The country needs much more 'equitable' growth as inequality could lead to tensions in society, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday. Kumar further said the country's democracy will not permit the kind of K-shaped growth it has seen in the past, where different sections of the population have been growing at different paces. "Within India, growing inequality will sooner rather than later create tensions and problems in our society which we will not be able to bear. We need to find ways now to make our growth much more equitable," Kumar said at an event organised by the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The equitable growth should be the one which can empower people and give them the right opportunity to excel, he emphasised. Kumar said there is an expectation that the economy will grow at 9.2 per cent this fiscal, 8.5 or 8.7 per cent in FY2023 and 7.5 per cent after that, making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world. "The question we need to ask is will that be good enough to meet the aspiration of our young population, to meet their ambition...this is not enough," he said. The challenge, he said, is to break through growth barriers soon. "It is not simple but also not impossible. We need to have consistent, rapid and double-digit growth for the next two or three decades which will help us use our demographic dividend and also help us prevent our demographic dividend from turning into a waste and becoming difficult to handle," he pointed out. However, Kumar added that the growth which the country wants to achieve should not be at the cost of the environment. "We have to complete our economic transition in a manner that is green transition. It is a huge challenge again because very often in the past this has been seen as a trade-off between growth and environment, but we can't see it as a trade-off. We have to find ways and means to make it happen together," he said. According to Kumar, the private sector investment will be the driver of growth in the country going ahead.
Source: Economic Times
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, UK Secretary of State for International Trade launched the trade pact which is expected to facilitate the target of doubling bilateral trade by 2030, and give a fillip to Indian exports in labor intensive sectors like leather, textile, jewellery and processed agri-products. India and the UK on Thursday launched negotiations for a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) covering various areas including goods, services, and investments, and have set a yearend deadline for concluding the pact. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, UK Secretary of State for International Trade launched the trade pact which is expected to facilitate the target of doubling bilateral trade by 2030, and give a fillip to Indian exports in labor intensive sectors like leather, textile, jewellery and processed agri-products. The minister also said that the two sides are working closely to conclude both the interim agreement and the final FTA at an early date. “The final deal will be reached at after stakeholder consultations on both sides,” he said. India’s exports to the UK were $8.15 billion in 2020-21, while imports aggregated at $4.95 billion. India’s main exports to the U.K. include ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum products, transport equipment, spices, pharmaceuticals and marine products. Imports from Britain include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scraps, engineering goods, chemicals and machinery. In the services sector, the UK is the largest market in Europe for Indian IT services.
Source: Economic Times
The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal launched the Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom along with Rt. Hon. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, UK Secretary of State for International Trade in New Delhi today. The FTA is expected to facilitate the target of doubling bilateral trade between India and United Kingdom by 2030, set by the Prime Ministers of both the nations, Shri Narendra Modi and Mr. Boris Johnson in May 2021. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that both India and UK are vibrant democracies, with a partnership built on our shared history and rich culture. The diverse Indian diaspora in UK, who act as a “Living Bridge”, adds further dynamism to the relations between the two countries, he added. The Minister said that the FTA with UK is expected to provide certainty, predictability and transparency and will create a more liberal, facilitative and competitive services regime. Shri Goyal said that the FTA negotiations with the UK is expected to increase our exports in Leather, Textile, Jewellery and processed Agri products. He added that India is also expected to register a quantum jump in the export of Marine Products through the recognition of 56 marine units of India. The Minister said that the Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) on Pharma could provide additional market access. There is also great potential for increasing exports in service sectors like IT/ITES, Nursing, education, healthcare, including AYUSH and audio-visual services. India would also be seeking special arrangements for movement of its people, he added. The Minister assured that subsequent to the unveiling of FTA, the two nations would proactively and regularly engage with each other, for deliberating on the scope and coverage of the trade deal. Observing that UK was a major trade partner of India with substantial bilateral volume of trade in goods and services, Shri Goyal said that the cooperation extended across areas like tourism, tech, startups, education, climate change, etc. and that the two nations were looking forward to a mutually beneficial trade deal with balanced concessions and market access package in a wide range of sectors. Calling for the enhancement of sectoral cooperation by addressing market access issues and removing trade restrictions, Shri Goyal said that it would help generate direct and indirect employment in both nations. The Minister said that the India-UK FTA will also contribute in integrating value chains and help augment our mutual efforts to strengthen the resilience of supply chains. Reminding that the leaders of both nations had envisioned launching the FTA Negotiations in early 2022, Shri Goyal expressed his happiness at the successful conclusion of discussions in a timely manner to announce the launch of our FTA negotiations today. The Minister also informed that it was also agreed to explore during the FTA negotiations, the possibility of an Interim Agreement to provide quick gains for benefitting businesses in both nations. Our endeavour is to deliver a comprehensive, balanced, fair and equitable FTA, to benefit our small, medium and micro-enterprises in both nations, he said.
Source: PIB
India has recalibrated its demands for relaxation of norms for the services sector under a free-trade agreement (FTA), making it more broad-based while negotiating such trade deals, instead of focusing only on easy visa for its professionals, Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam on Thursday said. Earlier, he said India was getting completely focussed on easy visa norms for its professionals in a free trade pact. "On visas for individuals, I think there has also been a change and a recaliberation in our own asks as far as services are concerned. We were getting completely focussed on what in services is called Mode 4 (movement of professionals). Mode 4 meant, we need visas, visas, and visas. What we are actually seeing globally is that Mode -4 is something you (India) are getting autonomously, whether or not there is FTA," he told reporters here. He said the country has a youthful population, highly skilled population, people around the world want IT professionals, lawyers, doctors, nurses and CAs. "They are anyway taking your people. So rather than getting focussed on a single item, we are broad-basing our services request...I think we will have far more access in newer areas and I am sure that even in this FTA (with the UK), there will be some gains for us in the movement of people," he told reporters here. India and the UK on Thursday formally launched negotiations for the proposed free-trade agreement, which is expected to double bilateral trade, from the current USD 50 billion, by 2030. The secretary said this while replying to a question that one of the drawbacks of FTAs in the past is the inability to get visas or secure visas for people. Recently, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to dismiss the notion that visa norms are set to be relaxed for Indians in pursuit of an FTA with India. During the weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) session in the House of Commons, Johnson was asked by one of his Conservative Party MPs to comment on reports that emerged in the UK media over the weekend about easier visas for Indian professionals and students to make an FTA more attractive to India. Commenting about interest areas in the services sector for India in the FTA with the UK, he said areas such as telecom, IT, travel and other business services hold good potential. "Our exports of other business services stand at USD 4 billion and the expectation is that this will go up to USD 20 billion. This could be anything - consulting, accounting and back-office work. It is a large area of growth we are looking into," he added. About goods, he said that sectors that hold maximum potential include fish, shrimp, textiles, apparel, chemicals, footwear, cereals, iron and steel, gems and jewellery, and pharma products. "I see an increase or upside of about USD 35 billion in exports in the next 10 years. That's huge, considering our exports are less than USD 10 billion today," he said adding India will target these in the interim agreement. As India's large population is dependent on agriculture, agri products and dairy will be "carefully watched" items. "Farmers and MSMEs, we will be slightly concerned with. England is not a high power agriculture powerhouse. So, they are not going to have that kind of pressure for agriculture," he said. Further, the secretary said if India has to be part of "new-age" FTAs, it needs to negotiate on all fronts. "The diffidence which was there in the past is not there anymore. However, it does not mean we will embrace everything as it is," he said. He added that India and the UK are discussing 16 areas, including intellectual property rights, sustainability, competition, digital, women, MSMEs, anti-corruption and innovation. "A lot of these areas are new areas for us... We may not be having either capacities or depth of knowledge or experience... (But), if you do not actually talk about these things then nobody is going to enter into FTAs. "India is probably the only large economy in the world that is not part of the large FTA or a regional trading arrangement. You are getting shut out of market after market after market. The US, EU are a common market, it is an FTA in itself, the rest of Asia has got RCEP (regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement)," he said. "Where are we? We are standing splendidly isolated. And it is not a question of who is going to gain or lose. It is not us gaining vis-avis the UK. It's us losing vis-a-vis Bangladesh, Vietnam. I think that is the biggest question," he added. India is in a trade surplus situation with the UK in both goods and services but if these little tariff barriers were not there in the UK, India's exports instead of USD 9 billion will be somewhere in the range of USD 35 billion, the secretary said. He added, "You are not competing with the UK in the UK market. You are competing with Bangladesh, Vietnam and China in the UK market. If they have better access, you are shut out. I think that's what we are planning to open." "If you do not talk on a whole range of subjects, you will not have an FTA. We are doing that with the EU and even with the UK. Secondly, there is nothing to worry about, because a lot of these things are best endeavour agreement. All of them are not going to be the enforceable agreement, he informed. Explaining it further and citing an example, he said the anti-corruption issue is going to be about transparency, and keeping documents/tenders in public. Similarly, MSMEs are more about promoting their exports and creating a facilitative environment for them to get greater market access. "There is nothing harmful there. These new-era FTAs are good for India," he said.
Source: Economic Times
India is gaining share in manufacturing exports and share of global merchandise exports is now at an all-time high, Credit Suisse said in a report. India is gaining share in manufacturing exports and share of global merchandise exports is now at an all-time high, Credit Suisse said in a report. Gains in commodities may not last, but momentum should persist in electronics (large market size, opportunities for share gains, policy support) and specialty chemicals (a decade of steady growth has brought scale to firms). In textiles, exports are growing after a decade-long stagnation, currently mostly in upstream yarn/fabric, but order-books for apparel are strengthening too. The opportunity in autos is as much local (strong demand growth gives scale), as potential share gains as global industry disrupts (new OEMs, business models and supply chains), the report said. India's manufacturing share of GDP has been declining steadily since 2012, partly due to a stagnation in exports of manufactured goods. As exports pick up again, either due to the impact of PLI schemes or otherwise, they could boost GDP by 2.4 per cent in five years. The boost to jobs would be concentrated in electronics and apparel. Electronics hold much promise, not only on the large size (30 per cent of global goods exports), but also opportunities for share gains, given geopolitical shifts and China's shrinking industrial labour force. Helped by policy support, a critical mass appears to be building, with local and global firms investing in capacities in India (even those not gaining from PLI schemes). In chemicals,while India lacks sustainable advantage in bulks, its share of global exports of specialty chemicals has risen steadily (these are now 10 per cent plus of India's exports). Through steady growth, and in some cases China ceding share, the industry has now gained critical mass. India has seen gains in electronics, chemicals, autos, apparel, the report said. India runs a structural deficit in sectors dependent on resource availability, like oil, gas, coal and gold (together around a fifth of global exports); the share in agriculture is higher than average given structural advantages, but its share of manufactured goods exports is lower. Within manufactured goods, pre-Covid-19 Indias' share was above average in jewellery (though it has low value-add) and textiles, and below average in electronics. Since 2015, metals have grown the fastest, but these may not sustain (global commodity cycles). Growth in electronics and machinery has been well above average though chemicals and textiles (incl apparel) have contributed the most in absolute terms given their size. While electrical and equipment together account for $600 bn of global exports annually, India's opportunity would be primarily in labour-intensive segments initially; scale could eventually drive upstream integration. To broaden these share gains and to consolidate them, we need to see evidence of Indian groups investing in the value chain (like Tata Electronics, which has already invested $1 bn in its Hosur facility and plans to hire 40,000 workers), as well as foreign technology companies setting up operations in India. Elsewhere, in consumer electronics like airconditioners, import substitution has driven significant growth in manufacturing, Credit Suisse said. Textile and apparel exports from India have picked up over the past year, as after a period when lockdowns hurt demand for new clothes, global apparel markets have rebounded. However, while rolling 12M exports have broken through the $35 bn level they were stuck at for much of the last decade, growth, at least until Nov-2021, was in upstream yarn and fabric, and downstream apparel exports were lower than the prior peak in May-2019. This could just be a time lag in demand flowing through a value-chain, and preliminary data for Dec-2021 shows a meaningful pick-up in apparel exports. However, there can be another factor as well: India lacks the treaty advantages that Bangladesh and Vietnam possess. Further, the US ban on Xinjiang cotton effective Dec-2021 could help upstream businesses in India going forward, the report said. It is unlikely that China will cede its entire market share in apparel (ready-made garments, or RMG), but trends of the past decade are likely to persist. While nearly all of China's share in cotton apparel was taken by Bangladesh and Cambodia and that in man-made fibres by Vietnam, current industry feedback suggests that volumes are also beginning to shift to India.
Source: Business Standard
India's production-linked incentive that targets 13 sectors with a coverage of almost Rs 2 lakh crore over five years is the first such scheme that gives Centre the money to back firms that think big. After years of false starts, the enthusiasm for India’s gambit to challenge China's clout in manufacturing is striking. As we enter into a new year, the world that we inhabit has become significantly more complicated. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted lives and livelihoods across the world and forced us to rethink how we live, interact with the society around us, and even conduct our business operations. Supply chain management is perhaps one of the most important aspects of business operations that has garnered much attention over the last two years, as companies and countries increasingly felt the need to diversify. As the pandemic raged globally – with its genesis in China, the world’s largest exporter of goods – it led to severe disruptions in cross-border trade. It forced countries to re-look at the long-term need for building resilient supply chains that aren’t overly dependent on a single country. Owing to a slew of economic reforms since the late 1970s, which saw China open up its market to global trade and the abundant availability of cheap labour, the world’s most populous country became the global manufacturing hub that it is today. As of 2020, China was the largest exporter in the world, with an approximately 15% share of global trade, according to UNCTAD statistics. Right from iron & steel used in buildings, to apparels, electronics, and even children’s toys, there is hardly any tangible product around the world that doesn’t have a little bit of China in it. In the process, China has emerged as the second largest economy in the world, with a GDP size of $14.72 trillion in 2020, with an over 18% of the world GDP. But over the last few years, the winds of change have been blowing, slowly but steadily. A blend of factors and developments such as China’s geopolitical tensions around the South China Sea, trade wars with countries such as the US, rising wage rates and escalating environmental costs have somewhat dented the relative competitive advantage that Chinese manufacturing enjoyed over the decades. Post COVID, the global quest to diversify supply chain is manifesting in a few ways: First, some nations are turning increasingly protectionist and encouraging domestic manufacturing for meeting local consumption demand. Second, countries are seeking to reinvent themselves as manufacturing hubs that can cater to demand from the rest of the world (Vietnam is a shining example of this). Third, some countries like Japan are actively encouraging Japanese companies to diversify their supply chain and move out of China by earmarking as $2.2 billion to help companies with this process. All of this bodes well for India, where the government is also seeking to convert the pandemic-related adversity into an opportunity by ensuring self-resilience in manufacturing through the overarching mission of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and, more specifically, the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) schemes that have been announced for diverse key industrial sectors. While many attempts to boost manufacturing in India were made in the past as well, the outcome wasn’t uniformly successful across all sectors. For instance, while India has done well in pharmaceuticals, the API needed for making these drugs still come from China. Similarly, while the automotive sector and auto ancillaries have gained a strong foothold in India, we have lagged lagging in the manufacturing of electronic durables and their sub-components. In many ways, India has gone from being an agrarian economy to a services-led one, while skipping the manufacturing boom. From a peak of around 17.9% seen in 1995, the share of manufacturing (value added) has fallen to around 13% in 2020. In this period, the share of services (largely fueled by India’s flourishing IT sector) has increased to around 49%. But with the way the global supply chain dynamics are stacked right now, India’s recent PLI scheme, through which the government has planned an outlay of Rs 2.75 lakh crore, can be a significant opportunity. According to a report authored jointly by AT Kearney and the World Bank dated September 2021, India can play a significant role in reshaping the global supply chain and contribute more than $500 billion annually to the global economy by 2030. Apart from the financial incentives, a slew of economic reforms such as GST and IBC; rapid digitisation; a push to build roads, ports, railways and industrial corridors (though some bottlenecks still remain in the process); friendly relations with developed nations in North America, Europe and in Asia; a commitment to reduce carbon emissions and move towards green energy and green manufacturing may augur well for India when it pitches itself a global manufacturing hub. incremental sales, which makes it attractive for companies to offset capital costs and increase profitability. It is heartening to note that the country isn’t only focusing on areas in which it has an existing manufacturing prowess but also looking to take a lead in emerging sectors like the design and fabrication of semiconductors, which has emerged as one of the most precious commodities of the 21st century. With countries like Taiwan and China pretty much dominating the semiconductor industry globally, a massive chip shortage has roiled the growth plans of automakers, smartphone makers and consumer durables companies alike. Among the PLI schemes announced by the government, the largest pertains to this space with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. As per estimates, the scheme can generate investments to the tune of Rs 1.70 lakh crore and generate around 35,000 jobs. But certain building blocks like access to technology, ensuring a consistent supply of raw materials, including silicon (sourcing of which can be ecologically sensitive, and a steady stream of talented workforce need to be put in place first. Even in general, a few bottlenecks still remain, which will need to be eventually addressed to make ‘Make in India’ truly substantial. These bottlenecks have to do with much-needed labour and land reforms. The government may well be eager to effect these reforms, but political compulsions, especially ahead of multiple elections, make this a cumbersome task to achieve. It is not to say that China’s loss can entirely be India’s gain. In the first wave of manufacturing moving out of China, its smaller, but nimble-footed neighbour, Vietnam cornered a disproportionate size of the opportunity through free trade agreements with a lot of developed nations and other investor-friendly policies. So much so that, exports as a percentage of GDP stood at 105.5% for Vietnam in 2020. For India to emulate similar growth in export-oriented manufacturing, it would also need to stitch up mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreements with the leading countries of the world that can present a sizeable market for Make in India products. In order for schemes like PLIs to have their desired effect, a few other initiatives need to be undertaken. The ensuing Union Budget can be taken as an opportunity to increase the outlay towards physical and social infrastructure, including healthcare and education. It is estimated that over the next 10 years, 1 million young Indians will enter the workforce every month. Centres of excellence in these sectors will help ensure a fit and future-ready stream of skilled workers needed to make the Make in India story sustainable. Also, India’s MSMEs – the largest job creator in the economy – will have a major role to play in this journey. Measures to boost the flow of capital to this sector and enablers to help them become more formalised will go a long way in ensuring equitable economic growth.
Source: Economic Times
During the pandemic, while the fashion industry adopted hyper digitisation of sales and marketing with aplomb, the crafts sector and the artisans, who make for the backbone of India’s coveted textiles and fashion repository, were left behind The craft sector of India, which provides employment to thousands of artisans, was one of the worst hit during the two waves of Covid-19. Grassroot artisans were left scrambling for straws as production stopped following cancelled orders and no payments. The pandemic also forced annual craft fairs to stand cancelled, also blocking a major source of their income. And while the fashion industry adopted hyper digitisation of sales and marketing with aplomb, the crafts sector and the artisans, who make for the backbone of India’s coveted textiles and fashion repository, were left behind. The scenic region of Kutch in Gujarat is home to multiple generational craft forms, practised by now-dwindling artisans finding it hard to keep the art form alive due to decrease in demand. Belonging to the Khatri community of Kutch who have been practising ajrakh since ages is Sufiyan Khatri, an 11th generation ajrakh artisan and supplier to fashion giants like Fab India, péro, Anita Dongre, and the like. During March 2020, Khatri found his facility filled with stock material for the coming months of production, amid cancelled orders and half or no payments. After months of trying to piece a solution together, he along with his co-founder Juned Khatri resorted to an ecommerce site, kutchibazaar.com, on March 2020, selling ajrakh, bandhani, banarasi, and batik garments and fabric pieces straight from the artisans, not only inviting national and international orders but also cutting down on intermediary costs. “Earlier, if a buyer paid Rs 200 to buy fabric from us, he used to sell it for Rs 300, a profit that is deserved by the artisans. With the website, we are able to not showcase the craftsmanship of the artisans of Kutch but also give them their due income. Being an artisan myself, I know what our work is worth, and so do they.” The website now has a stock of 3000 products selling to national as well as international customers with a 15-20 percent month-on-month growth since its inception. In the other part of the country, the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh presents a humble miniature of the state’s rich tribal culture and crafts which also faces ignorance, erosion, and downfall worsened by the pandemic. That’s why, four friends, Ayush Shrivastava, Gaurav Kushwaha, Suyash Sankhla, Rishabh Jain, born and brought up in Bastar, decided to change the status quo. They founded lokabazar.in, Bastar’s 1st e-commerce startup for handmade crafts and products, a year ago. “While we are all proud that we have wellknown forest products such as mahua and GI-tagged arts such as wrought iron art and dhokra art, even the locals were unaware of the artist or the village where the art is performed. When we first started visiting the villages and talking with artisans, we discovered that they are far off from the major handicraft markets and that they are disorganized due to a lack of government policies. A land that was earlier renowned for its violence and sacrifices should now be remembered for its achievements.” The website, which sells daily-use, modern, utilitarian products made in the dhokra art form, intends to empower the 40+ tribal artisans they work with individually by facilitating the sale of their products directly with their identity preserved, encouraging them to pass down the craft knowledge to future generations.
Source: Indian Express
According to economists, local restrictions could hurt services activity even further in the coming months. Contact-intensive services such as travel, tourism, hotels and restaurants could end up suffering deeply during the third wave, just when they were only beginning to recover. After a temporary breather following the subsiding of the second wave, the economy appears headed towards risky terrain again as a third wave of the pandemic sweeps across India. A survey of around 2,000 people, done by ET Online recently, tried to find the reasons why many people, including economists, think this might be too early to celebrate India's growth turnaround as shown in last quarter's GDP numbers. In the survey, a third of the participants pointed to the informal sector — the unofficial backbone of the Indian economy — still being badly down. Around 26 per cent respondents thought last quarter's numbers were largely a function of base effect. The first advance estimates released by the statistics office last week said the Indian economy would expand 9.2% in the current financial year, largely on base effect. It may be recalled here that there was a 7.3% contraction last year — something that is likely to make the base effect a potent factor this year Uneven recovery About 25 per cent of them said the recovery was still quite uneven, making it too premature to celebrate any turnaround. Most economists say that the recovery seen in India post the second wave was not broad-based. According to Nomura's Sonal Varma and Aurodeep Nandi, the uneven nature of India's economic recovery caused scarring effects on lowerincome households. Because there is still no indication of a sustained capex upcycle, the current growth phase is unlikely to be durable, they said. Sectors that majorly employ informal workers have borne the most brunt of the virus since its onset. Sectors such as trade, hotels and transportation, etc, account for around 12% of India's GDP. These businesses, where informal workers comprise 64% of the workforce, remain 9 percentage points below pre-Covid levels and now again face a deeply uncertain future in the wake of the third wave. That is likely to further heighten the recovery's uneven nature. Covid risk To a majority of people covered by the survey, the latest Covid surge appears to be the biggest risk factor for the economy at the moment. Well over 40 per cent of those surveyed saw Covid-related uncertainty as the biggest roadblock for the Indian economy in the near to mid term. While the government's own growth projections for this fiscal have remained upbeat, the onset of the third wave has prompted most private forecasters to cut estimates. The divergence between what the government says and what economists say aboutOmicron's likely impact on the economy is quite noticeable. While the govt only sees a small blip to the tune of 10 basis points, several economists have said on record that the third wave could hit March-quarter growth by as much as 30 basis points. In an extreme scenario, even a 75-100 bps fall in Q4 GDP could come about if medical infrastructure gets overwhelmed going ahead leading to even more restrictions, an ET report said quoting an economist at an auto conglomerate. Some impact is already visible. India's services sector activity fell to a three-month low in December on slower business and sales as restrictions imposed by states to contain Covid hit sentiments everywhere. According to economists, such restrictions could hurt services activity even further in the coming months. Contactintensive services such as travel, tourism, hotels and restaurants could end up suffering deeply during the third wave, just when they were only beginning to recover. Other shortcomings Aside from Covid risks, uneven nature of recovery and base effect, what are the other factors that could hinder a comeback? Over 21 per cent respondents said that the government's failure to walk its reform talk was the biggest hindrance to a turnaround. Another 21 per cent put it down to persistent inflation, while around 17 per cent pointed to falling purchasing power in Covid's wake. More than 41 per cent of participants said that the ability on the government's part to walk its reform talk would matter the most for the economy at this point. Around 15 per cent want the government to put less stress on winning elections. Around 25% per cent say the government should consult properly before bringing new laws. Over 18 per cent think doing away with trade barriers will matter the most for the economy at the moment.
Source: Economic Times
Company commits to sustainable principles and improvement in human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Finland’s Spinnova, the developer of new technology technology for making textile fibres from wood or leather, textiles and food waste without harmful chemicals, has become a signatory of the United Nation’s Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. The United Nations Global Compact promotes the ecological, social, and economic responsibility of companies and non-business organisations. The initiative requires commitment to the UNGC’s ten universally accepted principles and calls for action in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. By signing the UNGC letter of commitment, Spinnova commits to sustainable principles and improvement in human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. “Our sustainable fibre innovation supports several of the Sustainable Development Goals, and committing to the compact’s principles on a concrete level comes naturally for us,” said CEO and co-founder Janne Poranen. “It’s an honour to make this pledge and stand alongside the United Nations and the community around it. The commitment will see Spinnova integrating the UN Global Compact’s principles into its strategy and day-to-day operations, and engaging in collaborative projects that advance the broader development goals of the UN. To support public accountability and transparency, Spinnova will report on its progress within one year of joining the compact, and annually thereafter. The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest sustainability initiative with more than 14,000 companies and over 3,000 non-business organisations in over 160 countries. There are 165 Finnish participants in the UNGC. Patented Spinnova fibres create zero waste and side streams or microplastics, and CO2 emissions and water use are minimal. The materials made from it are quickly biodegradable and circular. Spinnova is committed to using only sustainable raw materials such as FSC certified wood and waste.
Source: Knitting Industry
Following a strong rebound in 2021, the global economy is entering a pronounced slowdown amid fresh threats from novel coronavirus variants and a rise in inflation, debt and income inequality that could endanger the recovery in emerging and developing economies, according to the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report released recently. Global growth is expected to decelerate markedly from 5.5 per cent in 2021 to 4.1 per cent in 2022 and 3.2 per cent in 2023 as pent-up demand dissipates and as fiscal and monetary support is unwound across the world. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant indicates that the pandemic will likely continue to disrupt economic activity in the near term. In addition, a notable deceleration in major economies—including the United States and China—will weigh on external demand in emerging and developing economies. At a time when governments in many developing economies lack the policy space to support activity if needed, new COVID-19 outbreaks, persistent supply-chain bottlenecks and inflationary pressures, and elevated financial vulnerabilities in large swaths of the world could increase the risk of a hard landing, the World bank said in a press release. “The world economy is simultaneously facing COVID-19, inflation, and policy uncertainty, with government spending and monetary policies in uncharted territory. Rising inequality and security challenges are particularly harmful for developing countries,” said World Bank Group president David Malpass. “Putting more countries on a favorable growth path requires concerted international action and a comprehensive set of national policy responses,” he said. The slowdown will coincide with a widening divergence in growth rates between advanced economies and emerging and developing economies. Growth in advanced economies is expected to decline from 5 per cent in 2021 to 3.8 per cent in 2022 and 2.3 per cent in 2023—a pace that, while moderating, will be sufficient to restore output and investment to their pre-pandemic trend in these economies. In emerging and developing economies, however, growth is expected to drop from 6.3 per cent in 2021 to 4.6 per cent in 2022 and 4.4 per cent in 2023. By 2023, all advanced economies will have achieved a full output recovery; yet output in emerging and developing economies will remain 4 per cent below its pre-pandemic trend. For many vulnerable economies, the setback is even larger: output of fragile and conflictaffected economies will be 7.5 per cent below its pre-pandemic trend, and output of small island states will be 8.5 per cent below. Meanwhile, rising inflation—which hits low-income workers particularly hard—is constraining monetary policy. Globally and in advanced economies, inflation is running at the highest rates since 2008. In emerging market and developing economies, it has reached its highest rate since 2011. Many emerging and developing economies are withdrawing policy support to contain inflationary pressures—well before the recovery is complete.
Source: Global Times
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has called on the country's apparel exporters to focus more on value-added, high-end apparel items as their demand is high in the global market. "The demand for man-made fibre (MMF)-based garment items is on the rise in the global market. So it is high time we shifted our focus to non-cotton-based textile and apparel to realign our product mix in line with global sourcing trends," BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said Thursday, reports UNB. "Globally the share of cotton textile and clothing consumption is 25 percent only, whereas 75 percent of Bangladesh's readymade garment (RMG) product is concentrated within cotton items," he added. "The growing eco-consciousness and care for sustainability are driving consumers towards non-cotton, especially manmade fibres. So we have to keep ourselves aligned with the market demand." "It is good to see that our garment factories are increasingly opting for high-end and value-added products. More and more factories should move in this direction to seize the opportunities in the global market," the BGMEA chief said. He made the observations while visiting 4A Yarn Dyeing in Savar. Abdullah Hil Rakib, managing director of 4A Yarn Dyeing and also a director of the BGMEA, was present. High-end apparel items like padded jacket, quilted jacket, seam-sealed jacket, down jacket, bomber jacket, ski-wear, jogging suit, rainwear, gilet, leather jacket, workwear, technical apparels are produced and exported by 4A Yarn Dyeing. The factory is equipped with modern and sophisticated automatic machinery and has a design studio for product innovation and development.
Source: The Financial Express
