At present, the rate on manmade fibre, yarn and fabrics is 18%, 12% and 5%, respectively Even though the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council had to drop a plan to hike the GST rates for most textile products in the man-made fibre (MMF) value chain from 5% to 12% in late December 2021 amid protests from the industry, the government may revisit it soon. The rate hike was to take effect from January 1, 2022, but the decision was rolled back a day before amid protests from the industry. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that correcting the inverted duty structure in the textiles value chain is essential to attract investment in the sector. “The correction is required for the production-linked incentive scheme for the sector. Or else, investments are not going to come into certain areas,” she said, addressing a post-Budget meeting with industry and trade representatives in Mumbai. The GST Council’s decision to alter the rate structure for textile products was aimed at resolving the long-unresolved issue of inverted duty structure in the synthetic textile segment. Manufacturers of man-made fibres have long suffered from the duty disparity with the natural fibre (manly cotton) segment, and, in the GST system, these units suffered from accumulated input tax credit. At present, the tax rate on manmade fibre, yarn and fabrics is 18%, 12% and 5%, respectively. To illustrate, the GST rate is 18% on mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the building blocks; 12% on polyester partially oriented yarn (POY) and 5% on grey fabrics, finished fabrics and garments. Natural yarns like cotton, silk, wool are in the 5% slab. Inverted duty structure arises when the tax on inputs and intermediates are higher than that on finished products. Sections of the apparel industry had welcomed the GST Council’s decision to hike rate – they believed the high value addition in apparels, the rate increase could be offset. A group of ministers had earlier proposed the rate increases, keeping this in view, but several states and the fabrics-to-garments industry, which include thousands of MSMEs and tiny units, opposed this move as they saw it leading to a demand compression. Three-fourths of the domestically produced textile items are sold in the domestic market. “If GST is increased, price increases will be 6-7%, demand would fall by at least 3%. Also, there will be inflationary pressure. (All this for) expected Rs 7,000 crore additional GST revenue, which, in my view, is questionable,” former West Bengal finance minsiter Amit Mitra wrote to Sitharaman ahead of the December 31 GST Council meeting. A group of ministers (GoM), which is currently reviewing the entire GST rates structure would review the issues with regard to the textiles value chain too and submit its report in February-March. India’s competitiveness in the global textiles market, where synthetic textile products have a much larger share than cotton-based products, is seen to be blunted, owing to the inverted tax system.
Source: Financial Express
Goyal said in certain areas, especially in services, exporters haven’t been able to cash in on benefits of India’s trade arrangements with other countries as they should have. Days after signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UAE, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday exhorted exporters to take advantage of the immense opportunities that are going to come their way due to the pact. Addressing representatives of various export promotion councils, Goyal said in certain areas, especially in services, exporters haven’t been able to cash in on benefits of India’s trade arrangements with other countries as they should have. Despite the best of the efforts by the government, if exporters are not able to grab the benefits of trade pacts, “we can’t blame anybody for that”, he said. The FTA with the UAE will open up window of opportunities for Indian exporters to not just Abu Dhabi but also markets in Africa and select economies in the EU as well, Goyal said. He added that India is going to seal an FTA with Australia very soon, which will be followed up with such pacts with some others as well, as he highlighted the opportunities that exporters have to grab.
Source: Financial Express
The Indian textile, footwear and leather industries are expected to benefit substantially from the signing of the comprehensive free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates. Leaders of the two nations signed the India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which is expected to boost bilateral trade from the current US$60 bn to US$100 bn in the next five years. The UAE is already one of the top five destinations for Indian textile and clothing exports, according to the ministry of commerce, along with the US, Bangladesh, UK and Germany. The agreement was signed by minister of commerce and industry Shri Piyush Goyal and minister of economy of United Arab Emirates, H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri in the virtual presence of the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Source: Just-style
"India is also to likely also sign a trade agreement with UK in April," said a source. India and Australia will be finalizing a limited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on March 11, sources privy to the development told Business Today TV. This early harvest agreement is set to reduce tariffs in key sectors like textiles, pharma, health, footwear etc. "We are set to sign an interim agreement with Australia on March 11, post that will concentrate on the final agreement in 2023. We will also sign a trade agreement with UK in April," said a source in the know. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal early this month shared with media that 75 per cent of Australia's trade is covered under FTAs, but with this new agreement the percentage could shoot up to 90 per cent. An interim or early harvest trade agreement is used to liberalise tariffs on the trade of certain goods between two countries or trading blocs before a comprehensive trade pact is concluded. Both the countries will look at a comprehensive economic co-operation agreement (CECA) in 12-18 months. Goyal had early this month also shared that the interim agreement set to be announced in about 30 days and will cover "most areas of interest for both countries" including goods, services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and customs procedures. Last week, India and United Arab Emirates inked a trade pact, Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) during a virtual summit led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Source: Business Today
Large number of entrepreneurs of famous textile industry hub Panipat disappointed by the recent decision by Air Quality Management Commission to run industry only on Piped Natural Gas (PNG) instead of coal in National Capital Region (NCR) declared industry based on use of coal will not be permitted to function in the area and directed to shift working of their units from use of coal to PNG by September 30, 2022 as such several textile manufacturing units and dyeing house in Panipat has decided to shift their industrial units to adjoining states U.P and Punjab having no restrictions over use of coal in industry. They said, running industry on PNG will increase production cost enabling them not to compete prices of textile products with manufacturers in Gujarat and Punjab. According to Panipat exporters , there is already tough price war being faced by them with textile manufacturers in Gujarat and Ludhiana at present not only in domestic markets in the country as well as in export markets compelling them to work on nominal margin and in case of further rise in production cost they will start losing business besides margins. According to textile goods manufacturers, their industry is dependent on dyeing units and in case dyeing industry start shifting to other states will adversely affect Panipat textile manufacturing units. According to Maneesh Garg of Young Entrepreneurs Society Panipat, it is not possible to shift industry from use of coal to PNG in such a short notice since timely deliveries is a challenge before Indian exporters. He said, exporters have already secured orders from foreign buyers on annual supply basis and they may suffer heavy financial loss as a result of such a short notice, moreover their payments will held up. The manufacturers accused government for making sudden decisions like ban on use of coal in industry, use of diesel generating sets and declaring lock down all of sudden which harm industry due to nonavailability of raw material and Panipat textile industry suffered severe economic crisis due to non-availability of yarn last year since Panipat textile industry failed to fulfil supply commitments in domestic and export orders. Bhim Rana, President of Panipat Dyers Association said, the entrepreneurs has decided to shift their units to Kairana and Shamli in Western U.P which are quite near to Panipat from where hundreds of workers are employed at Panipat textile and dyeing industry. There are large numbers of small scale industry units at Kurad manufacturing Mink & Polar blankets and open spinning mills as such shifting dyeing units from Panipat to U.P will be a good decision where they will be free from restrictions by the government. Rana said, moreover U.P has now become crime-free state as compared to Haryana.
Source: Tehelka
From Day 1 of CEPA coming into force, 90 percent of India’s current exports to the UAE will have immediate market access at zero duty. A substantial rise in export flows across diverse sectors is expected subsequently. India is set to reap major export growth across sectors as a result of the India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), internal assessments of the deal by the commerce department show. The first free trade agreement signed by the Narendra Modi government since coming to power in 2014, the CEPA aims to raise India’s bilateral trade to $100 billion in the next five years, up from $60 billion currently. This is primarily set to be achieved through the wide scope of the deal. Officials say the deal is likely to benefit about $26 billion worth of Indian shipments that are currently subjected to 5 percent import duty by the UAE. While the commerce department’s calculations suggest the benefits will be broad-based, the deal is set to unlock the highest potential for labour-intensive sectors. As part of CEPA, the UAE has offered overall duty elimination on over 97 percent of its tariff lines. This corresponds to 99 percent of India’s current exports to the UAE in value terms. From Day 1 of the agreement coming into force, 90 percent of India’s current exports to the UAE will have immediate market access at zero duty. Moneycontrol takes a look at some of these sectors and their projected growth estimates under the new CEPA regime.
Jewellery and textiles The gems and jewellery sector is set to be unarguably the largest beneficiary of the CEPA. Export of plain gold jewellery and gold-studded jewellery are expected to see an immediate impact, and shipments are expected to rise to a cumulative $10 billion per year by the next financial year of FY23. Overall jewellery exports to the UAE stood at just $2 billion in the April-December period of FY22. But before the pandemic, this figure had hovered around $8 billion per year in FY19 and FY20. Officials remain confident that going forward, the export of jewellery to UAE and the broader region will see sustained growth. Meanwhile, tariff concessions offered to the UAE by India will see the cost of importing gold come down. India has agreed to concessional import duties of 2 percent on gold imports of up to 200 tonnes per year. Currently, the average import duty charged by India for the rest of the world is 3 percent. As a result of the 1 percentage point drop in tariff, the input cost of jewellery makers is expected to come down. India imported about 70 tonnes of gold from the UAE in 2020- 21. Meanwhile, the commerce department projects an additional $2 billion worth of textiles exports over the next five years. Among subsectors, exports of man-made fibre textiles are expected to get a boost owing to their new duty-free status and are expected to rise to $650 million per year over the next five years from just $20 million a year in 2020-21. Exports of cotton textiles are also expected to make an impact. Till November 2021, exports stood at $223 million, a growth of 28 percent over the same period in 2019. With zero tariffs, India can also cater to the UAE’s hospitality segment through the institutional sales of home textiles such as bed and bath linen as well as contract textiles such as beach towels, and salon and spa linen. As a result, exports in the category are expected to more than double in the coming years to $500 million.
Manufactured products While the engineering goods sector has historically focused on the major markets of the United States and the European Union, the CEPA is aimed at boosting engineering exports to the Gulf and West Asia. During April-December 2021-22, engineering exports to UAE recorded an impressive 77 percent rise to $4.2 billion, up from $2.4 billion in the same period in the previous fiscal. Going by current trends, exports are expected to close the current financial year at a sizable $5 billion. The Commerce Department forecasts the growth of engineering exports to UAE at 10 percent in the first two years and 15 percent in the next three years. Exports of engineering goods are projected at $7 billion, $8 billion and $9.2 billion for FY25, FY26 and FY27 respectively. Another major export category to the UAE, pharma, has seen a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24 percent since FY17. This was faster than the CAGR of pharma sales in the UAE’s local market. As a result of CEPA, the CAGR is expected to remain firm at 26- 28 percent in the next five years, crossing the $1-billion mark by FY27. With the UAE’s local formulation industry developing rapidly, India may have a chance of increasing active pharmaceutical ingredient exports much faster now. The CEPA also includes an annexe on pharmaceuticals which facilitates access of Indian pharmaceuticals products to the UAE through automatic registration and marketing authorisation of Indian generic medicines in 90 days. The government also hopes to tap into the UAE’s plans to become a regional distribution hub for pharmaceuticals by 2030. The country is gearing up to become a global logistical centre with technically advanced transport and storage facilities that can distribute pharmaceuticals on a global scale. With an eye on the Gulf region and the greater West Asian market, India also hopes to nudge automobile exports towards the UAE, with a projected $160-million increase in exports over the next five years. With the CEPA benefits, the average per-unit price for India-manufactured passenger vehicles is poised to reduce from $12,829 to $12,218. Official’s stress that the large immigrant population in the UAE continue to prefer affordable vehicles, and the market is currently wide open for certain lower-priced ranges. India already has a strong market presence in commercial vehicles and the two-wheeler segments, where the gains are set to be higher.
Commodities Plastics remain one of the largest industrial commodity exports to the UAE. During FY21, India exported plastics worth $418 million to the UAE. The newly gained preferential access is expected to induce additional exports of $872 million in the short term, or a total plastics export bouquet of $1.3 billion, the Commerce Department believes. Another $402 million worth of exports in the long term is set to be achieved due to the lower cost of imported inputs. India has offered a lower tariff to the UAE for plastic inputs such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Higher exports are also expected in a host of other labour-intensive sectors. For the leather and footwear sectors, additional exports are projected at $130 million over the next five years. Additional exports of $850 million over the next five years is expected from the agri sector as the CEPA includes wholly obtained criteria on a number of agricultural products. The government also expects furniture, wood products and sports goods to be shipped in higher volumes since the duties imposed by the UAE on them will be reduced to zero as part of CEPA.
Source: Money Control
The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) rose to a record high of 122.8 for the week ended February 20 from 119.5 in the prior week, the Japanese financial services company said on Monday. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) rose to a record high of 122.8 for the week ended February 20 from 119.5 in the prior week, the Japanese financial services company said on Monday. It highlighted weak demand due to higher inflation and pandemic scarring as the underlying recovery remains uneven with sluggish services and consumption even prior to the third wave. NIBRI has risen to almost 23 percentage points (pp) above pre-pandemic levels and around 21pp above the third wave nadir Google workplace and retail & recreation mobility rose by 1.4pp and 6 pp, respectively, from the prior week, near record highs. The Apple driving index rose by 11.3pp, the labour participation rate was stable at 40.1%, and power demand rose by 0.4% week-on-week after a 1.5% fall, it said. Conventional monthly data until January suggest the third wave had a mild impact on demand, while the supply side remained unscathed. “This imbalance should correct in February,” Nomura said, adding that this is evidenced by the rapid rise across indicators – NIBRI, railway passenger and freight revenues, flight departures and stable GST E-way bills. As per Nomura’s weekly report, while the third wave appears to be over, growth concerns are not. “However, the underlying recovery remains uneven, with services and consumption sectors sluggish, even prior to the third wave,” Nomura said. This reflects weak rural demand due to higher inflation and pandemic scarring, while industrial segments face supplyside constraints, according to the report. “Still, with higher public capex, services normalisation and easy financial conditions as near-term tailwinds, we expect GDP growth of 8.7% in FY22 and 7.8% in FY23,” Nomura said.
Source: Economic Times
The middle years of the 18th century brought us to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; the remnants of the same are the old defunct textile factories dotting our cities. The industrial era started in Great Britain with Thomas Newcomen inventing the steam engine in 1712, which James Watt improved in 1776. These new machines helped speed up the manufacture of textiles, improved transportation, and soon other products and services. The industrial era was a drive towards manufacturing efficiency in generating maximum goods in the shortest time. In this chaos of newfound technology, no one thought what the customer wanted. It was a technology push. Even customers did not know what they wanted because they could buy products at a cheaper price than they could not afford earlier. Before the dawn of this industrial era, humans consumed products or artifacts produced by skilled artisans of their period. The artisans had customers who knew their needs by virtue of their wealth and access to different artisans and products. The artisans varied from a cobbler, goldsmith, blacksmith, weaver to a cabinet maker. There was an artisan to every imaginable product from that era, and they were able to cater to their customer’s needs. This was a precursor to the User Experience design. But the industrial era made a huge disconnect between the customer and the manufacturer of the product. Organizations focused on efficiency and soon followed the “Assembly line” method by Henry Ford, who had borrowed the idea from the slaughterhouses in Chicago. The operator assembling one of the hundred components of a product mostly has no semblance of the customer for whom the product is made. The same may hold true for the members of the other functions in an organization. We are currently in the 4th Industrial revolution or Industry 4.0. And due to the democratization of technology, mostly through the internet, the customers have matured and expect the organizations to meet their explicit and implicit needs. Also, organizations now have unprecedented data about their customer attitudes and behaviors. To benefit from this data, organizations need a process to extract the relevant information and use it to build innovative products and services. In the past few decades, there have been many leaders championing to bring the customer to the center of the design process. One of them is Don Norman. He was the User Experience Architect at Apple and coined the word “User Experience.” He is also famous for his book, “The design of everyday things.” Over the years, many organizations have understood the importance of keeping the customer to the center of their design process. This is evident from the design value index maintained by the Design Management Institute (dmi.org). Design-driven companies outperformed Standard & Poor’s index by 228% over ten years in 2014. Even if the benefits of the customer-centered design are staggering, not all organizations have adopted the User Experience design process. One of the main reasons is that many organizations still limit their focus only to manufacturing efficiency. Many are like photocopying machine churning their output efficiently and consistently. But there is a limit to the efficiency which we can achieve from man, machine, and materials in the manufacturing process. Except for the lower prices and quality, there is a lack of customer-centric innovation with this approach. The customer-centered design process is vital for any organization looking to be innovative and lead the industry with products and services that can delight its customers. To become a customer-centered design organization, it needs to understand the value of design and grow a team that can propagate user experience design practice. This practice is not limited to a set of design practitioners in the organization; it requires active participation from the different functions of the organization to make it successful. One of the most common methodologies is “Design Thinking” to practice User Experience design. Although this method is not new, it was made popular by Tim Brown, ex-CEO of IDEO design consultancy, through his book “Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation.” Although there are many variants of the Design Thinking methods, the most popular is the one developed by the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. The method consists of 5 phases that need not be sequential and can be adapted depending on the project at hand. The different phases are “Empathise”, “Define”, “Ideate”, “Prototype” and “Test”. Let us consider a hypothetical example of an urban bus transport corporation. It wants to improve the experience of using their buses for the office-going user segment who are currently dependent on their cars. In the empathize phase, the design thinking practitioners plan and conduct user research using qualitative research methodologies like user interviews and contextual inquiry. The qualitative methods help to “know why” of the customer attitudes and behaviors. They can also talk to subject matter experts like urban transport academics about earlier research. The team may also use quantitative methods like the online survey to evaluate a larger user sample size and measure the customer attitudes and behaviors which were discovered in the qualitative research. The define phase is started based on information gathered from the empathize phase. The practitioners use the insights gathered to synthesize and define problems to be solved from the customer’s perspective as we are focusing on the user experience. Multiple techniques like user personas, user journey maps, etc., are used to discover and define the problems to be solved. In this example, the practitioners found the following as the top problems for office going user segment. These users felt that it was cumbersome to buy a ticket; there was overcrowding during peak hours and a lack of comfortable bus shelters. The Ideate phase is started when problems are defined. It involves stakeholders from different functions to use ideation techniques like brainstorming, sketching, storyboarding, etc., to ideate solutions. For focus, it is best to work on one problem in a session. The ideas are displayed and voted discreetly to avoid prejudice. If there are many ideas, the key stakeholder decides on one idea for prototyping. In this example, the problem of ticket purchase was ideated for solutions. Ideas like using e-ticketing via app, payment via digital wallets were proposed. It was decided that payment via digital wallets can be a quick short-term solution and was taken for prototyping. In the prototyping phase, the selected idea is transformed into a tangible product or service using inexpensive techniques for quick turnaround. The aim is to create a facade for the idea and not a fully functional product or service. The prototype creation phase can again take the help of the stakeholders to realize the most convincible prototype in the shortest time possible. Before taking the prototype to the test phase, it is tested internally to iron out any issues. In this example, it was proposed to create a QR code that is to be displayed inside the bus to enable payment via digital wallets. Before starting the test phase, the design practitioners need to arrange for at least five users for whom the solution is being designed. Jakob Nielsen, Usability Advocate and principal of the Nielsen Norman Group, through his research, has found that beyond five users per session or segment, the returns diminish in finding unique feedback from the users. Also, a suitable testing method is chosen for the solution being tested. The observation during the test is documented, and it forms the basis for the key stakeholders to make decisions on the project. A bus route is chosen in this example, and the idea is tested. Key metrics like time taken, the success rate for the transaction, and user feedback are collected. Based on the test, it was found that the idea was good, but sometimes the mobile network connection dropped, and the QR code was not scannable due to the constant movement in the bus. The key stakeholders can decide to further iterate for solutions based on the problems found in the test phase. These five phases of the Design Thinking method are iterative; the result of the first cycle will yield three outcomes as per Jake Knapp, coauthor of “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days.” Outcome 1: The idea tested becomes an efficient failure, thereby saving time and resources. Outcome 2: The idea is a flawed success, and a few areas need improvement, so further iterations are required. Outcome 3: The idea is successful and becomes an epic win in which you have met all your user needs, and it is ready for implementation. User Experience design may feel like an unstructured process for organizations that follow Standard Operating Procedures designed for efficiency. Innovation through “Design Thinking” is fuzzy because the problem identification to solution evaluation is based on human emotions. And failures are part of this process as we test ideas quickly, but the time taken to fail is short. Design Thinking is also a tool to control development costs as it helps to test ideas before a huge investment is committed. In his book “Change by Design,” Tim Brown has mentioned that at the intersection of desirability, feasibility, and viability lies the most promising product or service. Most organizations are strong in the feasibility and viability of their products and services. But remember organizations from the recent past like Kodak and Nokia, they were once at the pinnacle of their success. But they did not connect with their customers as their needs changed. They were no longer desirable for their customers. Every organization looks to go beyond its competition to find and retain its customers. User Experience design will help these organizations innovate and be desirable with customer-centric offerings and help them stay connected with their customers.
Source: Times of India
Telangana’s minister for information technology and industry K. T. Rama Rao has described the state as the most successful startup and said Telangana model of development can be replicated across India. The minister delivered a keynote address at the Harvard India Conference 2022 held virtually late Sunday. During the one-hour-long session, he highlighted the all-round development of Telangana, the Hyderabad IT ecosystem, friendly industrial policies, and investment opportunities existing in the state. Minister KTR spoke at the conference under the theme “Turbocharging India @ 2030. “If I want to talk about Turbocharging India @ 2030, I should speak about Turbocharging Telangana since 2014,” the Minister said in his opening lines. “By 2030, I want to witness an India that leads the world, in almost every category. I strongly believe that cues for “Turbocharging India@ 2030: can be had from “Turbocharged Telangana since 2014,a said KTR. KTR stated that the schemes and policies being executed in Telangana should be executed across the country to speed up the development wheel of India. “What Telangana has done, can be done at the national level too. Telangana Model of Development can be replicated across India, for sure,” said KTR. “Growth should be distributed fairly across society and create opportunities for all. I think that any one-sided policy emphasis will have negative effects. Diversity is India’s greatest asset. The same diversity requires the widening of policy frameworks beyond the narrow focus,” the minister opined. KTR stated that the Telangana government’s effective policy design & implementation, equal focus on rural and urban development, vision towards 3 I’s — infrastructure development, inclusive growth and innovation — that helped the youngest state of India achieve remarkable progress in just 7 years. Telangana has been progressing under the visionary leadership of CM KCR. The Telangana government’s equal focus on development and welfare measures has made it a model state which is being emulated by other states, KTR said. “It used to be said earlier that what Bengal thinks today is what the country thinks tomorrow, but in the modern context it is what Telangana thinks today which influences the country tomorrow,” he added. KTR stated that Telangana achieved the third rank in the country in terms of percentage increase in GSDP at current prices between 2014-15 and 2020-21. “The NITI Aayog report says that the Gross State Domestic Product of Telangana by provisional estimates was Rs 9.80 lakh crore, an increase of 94 per cent from its 2014-15 value,” he added. Minister KTR highlighted that despite the Covid-induced economic slowdown in 2020- 21, Telangana’s Per Capita Income (PCI) of Rs 2.37 lakh at current pricing is the third highest in the country — the latest data from the Union ministry of statistics and program implementation. “Telangana is the 11th largest state in terms of geographical area and 12th in terms of population in the country. I am proud of the fact that Telangana stood in fourth place in contributing to the economy of the country,” KTR said. The state government’s focus on every sector — from agriculture to IT, power generation to industry, health infrastructure to quality education has brought in remarkable progress in the state. He pointed out that Telangana attracted over Rs 2.2 lakh crore investments since the launch of its innovative TS-iPASS industrial policy. These investments employed about 16 lakh people. The minister highlighted that Hyderabad has emerged as a global hub for some of the most marquee names from the IT world. “You will be amazed to learn that the five most valued tech companies of the world, namely Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook, each of them has their second-largest presence anywhere in the world outside their headquarters in the US in our city of Hyderabad,” KTR said. “The cabins of the US President’s ‘Marine One’ helicopters are made in Hyderabad by Tata Sikorsky Aerospace Systems, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Sikorsky,” said the minister. He also highlighted that Hyderabad produces one-third of global vaccine output. “I take immense pride in saying that Hyderabad is the vaccine capital of the world,” he added. He highlighted that seven villages from Telangana ranked among the top 10 under the SAGY program (Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana of Union Ministry of Rural Development). He told the conference that Telangana is building the Kakatiya Mega Textiles Factory (KMTP), one of the world’s largest Textile Parks. KMTP is expected to house state-of-theart manufacturing facilities with a development strategy based on the ‘Fiber to Fashion’ concept. “IT exports of Telangana touched a new high of Rs 1.45 lakh crore in 2021. Since the formation of Telangana, we have been able to achieve a Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14.25 per cent, up from Rs 57,000 crore in 2014 to Rs 1.45 lakh crore now. Employment in the IT/ITeS sector had also increased by eight per cent to touch 6.3 lakhs.” KTR stated that the government of Telangana is developing Hyderabad Pharma City as the “World’s largest integrated pharma park to promote domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and to consolidate the leadership position of India in the pharmaceutical sector. “Telangana has already built the world’s largest lift irrigation scheme, Kaleshwaram Project, in just three years. This is a record in the history of irrigation projects in India,” he said. “Rythu Bandhu, the investment support scheme under which every landholding farmer gets Rs 10,000 per acre every year. The brainchild of CM Sri KCR, this revolutionary is one of the best reforms in the agriculture sector in the country since Independence,” KTR added.
Source: The Shillong Times
Report contains statistical data, information and insight into the textile and apparel industries in the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The report presents a wealth of information and is essential for anyone who is considering sourcing from, selling to or investing in these countries or their export markets. In particular, the report includes detailed information on domestic production and exports of textiles and clothing by type and destination. The report notes that US textile and clothing imports declined in value and volume terms in 2020, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, although they rebounded sharply during January-November 2021. US textile and clothing production and exports also fell in 2020 but both were up during January-November 2021. In Argentina, textile and clothing exports declined sharply in 2020 but there was a significant rebound during January-September 2021. There were also falls in textile and clothing production, imports and retail sales in 2020 but all three were up markedly during January-September 2021. In Brazil, textile and clothing exports rose in 2020 and they were up significantly during January-October 2021. Also, there were increases in textile and clothing production in 2020 and during January-November 2021. Textile and clothing imports, meanwhile, declined in 2020 but they rebounded sharply during January-October 2021. In Colombia, textile and clothing exports fell in 2020 but they rebounded sharply during January-November 2021. Mirroring these trends, textile and clothing production declined in 2020 but it was up during January-October 2021. In Mexico, textile and clothing exports declined in 2020 but they were up significantly during January-October 2021. Textile and clothing imports also fell in 2020 and so did textile and clothing production. But production rebounded sharply during January October 2021.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
Country is seen as being as good as China in terms of production quality. Vietnam is the most attractive apparel sourcing location, according to a survey published by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN). Also, Vietnam is seen as being as good as China in terms of production quality. But China continues to lead in terms of efficiency, innovation, lead time and vertical integration. Bangladesh, meanwhile, ranks lower than Vietnam on the basis of ten out of 12 criteria. Bangladesh received a score of only 2 for sustainability compared with a score of 3.5 in the case of Vietnam and yet Bangladeshi manufacturers argue that Bangladesh has the highest number of "green factories" in the world. Vietnam also emerges as the leader in a survey of apparel sourcing locations by the data analytics and consulting company GlobalData. But Bangladesh was ranked as low as 12th place and therefore did not even feature among the top ten. China was ranked only fourth but no other country can match China’s supply base, range of skills, quality levels, product variety and the completeness of its supply chain--and no other single country has the capacity to absorb the amounts which are produced in China. However, Chinese exports could suffer from claims that forced labour is being used within Xinjiang province. This has led many countries to ban imports of Xinjiang-made cotton and, under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), companies which want to continue importing goods made in Xinjiang into the USA must provide "clear and convincing evidence" that the goods in question have not been manufactured with forced labour. To ensure that they comply with the UFLPA, apparel brands may prefer to play safe and source from locations which they can be confident do not use materials made in Xinjiang province. Such a strategy could cause a noticeable drop in US apparel imports from China in 2022 and beyond.
Source: Innovation in Textiles
Global trade growth remained strong during 2021, as its value continued to increase through each quarter of 2021, according to a new report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The overall value of global trade reached a record level of about $28.5 trillion in 2021, a rise of 25 per cent and 13 per cent over 2020 and 2019 levels respectively. Trade growth was not only limited to goods. Trade in services also grew substantially in 2021, to finally reach pre-pandemic levels during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021. While most global trade growth took hold during the first half of 2021, growth continued in the second half of 2021. After a relatively slow Q3, trade growth picked up again in Q4 2021, when the value of global trade increased by about 3 per cent relative to Q3 2021. During Q4 2021, trade in goods increased by almost $200 billion to reach $5.8 trillion, a new record. During the same period, trade in services rose by about $50 billion to reach about $1.6 trillion, a value just above pre-pandemic levels. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, trade in goods strongly outperformed trade in services, with increase of about 27 per cent and 17 per cent respectively. The UNCTAD report indicates that trade growth will continue to slow during Q1 2022. Positive growth rates are expected for both trade in goods and in services, albeit only marginally, keeping trade values at similar levels to Q4 2021. The positive trend for international trade in 2021 was largely the result of increases in commodity prices, subsiding pandemic restrictions and a strong recovery in demand due to economic stimulus packages. As these trends are likely to abate, international trade trends are expected to normalise during 2022. Overall, the evolution of world trade in 2022 is likely to be affected by many factors, including slower-than-expected economic growth, continuing challenges for global supply chains, trade agreements and regionalisation trends and transition towards a greener global economy. Trade patterns in 2022 are expected to reflect the increasing global demand for products that are environmentally sustainable. Such patterns may also be supported by government policies regulating the trade of high-carbon products, the UNCTAD report says. Moreover, global trade patterns could also be influenced by increased demand of strategic commodities required to support greener energy alternatives (e.g., cobalt, lithium, and rare earth metals). There are rising concerns about debt sustainability as well. Given the record levels of global debt, concerns of debt sustainability are likely to intensify in the incoming quarters due to mounting inflationary pressures. A significant tightening of financial conditions would heighten pressure on the most highly indebted governments, amplifying vulnerabilities and negatively affecting investments and international trade flows, the report says. The import and export trends of some of the world’s major trading economies further illustrate the patterns of trade growth during recent quarters. In Q4 2021, trade in goods in all major economies was well above pre-pandemic levels in 2019, for both imports and exports. In Q4 2021, trade in goods increased more strongly for developing than for developed countries. Exports of developing countries in Q4 2021 were about 30 per cent higher than in Q4 2020. In comparison, this figure is about 15 per cent for developed countries. Moreover, trade growth between developing countries (South-South) outpaced global trade during Q4 2021, with an increase of about 32 per cent relative to Q4 2020, and with an increase of about 38 per cent when excluding East Asian economies. Similar patterns are found when comparing Q4 2021 with the pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
China was Germany's most important trading partner in 2021 for the sixth year in a row, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), which recently said total foreign trade revenues between Germany and China increased by 15.1 percent year on year as goods worth €245.4 billion ($279.1 billion) were traded between the countries in 2021. The Netherlands and the United States followed second and third, with trade revenues of €206.1 billion and €194.1 billion, growing by 20.1 per cent and 13.4 per cent respectively. "China's importance for German imports is growing steadily," Destatis noted. In 1980, China was still ranked 35th among the most important importing countries, and by 1990 it already jumped to 14th position. Since 2015, China has been Germany's most important country for imports, according to Destatis. Goods worth €141.7 billion were imported from China in 2021, an increase of 20.8 per cent year on year. The United States was the biggest customer country for German exports in 2021, unchanged since 2015. China and France followed second and third.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
The budget was approved on Monday by ruling party lawmakers at the lower house budget committee A key Japanese parliamentary committee on Monday approved the government's record $940 billion initial spending plan for the next fiscal year, setting the stage for the budget's full passage through the legislature in March. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is counting on the budget to pull the world's thirdlargest economy out of the Covid-19-induced doldrums with the economy set to slow to a crawl this quarter. The budget for the new fiscal year beginning in April, worth 107.6 trillion yen ($936.14 billion), is Japan's biggest initial spending plan. The expansive fiscal package will also add to strains for the industrial world's heaviest debt burden, which is more than twice the size of Japan's $5 trillion. The budget was approved on Monday by ruling party lawmakers at the lower house budget committee. It would be put to a vote on Tuesday in the plenary, as agree by ruling and opposition blocs. Given the ruling bloc's majority in the both chambers of parliament, the budget bill would be enacted 30 days after it is sent to the upper house. It marked the quickest enactment of a budget since 1999.
Source: Business Standard
Cambodia’s garment sector saw robust export growth last year despite raw material supply challenges and strict cross-border measures imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent figures from the general department of customs and excise show that the export of garment, footwear and travel goods rose by 15.2 per cent to $11.38 billion last year. Buyers have shifted orders to Cambodia from other countries due to political unrest and the pandemic and due to vaccinations in many countries and the reopening of travel, many buyers have placed orders for these products from Cambodia, Ly Khun Thai, president of the Cambodian Footwear Association, was quoted as saying by a Cambodian media outlet. Trade preference schemes boosted the country’s garment export increase. “For 2022, the economy is predicted to grow at a higher rate of around 5.6 per cent, buoyed by the expected rise of global demand and foreign investors’ confidence,” minister of economy and finance Aun Pornmoniroth said.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
Since the Regional Economic Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP) trade pact came into force at the start of the year, local customs in China have reported fruitful achievements from the implementation of the trade pact, with some saying that exports to Japan appear to be key beneficiaries thanks to preferential duties under the deal. Under the RCEP, China reached its first free-trade arrangement with Japan, and the mega trade pact has offered a boost for regional trade against the backdrop of pandemic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. From January 1 to Sunday, Shijiazhuang customs in North China's Hebei Province issued 597 preferential certificates of origin under the RCEP for exports worth $44.21 million, statistics sent by Shijiazhuang customs to the Global Times showed on Monday. Among them, 93 percent of the certificates were issued to exports to Japan and 2.8 percent to goods headed for Thailand, the customs said. Major exports to Japan were nuts, textiles and garments, plastic products, and mechanical and electronic products. A company exporting shoes and hats to Japan in Shijiazhuang said the benefits have been tangible. "The RCEP trade deal has greatly lowered the costs for our company to export shoes and hats to Japan. For instance, Japan's duty on imports declined from around 7 percent to 3 percent. That allowed us to enjoy duty preferences worth more than 300,000 yuan ($47,370) in only one month," Chen Yanli, manager of Shijiazhuang Jin Ri Tai Chang Trading Co, told the Global Times on Monday. She estimated that the company could get duty exemptions or reductions from the RCEP with 3.8 million yuan in 2022. In addition to Shijiazhuang, customs in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province said exports to Japan were the biggest beneficiaries in January. In January, Fuzhou customs issued 307 preferential certificates of origin under the RCEP and 96 percent of them were given to exports to Japan, the Fuzhou News reported on Sunday. Exports worth 109 million yuan enjoyed duty preferences under the RCEP trade pact in Fuzhou, while 97 percent of the goods were exports to Japan, including frozen seafood, agricultural products, shoes and chemicals. In Zhejiang, one of China's richest provinces and a major manufacturing hub, 5,190 certificates of origin were issued in January once the RCEP took effect, for goods valued at more than $240 million. More than 13 million yuan of duties were exempted or reduced. Wuhan customs in Central China's Hubei Province said companies with large amounts of exports to Japan, including Dongfeng Motor and Hubei Xingfa Chemical Group, benefited from the RCEP significantly, the Changjiang Times reported. Other RCEP members such as Thailand have also encouraged domestic companies to take advantage of the RCEP to increase exports. In the first month of the implementation of the RCEP, the value of Thai exports involved hit 285 million baht ($8.52 million) and the major export markets were Japan and China, taizhonghua.com reported. With the deal setting out to promote greater regional trade, investment and supply chain integration over the coming years, Singapore's leading consumer bank DBS said in a recent report that it expected Vietnam to be a key beneficiary within ASEAN, beyond biggest winners such as China, Japan, and South Korea.
Source: Global Times
