|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1032.36 |
USD/Ton |
-0.30% |
4/10/2016 |
|
VSF |
2118.84 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
ASF |
1948.72 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1020.76 |
USD/Ton |
-0.75% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2335.37 |
USD/Ton |
0.33% |
4/10/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4485.14 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2551.89 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
5765.72 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
1268.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
2157.51 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2126.58 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
1121.29 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
10S OE Cotton Yarn |
1765.44 |
USD/Ton |
-0.04% |
4/10/2016 |
|
32S Cotton Carded Yarn |
2924.62 |
USD/Ton |
59.04% |
4/10/2016 |
|
40S Cotton Combed Yarn |
3603.58 |
USD/Ton |
-0.06% |
4/10/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2861.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1701.26 |
USD/Ton |
-0.27% |
4/10/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2474.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1855.92 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2134.31 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
3015.87 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2319.90 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.37 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.82 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.18 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.70 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/10/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15466 USD dtd.10/4/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
With the textile ministry providing Rs.18 crore for setting up of a ready-made garment manufacturing unit or ‘Apparel and Garment Making Centre’ (AGMC) in each of the eight northeastern states. The North east's second readymade apparel manufacturing unit was inaugurated at western Tripura’s Bodhjungnagar industrial estate on Friday. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar inaugurated the readymade apparel manufacturing unit. At the inaugural ceremony Tripura Industries and Finance Minister Tapan Chakraborty, assembly Deputy Speaker Pabitra Kar, Chief Secretary Y.P.Singh, union Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma and Industries and Commerce Secretary M.Nagaraju were also present. The first Apparel and Garment Making Centre (AGMC) was inaugurated by Gangwar in Nagaland on Wednesday. Each AGMC would provide employment to 1,200 to 1,500 people in the respective states. The Textile Ministry would also provide financial assistance to run the unit after its commissioning.
Gangwar said that the government is trying to stop people from northeast India to go to other parts of the country seeking jobs. The readymade apparel and various other clothing have huge market in northeast India, other parts of the country, neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh. Sarkar, in his speech, said that the Tripura government has enlarged the incentives to boost the small and medium industries in the state. Soft loans have been provided to self-help groups (SHGs) at the rate of 4 percent from the state government-owned Cooperative Bank. This rate of interest would be further slashed to 3.5 percent soon. So far 8,000 SHGs become self-reliant and producing lots of attractive and useful products from benefits provided by the state government.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
India's rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015 in the list of top 30 merchandise exporters of the world, according to a WTO report. China continues to hold the top position in the list. However, India's ranking among top importers slipped by one notch to 13th in 2015, from 12th in previous year. In imports, the US topped the list. India's exports dipped by 17.2 per cent to USD 267 billion last year while imports aggregated at USD 392 billion. In 2014, the country's outbound and inbound shipments aggregated at USD 317 billion and USD 460 billion respectively. Slowdown in the gobal demand hit India's exports in 2015 and this year too the shipments are in the negative zone. Further, India's rank remained unchanged at 8th last year among the top 30 leading exporters of commercial services respectively. This list was topped by the US in both exports and imports. In imports, India positioned 10th. In 2015, India's commercial services exports aggregated at USD 158 billion while imports were USD 126 billion. Indian government has announced a host of incentives with an aim to nearly double goods and services exports to USD 900 billion by 2019-2020. The report said that China registered the highest merchandise trade by value in 2015 with USD 2,275 billion worth of exports. Total world merchandise exports were USD 16,482 billion whereas imports were USD 16,766 billion. "Exports of developed and developing countries should grow at around the same rate in 2016, 2.9 per cent in the former and 2.8 per cent in the latter. Meanwhile, imports of developed economies are expected to outpace those of developing countries in 2016, with a 3.3 per cent rise in the former compared to a 1.8 per cent increase in the latter," it said. Falling for the 15th month in a row, exports dipped 5.66 per cent in February to USD 20.73 billion due to contraction in shipments of petroleum and engineering goods amid tepid global demand.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The commerce department is considering setting up a specialised team to negotiate international trade deals. The move follows a nudge from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) amid concerns that India is not moving fast enough on its free-trade agreements and that it could have got a better deal on some of the pacts. At a recent meeting with senior officials from other ministries and departments, the PMO discussed the idea of building a team comprising officers from foreign services and trade services, and trade lawyers. Officials said consensus was reached on the issue at this meeting, following which the commerce department plans to train officers from trade services and foreign services for long-term planning. "We are short of people and this is seen in almost all the negotiations. The general thought process is that India is short of people with enough expertise as compared to other countries...so how do we build a larger team and invest for the future," said an official privy to the details of the meeting. The official, who did not wish to be named, cited the example of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership talks. While Japan comes with a team of 80-100 people, with at least five experts each on every subject, India has two experts at the most, he said. "It becomes difficult to cover up for a person who doesn't go because there are not many people who understand the background," he said. Officials said unlike other countries, whose trade negotiators have been on the job for 20 years, India keeps changing its team and that affects the quality of negotiations. Frequent movement of officials, changes in the composition of delegations and presence of ill-trained officials take their toll on the quality of talks and hence, the final outcome. "We need a set of people to sit in the negotiation room round after round and acquire knowledge," the official said.
Referring to the India-Asean free trade agreement negotiations, he said that the Indian team usually comprised about six people whereas Thailand would send 35 people. "These people create a depth of memory. Since negotiations take a long time, this would help them. They were training a lot of people. They have a consistent team," he said. Similar is the case with Australia, which, officials said, has a separate negotiating team for WTO talks, RCEP talks and bilateral negotiations. "Continuity is very important in negotiations," said Biswajit Dhar, professor at JNU. "We need experienced people who think on their feet. The strategy should also be to have young people with imagination. This is required because major countries have people who negotiate for long," he said. At present, India is party to 16 trade agreements - bilateral and with multi-country organisations - and is negotiating 17 trade pacts including those with the European Union, Australia and Canada. "Trade negotiators should be exempt from normal field transfers. Also, the DGFT should be able to spare these people for every round of talks. We also need the finance ministry on board which has to allow so many people to travel abroad," another official said. Another lapse on India's part has been the near absence of industry representatives in negotiations on trade agreements, officials said. The commerce department may also ask think tanks to spare some experts to accompany government officials for negotiations, they said.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
“At a time when the World Trade Organisation is lowering trade estimates, India is the only economy that is not talking about contraction. India, on the contrary, is talking of 7.5 per cent growth… There cannot be a better time for investing and manufacturing in India and looking at an environment where ease of doing business gets top priority,” says Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. According to her, in the two years that the BJP-led government has been in charge, change has been taking place “on the ground”. In a conversation with BusinessLine, she explains how it is not policy but volatility in currency that is a concern for trade and industry. She discussed the challenges India faces not only domestically but also at the multilateral bodies’ level, and how constant dialogue can help change the situation.
Excerpts:
Last year you came up with the five-year Foreign Trade Policy, which included the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and an interest subvention plan. Have they started making an impact?
Yes, there is 100 per cent impact evident from the spirit and mood with which Indian exporters are working. Immediately after the announcement, the first tranche of money was passed on to the RBI, which quickly transferred it to commercial banks. As on March 31, the amount that was given to commercial banks has already been exhausted and the government and the RBI acted quickly to release more money. This shows that exporters have been shipping goods and the sector is on its toes. Also, the 3 per cent incentive under MEIS is being utilised by all sectors and not getting concentrated.You have the UNIDO saying that in manufacturing India has reached the sixth position. You have the PMI index telling you that manufacturing is doing well. It is not just serving the domestic market, but also exports. The concern is the volatility of the exchange rate. It is the currency issue that is not rewarding exporters as well as before.
You said ‘Make in India’ is not just for exports, but also for the domestic market. This is not how the campaign is being perceived. Will you elaborate on it? Why so much priority to defence?
The ‘Make in India’ programme is a simple way of calling investors and manufacturers, both in India and abroad. The Indian middle-class wants goods of quality and is also endowed with good purchasing power. To cater to them you have to manufacture here. The call of ‘Make in India’ is for meeting the demand that exists here plus in technology-driven sectors where investment has to come with state-of-art technology, such as defence. At present, we import… The same purchase can be made from manufacturers here. They will not only have a captive buyer, but can export the surplus. Unless you emphasise Make in India, the manufacturing sector will not get the stimulus to reach 25 per cent share of GDP by 2022. Besides, the country’s huge population needs jobs, which will not come from the agriculture sector or proportionately from services. It has to come from manufacturing.
For governments to turn protectionist towards their local industry is not uncommon. So, when India is protecting its solar industry, why is it becoming such an issue? What will be India’s stance on the latest WTO ruling favouring the US?
Our approach, as we are appealing in the WTO, should not be seen as protectionist, but has to be understood from our need to build local capacities. India has increased commitment for renewable energy. The huge commitments made in COP 21 were not made frivolously. If we have to meet the target, we have to look at building capacities within the country and encourage production of the complete sets of parts needed for renewable energy. That is not going to happen if you are going to ignore domestic production.
You have held talks with UK’s Immigration Minister on visa restrictions. What was the response? Would you consider raising the issue at the WTO?
In our meeting with the Immigration Minister, we went point by point on the issues. We looked at minimum salary condition and how visa applicants are being charged an additional amount to train British citizens for the jobs for which they are going. Then we raised the issue of intra-corporate transfer. I pointed out to the Minister that technically qualified individuals who take visa to go to UK for a specific job and return after it is done cannot be treated broadly as migrants or immigrants.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
The government is finally showing some activity in response to the exports crisis. India's exports have fallen for 15 months in a row. The average (year-on-year) fall per month during that time is a sizeable 16 per cent. There are various explanations advanced for this. There is some suggestion that, in volume terms, they are not suffering - as Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed last week. There is also the claim that this is driven essentially by the fall in the price of oil, given that refined petrochemicals are a major export category. However, this explanation founders against the suggestion that non-oil exports have also fallen for a similar length of time, with an average year-on-year fall of nine per cent. There are also the problems cited with world trade and overall demand. But India's peer countries when it comes to exports, such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Malaysia, have grown exports in this period - Vietnam by almost eight per cent, year-on-year, every month.
Clearly there is something specific to India that is wrong. The external account currently appears comfortable thanks to the oil price fall having driven India's import bill down even further than its exports, and to troubles with domestic demand. But complacency about this situation is unwarranted; major risks remain. After all, if industrial growth picks up, as is expected, imports too will likely rise; and, of course, if oil prices go up, the comfort on the external account might soon disappear. Thus export growth needs to be revived. This is a battle that must be fought on many fronts. The first priority must, it is true, remain the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization, for India will benefit most from multilateral trading arrangements. But that is not enough. India must also strive to plug itself into the many new regional trading arrangements emerging today. Some progress must be made on India's accession to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's suggestion that a move in that direction by November could be expected is welcome. This is important, because it would then provide access to markets of certain countries that are signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. India must be more pro-active in its commitments at the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, too.
There are too many concerns expressed about revenue loss on account of trade agreements. Trade is no longer about tariffs, but about "behind the border" practices - environment and labour standards, customs procedures and trade facilitation norms. And in any case the cost of being cut out of the emerging regionalist trade architecture is greater than any revenue losses that joining would bring. Last week, the commerce minister also expressed concern about opening up job-generating sectors like retail to foreign investment. This ignores the vast employment potential that capital infusion in such sectors would bring. She said that matters were not so dire, and that the value of exports was falling because of currency volatility. Export weakness cannot be blamed on volatility. But it is true that some of it is due to an overvalued rupee, rendering Indian exports uncompetitive. This is something that the government and the central bank must together acknowledge and address.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
In a fresh setback for the country’s struggling special economic zones (SEZs), the revenue department has turned down a suggestion by the commerce department to bring parity in the minimum alternate tax (MAT) rates for both the SEZs and the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat. The revenue department, according to sources, is also unlikely to scrap the dividend distribution tax (DDT) for SEZ developers and treat them on a par with the companies located in the IFSC. In the Budget 2016-17, finance minister Arun Jaitley proposed a 9% MAT for the IFSC, while keeping the tax rate unchanged at 18.5% for all other SEZ developers and units. The Budget also announced the abolition of the DDT for companies located in the IFSC, while retaining the same for SEZ developers. An IFSC is a designated area outside the jurisdiction of the country’s economy, which allows the flow of financial services and products across borders with ease. The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar, a pet initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the only IFSC in India, and has been given the status of a multi-specialty SEZ. “The Budget announcements are aimed at encouraging investments in the current IFSC and pave the way for more IFSCs in the country,” a finance ministry official told FE. The official pointed out that while there are so many SEZs in the country, there was only one IFSC and “so, the IFSC needs a greater boost than the SEZs, as things stand now.”
The commerce department was seeking the parity in MAT rates following demands from SEZ developers who argue that the Gujarat IFSC is part of the GIFT City SEZ and is also governed by the SEZ Act. The Export Promotion Council for export-oriented units and SEZs has been complaining that the imposition of the MAT and the DDT has eroded the investor-friendly image of SEZs and created uncertainty in the minds of investors. The sources, however, said that the IFSC is given a special treatment, as norms applicable for the IFSC are under the purview of financial sector regulators like the Reserve Bank of India, Sebi and IRDAI. So the finance ministry has a greater say in decisions on IFSCs than the commerce ministry. The government imposed MAT on SEZ developers and units and DDT on developers in 2011-12 when Pranab Mukherjee was the finance minister, after the revenue department had complained of massive revenue losses to the exchequer due to the tax exemptions and shifting of profits to exempt (SEZ) entities.
Before the MAT and the DDT were imposed in 2011-12, the growth in exports from SEZs was as high as 121% (2009-10) and 43% (2010-11), far exceeding the increase in the country’s overall goods exports for these years. However, such high growth dropped consistently since the taxes were imposed and even contracted by over 6% in 2014-15, worse than the 0.2% drop in the overall merchandise and services exports for the last fiscal. While the average effective rate of tax on corporate income is around 23%, much lower than the marginal rate of 30%, MAT serves as a threshold below which the tax incidence on profit-making firms can’t fall. The revenue foregone on corporate tax incentives stood at Rs 98,400 crore in FY15. This was partly offset by the revenue from MAT of Rs 33,350 crore. Earlier this week, giving a presentation at the board of trade meeting, joint secretary in the commerce ministry Guruprasad Mohapatra said while SEZs got income tax benefits of Rs 358 crore in and indirect tax benefits worth Rs 8,424 crore in 2014-15, exports from such zones touched Rs 4.63 lakh crore. It is a worldwide accepted practice that exports shouldn’t be taxed. “Even domestic tariff area units enjoy tax benefits in the course of exports, hence the duty foregone is a myth,” he said.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The implementation of goods and services tax (GST) will make industry more competitive through dismantling of the complex indirect tax structure and boost the tax revenue of states, the Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday. Cumulatively, these measures are likely to propel states on the path of fiscal consolidation without compromising on expenditure quality, the apex bank said in a report titled ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2015-16’. GST is expected to simplify and harmonise the complex indirect tax regime in the country and reduce the cost of production, thereby making industry more competitive, it said. The proposed dual GST envisages taxation of supply of goods and services simultaneously by the Centre and the states, the report said. By unifying the tax structure across states, the new tax regime would pave the way for a common national market for goods and services. According to the report, GST will broaden the tax base and result in better tax compliance, enabled by a robust IT infrastructure developed for the purpose. Due to the seamless transfer of input tax credits from one stage to another in the value chain, there is an in-built mechanism that would incentivise tax compliance by traders. In short, GST is the next step forward towards wide-ranging indirect tax reform after the introduction of value-added tax (VAT), the report said. The Bill for a pan-India roll-out of GST has been passed by the Lok Sabha, but is stalled in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP-led government lacks a majority.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
India has offered its commitments on opening goods and services sectors in the RCEP negotiations while other members are still struggling to meet their obligations, a top official today said. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a mega trade agreement which is being negotiated among 16 countries including 10 ASEAN members, India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Offering commitments in goods and services in this mega regional trade agreement reflects how open the Indian economy is, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said here at a seminar. She said there are lot of "myths" about openness of India and whether its economy is really welcoming to the world. "Within the mega regional (trade pact) which we are negotiating - the RCEP, we meet all the commitments on the merchandise goods while other partners are struggling to meet their obligations. "We have indicated our commitments in services, still other partners are struggling to meet theirs. We have been open, we are open and quite certainly people need to reassess exactly where India is in terms of welcoming investments and competition," she said.
Citing a study, Teaotia said that India's trade to GDP ratio is higher than that of the US and China. "It is the very balance and mature fiscal policies that the country has adopted, our fairly robust intellectual property regime, our strong judicial framework, our independent regulators and our very large market which have actually given investors confidence in the country," she said. Teaotia said the huge inflow of foreign direct investments in India too reflects the investors keenness for India. "We are presently engaging with Australia in a trade agreement and any investments irrespective of sectors in Australia beyond a billion dollar requires government oversight, its not so in India," she said. In the last 12 months, India has relaxed FDI policy in several sectors including defence, construction and ecommerce.
Talking about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact and its impact, the secretary said norms in areas like IPR and labour in this agreement may pose challenges to countries including India. "India's dependence on the TPP countries for its won exports have declined from about 33.2 per cent in 2000 to 24.8 per cent in 2014. Nevertheless, 24.8 per cent is significant and we will certainly see trade diversion," she said. TPP is also a mega trade agreement between 12 countries including Australia, the US and Vietnam. She added that the stringent protections norms for IPRs particularly related with generic medicines are expected to impact the world and "there are prices that we have to assess whether we are willing to pay or not". In terms of labour, any country that chooses to exports to TPP are likely to see a rise in labour cost.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
Expressing fears that the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership will have serious implications on the textile sector, besides hitting garment exports to the US, the Indian Texpreneurs Federation has approached the government to give the issue a closer look. In a letter to the Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, ITF Secretary Prabhu Damodharan reasoned that exporters from TPP member countries will get preferential access in the US market while non-members like India will lose out, especially for garment exports. Stating that the US imported about $82 billion (nearly Rs 5.45 lakh crore) worth of apparel of which India supplied about $3.7 billion (nearly Rs 24,615.2 crore), he said this accounted for 21.5% of Indian total apparel exports, down from 23% in 2014. If duty turns disadvantageous for India's apparel exports, the share is likely to fall substantially, he added.
On Yarn Forward Rule (YFR), Prabhu said it has been made mandatory to source yarn, fabrics and other inputs used in making clothes from TPP partner countries only to avail of duty preference. YFR will induce garment manufacturers in TPP countries to source their raw material from them at the cost of non-TPP countries like India even if suppliers from that region are not the most efficient, he said. Moreover, India's exports of apparel, both direct as well as indirect via Vietnam, to TPP countries like the US will go down since buyers would like to procure from TPP-based vendors, which may hurt India's fabrics and apparel exports, Prabhu added.
SOURCE: The DNA India
As one of the fastest growing economies, India views global trade as win-win option and favours "logical conclusion" to the Doha round as also being open to the idea of joining the APEC, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. Speaking at an event here, he said the final decision on India's joining will be taken by the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) at Lima (Peru) in November. "I won't make a final comment on this till government takes a positive decision on this but all I can say is that its important way station and I hope we halt in the direction of that way station," he said. "I would see India being open to the idea and therefore between now and November, I think is the crucial period to negotiate the step that you have in mind," he added.
With regard to the WTO's Doha Development Round (DDR), Jaitley said India is for multilateralism and favours logical conclusion of the trade negotiations. "Whether the DDR is over, should be abandoned or it should be continued... India has a strong position that it should be continued and be taken to logical conclusion," he said. Jaitley said India enters trade negotiations with an open mind and wants multilateral trade bodies like DDR, be taken to logical conclusion. However, he said that over the last decade the developed world has started losing interest in the DDR. "At the same time, various other tie-ups which are taking place, depending on what our interest is, I think we are fairly open to them. And you can't claim to be one of the fastest growing economies of the world and then not think of trade as a win-win option," he said. The Doha Round of negotiations launched in 2001 have remained stalled since July 2008 when the trade ministers' meeting in Geneva collapsed due to differences between the rich and the developing nations mainly on the level of protection for farmers in developing countries.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
On Monday, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will land in Goa for the first leg of a three-day visit to India, his third since assuming office in February 2015. Widely regarded as a staunch friend of India, Carter might achieve during his visit what his recent predecessors have failed to: signing the first of three "foundational agreements" that are billed as a springboard for the US-India defence relationship. Hectic discussions between the US Department of Defense (DoD, or Pentagon) and India's defence ministry (MoD) over the past four months have brought two of those agreements close to the point of signature.
The first is a Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), which provides an accounting mechanism for the two militaries to replenish from each other's facilities and bases. This has been bogged down in controversy since 2006, when the Left Front parties convinced then defence minister, AK Antony, that the LSA would force India to replenish US military units engaged in operations that India had reservations about. However, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has ensured that the discretion remains with India. The agreement will be signed under a new name, the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), to appear as an India-specific agreement, not a pro-forma LSA. After Parrikar's visit to the US in December, the MoD asked the Pentagon to send out a team to address India's queries on all three agreements. In January 2015, a US legal team travelled to India. In rapid-fire exchanges since then, drafts of the LSA were exchanged, and New Delhi's concerns addressed.
Earlier, in end-2014, New Delhi had asked the Pentagon for a "Non Paper" on the foundational agreements. This had been provided but, until Parrikar's visit to the US, discussions had not progressed. While the LEMOA constitutes low-hanging fruit, the Pentagon is more excited about agreement on the more complex Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA), that would allow India to obtain advanced radio and satellite communications equipment from the US. CISMOA-protected category of communications equipment has been denied to India so far, even in advanced aircraft bought from the US - like the C-130J Super Hercules special operations transporters, and P8-I Poseidon maritime multi-mission aircraft. India chose to buy these with the original CISMOA-protected equipment replaced by commercially available radios of a lower order. The US insists on CISMOA as a condition for supplying this equipment because it is afraid its advanced technology may leak out to India's other defence partners, especially Russia.
Says Ben Schwartz, the aerospace and defence head of the US-India Business Council: "Washington understands that India needs to maintain its defence relationship with Russia, but there needs to be a firewall between the cooperation that India does with Russia and its cooperation with the US. And that firewall doesn't exist at this point." In the absence of CISMOA, India has accepted greatly reduced operational capabilities in the aircraft it has bought from the US. For example, when an Indian Navy P8-I detects an enemy submarine, it needs to communicate that intelligence to an Indian submarine that can destroy the enemy vessel. However, the advanced radio needed for an aircraft to talk to the submerged submarine is protected by CISMOA. Similarly, the C-130J, which carry Special Forces into enemy territory and make very precise night landings on tiny airstrips, do not have the encoded radios needed to communicate with the commandos who secure the airstrip. Instead, India has opted for commercially available radios. New Delhi worries that CISMOA-protected communications might contain a bug that would allow the US (and potentially its allies) to detect and track Indian platforms equipped with those radios. These apprehensions have been largely assuaged in the latest CISMOA draft. However, MoD officials may choose to sign only the LEMOA during Carter's visit, as a trial balloon to gauge the political reaction, with CISMOA signed later.
Meanwhile, there is no consensus on the third of the foundational agreements, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Information and Services Cooperation (BECA), which relates to digital mapping - a key component of military operations, especially accurate targeting with long-range missiles. Government sources say the Pentagon wants digital sensors placed on Indian territory, which New Delhi finds unacceptable as it would allow the US military extremely high-resolution digital imagery of India. Since Washington is not providing the Indian military with imagery of Pakistan of that accuracy, New Delhi is not inclined to sign BECA. Furthermore, given that India's own satellite imaging capability is of a very high order, New Delhi believes that we need not rely on US geographical information systems (GIS) that would become available through BECA. While India's security agencies have begun digitising the sub-continental landmass, this has been hampered by a lack of coordination. Government sources say each military service and security agency has been operating on a different GIS protocol, a lapse that is only now being corrected.
Consequently, when Indian military troops were deployed for earthquake relief operations in Nepal, they approached the US for local maps. Technically, the US could only supply digital maps to signatories of BECA. However, since this was a humanitarian aid mission, an exception was made for India. Carter will also review the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), of which he has been a key driver. Business Standard learns that India is set to float a Request for Information (RFI) to US shipbuilders for cooperation in designing the navy's second indigenous aircraft carrier. However, there is less progress on the second major partnership under the DTTI - the co-development of a jet engine for India's proposed Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft. This requires negotiation with a private US company, General Electric, rather than a government-to-government negotiation.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Pakistan's trade with India is on track despite "suspension" of bilateral dialogue, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir has said. Dastgir was talking to the media here yesterday after attending the Texpo Pakistan exhibition, which was attended by around 400 foreign delegates. "Suspension of dialogue with India did not suggest an end to bilateral trade," Dawn newspaper quoted Dastgir as saying. He said that Pakistan intended to hold a single-country exhibition in India. The minister said the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has changed its focus from holding general exhibitions to single segment of products. He said there was a shift in commercial strategy as more importance was being given to regional countries, including Central Asian states, Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. For achieving the export strategy target of $35 billion, the government has posted trained commercial counsellors in potential markets, he said.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
India will showcase its "huge investment potential" and multifaceted strengths in various economic sectors at an annual business meet in the UAE next week as bilateral ties move to a "higher level". India's investment climate will be highlighted at a Make in India Pavilion and Make in India seminar during the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) which is scheduled to be held here from April 11 to 13. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Oil and Gas, will inaugurate the Pavilion alongwith Abdullah Al-Saleh, Vice Minister for Foreign Trade and Industry in the UAE. The 'Make in India' pavilion will highlight India's investment-friendly environment and showcase the best that the country has to offer. The pavilion will also showcase the multifaceted strengths of India in various sectors of economy. Dawood Al Shezawi, president and CEO of the Annual Investment Meeting, said this year's AIM will witness participation from around 130 countries. "India has decided to participate at the AIM at a large scale and to represent the Make in India brands," Al Shezawi said.
A 25-member Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry delegation is also taking part in the AIM and will cover sectors like infrastructure, agri & food processing and Information Technology. The delegates would engage with prospective investors to discuss their projects. "Indian business community and its people working here in the UAE have really contributed towards the progress of this country over the years and for us it is very important to promote investment in India across various sectors," Al Shezawi said. India's Consul General in Dubai Anurag Bhushan said, "Our relationship is moving to a higher level and we are looking at investments at both sides to bring the economies closer. There is huge investment potential in areas such as infrastructure, oil and gas etc." "Many sectors such as real estate, medical tourism, insurance and smart cities are areas which need investment and these are also areas in which the UAE is very strong. So lots of initiatives are being taken precisely keeping these investors in mind," Bhushan told PTI. "The relationship between the two countries has blossomed," said Bhushan. "This event comes at a very good time for us, as our economy moves on a steady 7.6 per cent growth rate. The FDI climate since last year has also improved, with FDI today standing at $45 billion - a 25 per cent increase," he said.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 37.91 per barrel (bbl) on 08.04.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 36.71 per bbl on previous publishing day of 07.04.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 2519.82 per bbl on 08.04.2016 as compared to Rs 2440.11 per bbl on 07.04.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs 66.47 per US$ on 08.04.2016 as against Rs 66.58 per US$ on 06.04.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on April 08, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 07.04.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.04.2016 (12 Mar to 29 Mar, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
37.91 (36.71) |
37.29 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
2519.82 (2440.11) |
2491.72 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.47* (66.47) |
66.82 |
* RBI reference rate for 08.04.2016 is not available. Therefore reference rate of 07.04.2016 has been considered.
SOURCE: PIB
The 10th Fashion Pakistan Week 2016 spring summer is becoming an opportunity to bridge between fashion houses and international buyers as the fashion industry of Pakistan is gaining popularity among the international textile buyers as the attendance of international buyers from all over the world increasing. The line-up for Day 2 included collections by the talented designer Zaheer Abbas, Jafferjees, textiles giant Gul Ahmed, men’s wear guru Amir Adnan, Huma Adnan, creative Nauman Arfeen, young and budding designer Zainab Salman and Ayesha Farooq Hashwani. The FPW has become catalyst in enhancing country’s textile related exports with a wide variety of designer’s cloth and display of textile products of Pakistan. FPW gained attraction of foreign buyers from different countries mostly from France which is the hub of fashion where world’s famous Paris Fashion Week held biannually. International buyers who are attending the FPW spoke to this scribe and they were of the view that Pakistan’s fashion is burgeoning. They are confident enough to trade in with Pakistan textiles industry which is surely expanding and coming up with new stuff all the time. Fashion trade was the key mark among the countries that were peruse and arrange the fashion weeks, galas, and fiestas and Pakistan fashion industry had maintained its unique fashion identity among the global fashion fraternity.
Some of the international delegates and buyers from France, Holland, China, Germany, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Vietnam, UAE commenting on the Fashion Pakistan Week and growing textile industry which is being contributed in the nourishment of Pakistan’s economy, were optimist and hoped for the continuing the current trend of organizing events like Fashion Pakistan Week. Business and networking relationship with Pakistan is always a good experience and to strengthen bilateral textile trade with Pakistan they need to make a resolve and pledge of supporting each others. Model and actor Azfar Rehman said that these kinds of fashion events show Pakistan’s fashion industry is going in a positive direction. FPW promotes upcoming fashion designers and brands. FPW has put Pakistan on the fashion map of the world. It is good for the country’s fashion industry as it shows Pakistan is gearing up for the international market. Pakistani designers are popular in Qatar. It would be beneficial for the textile industry of Pakistan. At Gul Ahmed, they try keeping the trends evolving and presenting the uniqueness in the shape of innovation! ‘The Eclectic Collection’ brings the zest of strikingly bright colours confidently depicting the spring/summer feel. This collection expressed significant detailing, adding the electric charm with wide variety of colour schemes combined with our traditional Chunri.
Traversing more than 130 years, Jafferjees Spring-Sumer 2016 collection celebrates its legacy of 135 years and brings back its most popular vintage bags defining trends through history. The collection will feature an assortment of travel bags, ladies handbags and men’s briefcases, illustrating a history of 135 years of leather products that have been crafted with superior quality leather and sophisticated details, to a standard of perfection. Designer Zaheer Abbas’s label is synonymous with simplicity and minimalism. With his latest capsule collection titled ‘basic’ he further pushes the envelope by dissecting and reinterpreting a white shirt, a key piece of everyone’s wardrobe. Based in pure cotton away from bling and glam; designs are purely based on cuts that celebrate the art of tailoring. From a simple shirt to a shirt dress and even a shirt jumpsuit, this collection showcases a revival and a celebration of a humble shirt in its not so humble ways. This season Nauman Arfeen conquers time and flies high with his conceptional collection CARPE DIEM. The pallete of Brick red and cerulean signifies zest for life. Playing with natural fabrics such as breezy semi linens, cascading silk, and raw silk, Nauman gives wings to fly free. Most anticipating presentation surely was done by Zainab Salman which enthralled the sitting audience with introducing variation and to make ramp-walk more than interesting children, old age models walked on the ramp to showcase Spring/Summer ’16 collection entitled ‘Moon Struck’. FPW is arranged in beautiful city of Karachi and the international buyers attending the event are happy to be part of this positive changing fashion and textile atmosphere of Pakistan.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Pakistan's first Textile Sector Exhibition TeXpo 2016 was inaugurated recently by Federal Minister of Commerce Pakistan Eng. Khurram Dastgir Khan, along with the Sri Lankan Minister for Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen, CE Trade Development Authority of Pakistan S.M. Muneer & Secretary TDAP Rabiya Javeri Agha. The TeXpo 2016 arranged by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce from 07th-10th April 2016 at Karachi Expo Center, housed over 350 stalls displaying all ranges of textile products from yarn to value-added textile products from premier brands of the country. Major Textiles Associations like TMA, PRGMEA, Carpet Association, PHMA, Sports Goods Association, APUBMA, PTEA, PTA, PLGMEA, have reserved major space in different halls to showcase the trendy and stylish Textile products of Pakistan. The main objective of this event is to build a strong business relationship of Pakistan’s Exporters with the importers of Textile worldwide.
Apart from Exhibitors, over 600 foreign delegates are confirmed from 51 Countries to participate in the Exhibition. Many top foreign brands like: B&C collection (Belgium), Shinatomo, ITO-Yokado, Yonex, Marubeni Intex, Marubeni Tex (Japan), Lotte Mart, Shinwon (South Korea), Simmons- The leading US bedding brand, Hertex, Standerton, Polo Africa(S. Africa), Super Muffato (Brazil), Apacinti (Indonesia), Septwolves (China), Teddy S.P.A (Italy), Fifth Factory (Spain), Basic Resources, Green Source (USA), Gargo Way 10, DET 10-10 (Vietnam), Hameedia, Fashion Bug, Hydra, Hafyar, Cliftex, Afra Fashion (Sri Lanka), Firma Gamma (Russia) have confirmed to attend Texpo, 2016. Earlier, Rishad Bathiudeen and Khurram Dastgir met Governor of the Sindh Province Dr. Ishratul Ebad at the Governor's House in Karachi. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to promote bilateral trade between the two friendly countries.
SOURCE: The Island
In a shot in the arm for South Korean textile producers, Samsung Electronics has said it will share its know-how with local textile producers, helping them to adopt more efficient production solutions and seek shared growth. Samsung said it will provide the solutions to 16 textile firms based in Gyeonggi Province under an agreement with the Centre for Creative Economy & Innovation based in the region, Yonhap news agency has reported. The Korean government has been opening up what it calls creative economy centres throughout the country sponsored by conglomerates, aimed at bolstering the development of ventures through merging various industries with information and communications technology. Samsung said the companies will receive support in establishing enterprise-resource planning (ERP) solutions, which aim to connect various areas of business, from manufacturing and procurement to accounting, for more efficient management procedures. Gyeonggi Province is home to some 1,500 small-and-medium sized textile companies. But the companies there were reluctant to adopt ERP solutions due to financial issues. The Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, which promotes the creative economy policies, said it plans to apply smarter production solutions to 1,000 small-and-medium firms throughout the country.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday trimmed its 2016 global trade growth forecast by 1.1 percentage points, saying a slowdown in China and broad market volatility continued to weigh on growth. The multilateral trade body has now predicted that global trade would rise by 2.8% in 2016, lower than its previous forecast of a 3.9% expansion announced in September last year. This will be the fifth straight year of trade growth below 3%, which is also much lower than the average annual expansion of 5% since 1990, showed the WTO data. “Risks to this forecast are mostly on the downside, including a sharper-than-expected slowing of the Chinese economy, worsening financial market volatility, and exposure of countries with large foreign debts to sharp exchange rate movements,” the trade body said. There is some upside potential if monetary support from the European Central Bank succeeds in generating faster growth in the euro area, it added. The WTO has estimated global trade growth at 2.8% for 2015 as well. However, global trade could rise 3.6% in 2017, thanks to increased demand for imported goods in Asia, it said. “Trade is still registering positive growth, albeit at a disappointing rate,” WTO director general Robert Azevedo said in a statement. The crash in global commodity prices has shown few signs of reversing, while the full extent of the slowdown in the world’s top commodity consumer, China, continues to remain uncertain. Azevedo has also warned about “the threat of creeping protectionism, as many countries continue to apply trade restrictions.”
“South America recorded the weakest import growth of any region in 2015 as a severe recession in Brazil depressed demand,” the WTO said. Exports of developed economies trailed those of developing countries in 2015, with 2.6% volume growth in the former and 3.3% in the latter. Imports by developed economies surged last year while those of developing countries stagnated, with growth of 4.5% in the former and 0.2% in the latter, it added. A sharp trade slowdown affected all regions in the second quarter of 2015 but was mostly reversed by the end of the year, the trade body said.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
