetary policy along with liquidity, which has a long way to go given the size of surplus. Most think the policy rate should be raised sooner than presently communicated by RBI; else, the fast-recovering demand could override the gap. In other words, liquidity normalisation alone is not sufficient to dispel the inflationary risks. Obviously, these beliefs are at variance with the central bank’s view, which it has communicated and acted upon through decoupling the excess liquidity removal from interest rate adjustments. RBI’s attempt is to remove the excess liquidity impact upon interest rates through normalising the former without any change in the policy rate. But the markets are driven by demand optimism. Therefore, their ‘policy’ expectations could push up interest rates beyond what the central bank desires or comfortable with. Is RBI right or the markets are? There is ambivalence on the central bank’s part: its 9.5% GDP growth projection is unchanged with a steep, 40 basis point reduction in the annual inflation forecast, but the actions suggest either it is unsure of or not fully convinced the recovery is securely rooted after exit from the pandemic. When asked about this disparateness in the post-policy call, the RBI Governor noted there was unevenness; growth, he said, was nowhere near desired levels, the slack or the output gap persisted, and RBI was looking for signs of its resilience and entrenchment. In an earlier speech, Deputy Governor Patra had stated the output gap was bigger this year than the preceding one. The output gap is very subjective; potential output, from which it is derived, is not directly observed. RBI never specifies this exactly. And analysts have their own respective estimates of potential output. The interpretation of the output gap therefore becomes very important at this stage, especially in times such as emergence from a pandemic-caused recess and even more so in countries like India that have no rigorous or timely data on unemployment. It is possible to logically say in the same breath that four-fifths of India’s workforce is engaged in the informal sector and we know nothing about its condition! So, RBI has a difficult job at hand—try to convince markets and bring them around to its assessment of the output gap. It needs to clarify better than it has in the statement and post-policy conference. Otherwise, the brimming demand optimism could overwhelm the liquidity withdrawal effect on interest rates prematurely and prevent the central bank from remaining accommodative for as long as it judges is necessary. The idea of going gung-ho on growth optimism all around is leading to ebullient market expectations about strength of the recovery. It has repercussions in creating a conflict for the central bank, which too cannot easily hold its 9.5% real GDP forecast and at the same time say that growth is very fragile, requires support. Or that the output gap is very large. Settling this conflict is the inflection point for monetary policy. Not an easy task by any means. Ask any central bank.
Source: Financial Express
After Australia, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the European Union (EU) to continue its trade benefit for Bangladesh for 12 years after the country's graduation from LDCs in 2026. The extension will help Bangladesh in making smooth transition from LDC and preparing to face postgraduation challenges, as per BGMEA. In a recent meeting with the ambassador of the European Union to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley in Dhaka, BGMEA’s president Faruque Hassan shared the achievements of Bangladesh’s RMG industry in workplace safety, environmental sustainability and workers’ wellbeing, the association said in a media release. Hassan also thanked the EU for its move to remove 7.4 per cent import-share threshold from the GSP-plus vulnerability criteria, as the step will pave the way for Bangladesh to apply for GSP-plus benefit after its LDC graduation. Additionally, the BGMEA president sought cooperation of the EU in developing capacity of the students of BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) in textile, apparel, fashion and business through collaboration with leading EU universities.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
Bilateral trade between China and India is expected to exceed $100 billion in 2021 for the first time, given the market potential and complementarity between the two countries on trade, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri told the Global Times in an interview on Tuesday, despite hurdles and uncertainty. Speaking to the Global Times on the sidelines of the 1st BFA Global Economic Development and Security Forum in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, the Indian ambassador expressed optimism about bilateral trade ties, citing huge potential for cooperation in areas such as pharmaceuticals. However, Chinese experts said that tensions in bilateral relations over India's moves on the border issue and the country's increasing restrictions on Chinese businesses pose hurdles for trade cooperation. Misri said that even though there was a slight dip in bilateral trade last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not as big as people expected, and this year's trade "will definitely be an increase over last year." From January to September, China-India bilateral trade reached $90.37 billion, up 49.3 percent year-on-year, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs on October 13. China's exports to India reached $68.46 billion, up 51.7 percent. In recent years, China has been one of India's largest partners in merchandise and goods trade, which has consistently stood in the $90-95 billion range. Bilateral trade includes a very broad category of items, ranging from electronic equipment to textiles, plastic, iron and steel, and much-needed pandemic preventative items such as masks and ventilators, indicating the highly complementary nature of trade between the two counties. Products such as pharmaceuticals have huge potential that has yet to be realized, according to the ambassador. China's annual imports of generic medicines total about tens of billions of dollars, out of that, only around $20 million comes from India, which is a very small proportion, the ambassador said, expressing hope for easier access for Indian companies to the Chinese market so that more Indian drugs can take advantage of these conditions. India is still highly reliant on China in terms of trade, especially in some export industries that are major foreign exchange earners like pharmaceuticals and textiles, even though the Indian government has imposed many sanctions against Chinese companies and products, Liu Zongyi, secretary-general of the Research Center for China-South Asia Cooperation at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday. At least 70 percent of India's active pharmaceutical ingredients are imported from China, as well as around 80 percent of its raw silk, while 95 percent of India's solar power components also come from China, the expert said. Other areas such as electronic devices like mobile phones from China are also gaining significant market share, despite Indian authorities' restrictions on Chinese firms. "The surge in bilateral trade also reflects India's increasing reliance on China after the pandemic, which led to the suspension of production in domestic factories. China has been the pillar of foreign trade after successfully reining in the epidemic and resuming production," Liu said. While there have been rising expectations for trade and cooperation between the two neighboring countries, experts said that bilateral economic and trade relations have not seen the expected breakthroughs because of tensions in bilateral ties over the border issue. "The discussions are going on and we hope that both sides can resolve this [border] issue, because it is casting a shadow on bilateral relations," Misri said. The ambassador added that both India and China are two large countries in the world and have historical records of engagement and cooperation, which "have been largely positive for the last 30 years." While there is a high possibility that bilateral trade will exceed $100 billion, Liu said that this figure could become the peak, since the outlook for bilateral economic and trade relations is not too optimistic. He urged India to change its hostile policies toward China, especially on the border issue, to avoid negative impact on bilateral relations.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
Several Vietnamese industries, especially labour-intensive ones like textile, garments and leather, are likely to face a labour shortage when they resume operations after the pandemic gets over. A survey covering 300 companies in early September found that only about 40 per cent of their workers wanted to return to work when the city reopened on October 1. Many even planned to return after the Lunar New Year in early February next year, the survey by the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations (HUBA) found. According to the city’s department of labour, invalids and social affairs, more than half a million migrant workers left the city for their hometowns after the city eased lockdowns, a Vietnamese newspaper reported. Before the pandemic, the city had nearly 4 million labourers at more than 286,000 businesses, including 320,000 in export processing zones, industrial parks and a hightech park. Garment and textile workers have also shifted to other industries in recent years, leaving the sector with a shortage of at least 10 per cent, said Nguyen Thi Thuy, vice president of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Union. The shortage has increased to 30 per cent from October 1 as workers left the city, stayed at home to look after children since schools are closed or tested COVID positive or are in quarantine. Thuy hoped the industry would be able to hire workers from now since many service businesses are still closed and would not be competing for labour. However, when the economy fully recovers, it is going to be difficult for the textile industry to attract workers. Companies that employed a few hundred workers without labor contracts and did not pay social insurance would have difficulty resuming production, Thuy said. But foreign-owned enterprises would not have this problem since they have excellent HR policies that foster employee loyalty, he added.
Source: Global Times
The value-added textile sector has demanded an immediate ban on cotton yarn export and total elimination of the regulatory duty on import of raw material. Addressing a press conference, Mian Kashif Zia, zonal chairman of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA), said that value-added textile sector was playing a key role in creating job opportunities and therefore the government must resolve its issues on priority basis. Atif Munir Sheikh, president Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), said that despite 80pc extra production of cotton, we were facing a cotton shortage of 35-45pc and to fulfill this gap, we would have to import cotton. He demanded that the government must clamp a ban on export of cotton yarn and lower the regulatory duty on its import to zero. He said that we would have to depend on 70pc imports for our exports as we are playing at 30-70pc. He said the sector was indebted to the government that had cleared Rs275 billion refunds of the last 11 years. However, it was a demand of the sector that the government should ensure availability of raw material at reasonable rates. Shahzad Azam Khan, central chairman PHMA, said the real economic strength of Pakistan was its well-developed textile sector and the government must ban yarn export to provide cotton yarn to the domestic textile sector. Waheed Khaliq Ramey, Chairman Power Looms Owners Association, Arif Ihsan Malik Central Chairman All Pakistan Bedsheets and Upholstery Manufactures Association (APBUMA), Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz of All Pakistan Cotton Power Loom Association, Shakeel Ansari of Sizing Association, Shafiq Rafi of All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association and Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain also spoke on the occasion.
Source: Daily Times
Several Vietnamese industries, especially labour-intensive ones like textile, garments and leather, are likely to face a labour shortage when they resume operations after the pandemic gets over. A survey covering 300 companies in early September found that only about 40 per cent of their workers wanted to return to work when the city reopened on October 1. Many even planned to return after the Lunar New Year in early February next year, the survey by the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Associations (HUBA) found. According to the city’s department of labour, invalids and social affairs, more than half a million migrant workers left the city for their hometowns after the city eased lockdowns, a Vietnamese newspaper reported. Before the pandemic, the city had nearly 4 million labourers at more than 286,000 businesses, including 320,000 in export processing zones, industrial parks and a hightech park. Garment and textile workers have also shifted to other industries in recent years, leaving the sector with a shortage of at least 10 per cent, said Nguyen Thi Thuy, vice president of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Union. The shortage has increased to 30 per cent from October 1 as workers left the city, stayed at home to look after children since schools are closed or tested COVID positive or are in quarantine. Thuy hoped the industry would be able to hire workers from now since many service businesses are still closed and would not be competing for labour. However, when the economy fully recovers, it is going to be difficult for the textile industry to attract workers. Companies that employed a few hundred workers without labor contracts and did not pay social insurance would have difficulty resuming production, Thuy said. But foreign-owned enterprises would not have this problem since they have excellent HR policies that foster employee loyalty, he added.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
