The global pandemic of Covid-19 affected the textile sector initially due to restriction of social gathering. However, the situation has improved in recent months and production and exports have looked up. The export of textiles and apparel during April-January 2021-22 is USD 34.459 billion, posting a growth of 49% over the same period in 2020- 21(USD 23.137 billion). The performance of major textile sectors in terms of production is at Annexure. In order to overcome the above challenges faced during the pandemic, the government has taken following major initiatives/ measures in textile sector to boost exports, production, demand and job opportunities in the sector on pan-India basis:
In addition, Government is implementing various schemes viz the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS), Schemes for the development of the Powerloom Sector(Power-Tex), Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP),SAMARTH- The Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector, Jute (ICARE- Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise), Integrated Processing Development Scheme (IPDS), Silk Samagra, National Handloom Development Programme, National Handicraft Development Programme, Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP) etc. catering exclusively for promotion and development of textile sector on pan-India basis. The export of handicrafts products including handmade carpets in the current year has shown positive growth as compared to last three years. The Government has taken several steps in promoting the export of handicrafts. In addition to several standard International Marketing events, the virtual marketing events have been also organised to provide international marketing platform to the artisans. Domestic marketing events like Gandhi Shilp Bazaar, Craft Bazaar and Exhibitions are organized to provide domestic marketing platform to the artisans. The export of handicrafts and handmade carpets during last three years and the current year is given below:
ANNEXURE
Estimated production of man-made fibre, filament yarn, spun yarn for last three years and current year:
|
Period |
Man-made fibre |
Man-made filament yarn |
Cotton yarn (Kg) |
Blended & 100% Non-cotton yarn |
Total Spun Yarn |
|
|
2018-19 |
1,442 |
1,160 |
4,208 |
1,682 |
5,890 |
|
|
2019-20 |
1,898 |
1,688 |
3,962 |
1,702 |
5,664 |
|
|
2020-21 (Apr.-Jan) |
1,299 |
1,226 |
2,950 |
1,225 |
4,175 |
|
|
2021-22 (Apr.-Jan) (Provisional) |
1,803 |
1,676 |
3,410 |
1,462 |
4,872 |
This information was given by the Minister of State for Textiles Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Source: PIB
Government of India has continuously been promoting the progress of industries throughout the country through various policy measures/schemes. Government has taken a number of recent initiatives under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on industries. Some of the initiatives are: Rs. 20,000 crore Subordinate Debt for stressed MSMEs, Rs.3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for Businesses, Rs. 50,000 crore equity infusion through MSME Self-Reliant India Fund, New Revised criteria of classification of MSMEs, New Registration of MSMEs through ‘Udyam Registration’ for Ease of Doing Business and no global tenders for procurement up to Rs. 200 crore for promotion of domestic manufacturing. Besides above, Central Government has also taken following measures to promote industrial development:- announcement of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme , launch of the PM GatiShaki - a National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity to reduce logistic cost and create world class infrastructure, implementation of various industrial corridor projects to develop greenfield industrial nodes and to facilitate provision of plug and play infrastructure, reducing compliance burden on citizen and business to simplify, decriminalize & remove redundant laws, setting up of Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) and Project Development Cells (PDCs) to monitor investment projects, building a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and Startups in the country with the help of schemes such as Fund of Funds for Startups Scheme (FFS), and Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) schemes, launching of GIS-enabled India Industrial Land Bank, Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), Scheme for Promoting Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE), Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGTMSE), Micro & Small Enterprises – Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub (NSSH). State Governments also promote industrial development through various initiatives / schemes. This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Source: PIB
The commerce ministry is likely to further extend the existing foreign trade policy (FTP) beyond March 31 this year, an official said. Last year in September, the government extended the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 till March 31, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The present policy came into force on April 1, 2015. The policy provides guidelines related to imports and exports in India. The ministry announces the policy every five years. As part of the consultative process to formulate a new policy, various meetings with stakeholders were held by the ministry, the official said. A separate foreign trade policy cell was created to coordinate with various officials in the formulation of the policy under the supervision of an officer of the level of joint secretary to the Government of India. Merchandise exports during April-February 2021-22 stood at USD 374.81 billion.
Source: Economic Times
• Last month, India and UAE signed a comprehensive trade and economic pact that is expected to boost Indian gems, textiles, leather and sports sectors The bilateral trade between Indian and United Arab Emirates is projected to increase from the current $60 billion to $100 billion annually within five years of implementation of the India-UAE CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), the Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Last month, India and UAE signed a comprehensive trade and economic pact that is expected to boost Indian gems, textiles, leather and sports goods. Under the pact, India agreed to provide tariff concessions on gold imports, while the UAE eliminated tariffs on jewellery imports into that country. Further, in a major boost for pharma companies, UAE has agreed to allow market access for medicines from Indian companies within 90 days of approval in the US and UK. In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said the pact between India and UAE is a comprehensive and balanced partnership agreement which will give enhanced market access for India in both goods and services. CEPA will be extremely beneficial for MSMEs, start-ups, farmers, traders, and all sections of businesses by opening new markets, enhancing exports and boosting our economy, she said. India-UAE CEPA will not only increase exports of goods from India to the UAE but also to the Middle East and Africa, the minister added. "UAE has offered immediate market access at zero duty from day one of the entry into force of the agreement to products accounting for around 90% of India’s exports to the UAE in value terms. Overall, India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97% of its tariff lines which account for around 99% of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms," Anupriya Patel said "As regards trade in services, the UAE has offered market access to India in around 111 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors," the reply noted. Further, the India-UAE CEPA is expected to create a large number of new employment opportunities especially across multiple labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural and wood products, engineering products, medical devices, and automobiles, the Parliament was further informed.
Source: Live Mint
Our focus is to harness the domestic sources of energy to become a net energy exporter from an energy importer," he told reporters on the sidelines at the launch of Green Hydrogen run vehicles. Gadkari flagged off the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Toyota Mirai. Toyota Kirloskar Motor and International Center for Automotive Technology also signed an agreement to conduct a pilot project to study and evaluate the performance of the car on Indian roads. India should aim to become a net exporter of energy with the growth of Hydrogen as a fuel, Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday. "Our focus is to harness the domestic sources of energy to become a net energy exporter from an energy importer," he told reporters on the sidelines at the launch of Green Hydrogen run vehicles. Gadkari flagged off the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Toyota Mirai. Toyota Kirloskar Motor and International Center for Automotive Technology also signed an agreement to conduct a pilot project to study and evaluate the performance of the car on Indian roads. "This (Hydrogen) is an indigenous fuel. The import bill of the country is around ₹8 lakh crore, if it continues like this, the import bill will cross ₹25 lakh crore. The economy will be affected if import substitution does not become the norm," he said Gadkari said he has requested the Power Ministry for incentives to produce Green Hydrogen. "They have agreed to waive off transmission duty and some other charges for Green Hydrogen," he said."Industries such as cement can use Green Hydrogen and India hopes to become a country that exports the fuel. This is a deviation from the present situation where we import 80 per cent of our fuel need. There are options of using floating solar panels for making Hydrogen," he added. Gadkari said a policy for electrolysers will soon be formed,adding electrolysers currently cost ₹1.2 crore a piece. On production targets, Gadkari said, " The Hydrogen car is here, and around 25 to 30 green hydrogen charging stations will be set up in Delhi." "I profess that in the coming one or two years that people will not buy petrol and diesel cars and two wheelers. The cost of Internal Combustion Engine auto rickshaws and electric auto rickshaws will be the same in this period."
Source: Economic Times
Polyester-cotton (PC) and acrylic yarn prices have recorded steady trend in last couple of days in the Indian market, as weak demand from downstream industry did not support price rise. However, cheaper crude oil can ease prices of raw material of polyester spun fibre (PSF). Currently, prices of PSF and its raw material are showing steady trend. According to market sources, downstream industries like fabric and garment manufacturers were cautious for fresh buying. There are multiple factors for current sluggish trend. Mostly industrial units are going easy because of the Holi festival as workers take long leave to visit their native places. The closing of annual financial year was also deterring buyers as they are focusing on recovery of payments and reconciliation of books. Traders expect that the market will remain silent till the end of current month. Traders said that spinning mills were trying to raise PC yarn prices as they wanted to pass on the hike of production cost on account of costlier cotton. But they could not succeed as demand was very weak. However, spinning mills can expect some relief as raw material of PSF may see decline trend due to price fall in crude oil. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures has registered steep fall after beginning of multi rounds talks between Russia and Ukraine. After staying above $100 per barrel for two weeks, international oil prices fell to $99.84 on Tuesday. Brent crude oil prices had touched a 14-year high of $139 per barrel on March 7. Crude oil rose 0.87 per cent to $100.78 per barrel today morning. RK Vij, Advisor (Polyester business) of Indorama Synthetics (India) Limited, told Fibre2Fashion that price of PSF will come down because of cheaper crude oil. The raw material had recorded price rise, when crude oil price rose due to Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, the prices of PSF and other raw material remained steady in last couple of days despite steep fall in crude oil. It is considered that raw material takes some time to account for the fluctuation of crude oil. PSF price at Reliance Industries Limited stood at previous level of ₹123 per kg. In Ludhiana, India’s most prominent man-made yarn market, prices remained at previous levels. 30 count PC combed yarn (48/52) was sold at ₹270-280 per kg (GST extra). 30 count PC carded yarn (65/35) was priced at ₹235-240 per kg, and 20 count PC (Recycled-O/E) PSF yarn (40/60) was traded at ₹170-180 per kg, according to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro. Acrylic NM (2/48) was priced at ₹315-320 per kg, while acrylic NM (2/32) was at ₹265-270 per kg. PSF was noted at ₹123 per kg. Prices of PSF’s raw materials were: PTA ₹93 per kg, MEG ₹65 per kg and MELT ₹103 per kg.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
Myntra and leading global sustainable fibre brand Lenzing EcoVero have collaborated for a year. As a step in Myntra’s commitment to source sustainably, this partnership has enabled Myntra’s in-house fashion brands to offer viscose apparels made largely of Lenzing EcoVero branded specialty viscose fibre, an environmentally responsible viscose. Some of the brands that have adopted a mix of Lenzing EcoVero fibre in their apparel include DressBerry, Roadster Life & Co., Sangria, Anouk, Sztori, Ether and Mast & Harbour. Enabled by this partnership and in line with Myntra’s commitment to source sustainably, over the last year, Myntra has registered a 20 per cent growth in the use of sustainable viscose fibres in its women’s wear, western wear and ethnic wear categories. This is a step towards the use of fibre sources that reduce environmental and social impacts. The products which were earlier made of standard viscose are now using 60 per cent Lenzing EcoVero viscose fibre on account of the partnership, thereby resulting in the reduction in carbon footprint by 670 tonnes and water consumption by 4.2 mn litres in the last one year. Myntra has also witnessed a 25 per cent increase in the number of units of products that are made using Lenzing EcoVero fibre since the beginning of this partnership last year. Speaking on the partnership, Manohar Kamath, CXO and chief - Myntra Fashion Brands, Myntra, said, “As an enterprise that is committed to a sustainable future, we are happy to have collaborated for a year with Lenzing, which has augmented our efforts in the direction of sustainable sourcing practices. This shift has shown a positive growth towards sustainable living and as a brand, we aim to propel our commitment and efforts with such partnerships, powered by a growing base of conscious consumers.” In order to accelerate the adoption of sustainable material by brands, Myntra is also building awareness with its in-house brands and sourcing teams on sustainable viscose yarns. This enables Myntra to tread further in its commitment towards the environment, while adding to the Flipkart Group’s commitment, as a part of its partnership with Canopy, to purchase man-made cellulosic products that include a minimum of 50 per cent of innovative fibre sources as well as to Lenzing's vision of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the company said in a press release. “Lenzing group has been known for offering innovative, eco-friendly solutions to the textile industry. The one year of our partnership with Myntra is an inspiring testimony for the Indian market in transitioning to responsible fashion. The success here highlights the potential for eco-friendly ingredients like Lenzing EcoVero fibres and how they can be made accessible for the local consumers. The growth of this partnership has opened doors to making responsible fashion more mainstream,” S. Jayaraman, senior commercial director, Lenzing Fibers AMEA & NEA, said. Tailored to a sustainable lifestyle, this specialty viscose fibre from Lenzing EcoVero has been certified with the EU Ecolabel, which is awarded to products and services meeting stringent sustainability requirements throughout their life cycle. Myntra’s sustainability journey has been marked by an orchestrated effort to create a positive environmental impact. Investments in packaging supply chain to be 100 per cent plastic-free and solar power utilisation are among areas where Myntra has made significant in-roads in its commitment towards building a greener enterprise. The other key initiatives on this path by Myntra include partnering with Canopy, a not-for-profit environmental organisation, to ensure that the packaging used does not encourage deforestation, by scaling packaging from recycled and alternative materials, as well as partnering with the Better Cotton Initiative towards sustainable sourcing. In addition, through 'Myntra For Earth', a dedicated store offering conscious collection on the Myntra app, the company offers thousands of styles from over 90 brands to provide ethically and consciously made fashion, lifestyle and beauty products to customers looking for ecofriendly choices. The association with Lenzing is yet another important milestone in this journey, the release added.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
Gati Shakti will help develop a transport system that optimises cost and fuel efficiency through seamless multi-modal movement transport The logistics sector has an important role in the economy, in ensuring efficient movement of goods and services across the country. Thus, it acts as a crucial ‘link’ by connecting the producers and consumers. Due to this, an efficient logistics sector is a pre-requisite for sustained economic growth. At the outset, inefficient logistics not only entails higher prices for domestic goods but also reduces the competitiveness of exports. Further, these inefficiencies result in greater transportation and turnaround time. This results in increased inventory costs, as the producers are forced to maintain large inventories to meet fluctuations in demand. According to estimates, the logistics cost in India is about 13-14% of the GDP, while its about 7-9% of GDP in advanced economies. This implies India is incurring an additional cost of about $150 billion (~5% of GDP) on logistics than it ideally should. However, this is only a fraction of the actual cost, as there are numerous indirect costs associated with inefficient logistics. One such effect is reduced investment, both domestic and foreign, due to reduced profitability of firms, which culminates in lower GDP and employment. Further, it is also a factor responsible for a lower share of manufacturing in India, as entrepreneurs/businesses would rather invest in the service sector, which isn’t as constrained by logistical bottlenecks. There are many reasons for such high logistics costs in India. First, the freight traffic is highly skewed towards road travel (~65% of all freight) despite being expensive. According to World Bank, it costs Rs 2.2 per-tonne-per-km for road freight in India (Rs 1.4 and Rs 0.7 for rail and waterways, respectively). One reason for this is the lack of multimodal connectivity which prevents seamless connectivity between various modes of transport. As a result, it is easier to transport goods through road, which have greater lastmile connectivity, despite higher costs. Second, investment in warehousing, freight fleet and technology upgradation has been limited. This is because small enterprises which dominate India’s logistics sector are unable to undertake large investments needed to achieve necessary economies of scale. As a result, not only is the unit cost of logistics high but also the turnaround time for transporting goods (Economic Survey 2019-20). This is further accentuated by the multiplicity of the compliance requirements, from various bodies like MoRTH, GSTN, CBIC, etc. Any effort to improve the logistics sector in India would invariably have to address these factors. It is in this regard, that the government has made the PM Gati Shakti Scheme a centrepiece of Budget FY23. PM Gati Shakti or the National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity is aimed at developing an organic and efficient infrastructure system to better transport goods and people across the nation. Through Gati Shakti, all pre-existing infrastructure projects like Sagarmala, Bharatmala, etc, have been brought together on a single platform to ensure synchronised and integrated planning. This breaks away from the traditional approach wherein, each ministry plans and implements its project in silos. Further, Gati Shakti, through indigenously developed spatial planning tools, integrates more than 200 layers of GIS data. The significance of this data is immense as projects of individual ministries can be examined and approved within the contours of the master plan. This would not only boost complementarity between projects of different ministries (e.g. linking rail line with ports) but also prevent geographically conflicting infrastructure (e.g. planning a road over a proposed reservoir due to poor coordination). By leveraging these tools, Gati Shakti would help develop a transport system that optimises cost and fuel efficiency by allowing seamless movement of goods between various modes of transport. For example, railways and waterways can be used to transport goods over large distances, while roadways can be used to provide last-mile connectivity. Thus, it could also shift the dependence of freight traffic from roadways to more efficient modes like railways and waterways. The platform would also allow ministries and departments to visualise, review and monitor projects, thus helping identify specific bottlenecks at the ground level. For example, it could show if the delay is caused due to land acquisition or pending clearance, etc. This would not only ensure that projects are completed in the proposed timeline but also reduce the prevalence of cost overruns. The Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), which would act as the focal point to link various modes of transport, are at the heart of Gati Shakti. MMLPs would also allow for large scale warehousing, container movement and provide scope for value addition like sorting, grading, etc. These would ensure necessary upgradation and automation of the warehouses, thus reducing turnaround time and the costs incurred. Complementary to these efforts, the government is also developing the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) as the digital backbone of the sector. ULIP, in a secure and decentralised manner, would integrate data from various government bodies like GSTN, Vaahan, Customs, etc. This would not only reduce the compliance burden by doing away with tedious documentation, but also create a uniform regulatory framework for the sector. ULIP would also allow for tracking of shipments by all the stakeholders. Such monitoring would allow the producers and logistics players to not only better identify hold-ups in supply and delivery but also understand demand trends better. This would reduce the need to hold large inventories by allowing for ‘just-in-time’ inventory management. Finally, ULIP would bring resilience to the supply chain resilience by identifying vulnerabilities in the sector as done with the Logistics Data Bank for container tracking. Presently, such benefits from digitisation are restricted to select large players and not shared by the entire logistics sector. ULIP, due to its universality, could also offset disadvantages faced by the smaller logistics firms, thus greatly benefitting MSMEs engaged in the sector. Thus, ULIP not only has the potential to reduce the logistics cost and improve supply chain resilience but also promote equity. Finally, Gati Shakti, with investments of more than Rs 100 trillion, would create largescale employment while stoking investment from the private sector. This is the same phenomenon which contributed to the rise of Asian Tigers during the 1970-80s and more recently, China.
Source: Financial Express
industry is built on horrible working conditions, poor pay, and other abusive and exploitative practices, it’s time that we break up with fast fashion. What are the things we can do to not only avoid fast fashion, but also make the world a better place? As suggested from a quote by Vivienne Westwood, a British designer, we can start by “buying less, choosing well, and making it last.”. The average person only wears 20% of their clothes 80% of the time. We can start buying less by setting a hard limit on how many clothes we have. This is a good way to prevent ourselves from over-shopping. We can also try falling back in love with the clothes we already have in our closet by styling them differently with our creativity and discovering new combinations. Creating a capsule wardrobe is also worth considering, as the goal of having one is to have a collection of around 10 to 50 practical pieces of clothing put together that would build countless outfits overall. Another way to break up with fast fashion is choosing better by opting for eco-friendly fabrics. It could also mean committing to shopping from sustainable brands. Not only should we take good care and look after our clothes, but also wear them until they are worn out, mend them wherever possible, and recycle them responsibly in the end. If you do not like the feeling of parting with your clothes permanently, you can always swap clothes with your friends or lend them out. As for large fashion brands and clothes manufacturing firms, all aspects of the value chain must be considered in order to be more sustainable. Before releasing new products, brands should plan and research extensively to make sure their practices are achievable and maintainable. Resource demand and allocation should be well calculated beforehand to avoid using fabrics that are highly water, land, and energy-intensive. Rather than dividing sales into micro-seasons and producing at a fast pace, fashion brands should invest in sustainable materials such as recycled cotton and organic linen, abstain from toxic detergents and dyes, and seek to create quality and lasting goods. Outsourced manufacturing firms, when building new factories and infrastructure in the future, should choose areas free of critical species. Such firms could also restore and develop on damaged land when possible. During the process of operating, facilities should be held to the highest possible environmental and social standards. If geographically available, renewable energies should be used to power. One of the biggest victims of fast fashion has always been workers, especially those who suffer from working in manufacturing firms under poor conditions. Manufacturers and factories, therefore, must step up their standards when it comes to managing these workers and protecting their safety and well-being. To start with, companies should pay workers liveable wages with reasonable working hours and adequate break times. Factories should ensure there is adequate lighting and ventilation. To make things even better, firms should also incorporate building up the local community and economy, as well as contributing to greater rights into their own company mission. They could also provide more opportunities for workers to receive trade-specific training and development so they could move to management positions. Having sustainable practices is the only option to break up with fast fashion and for giving the planet a healthy future with adequate resources and equal human rights. By focusing less on profits and more on respecting people, animals, and the environment, fashion brands and manufacturers who have always been indulged in the fast fashion industry can start shifting towards “slow fashion”.
Source: Earth
IMDA’s Open Innovation Platform matchmakes organisations with business challenges to tech solution providers who can offer innovative solutions that scale across the sector. The Textile and Fashion Federation (TaFF), Singapore’s official trade association for the fashion industry, frequently organises trade events to champion homegrown fashion labels, designers and retailers. However, the administrative process of onboarding participating exhibitors at these events was tedious and time-consuming. Fashion event organisers, including TaFF and its members, as well as participating exhibitors faced challenges such as managing thousands of participants and the complex logistics to support them. They also have to optimise the allocation of event spaces while meeting constantly evolving requests. TaFF needed a digital solution to automate and streamline these processes while keeping track of logistics like payments and materials submissions. However, no off-the-shelf systems met its requirements. ANSWERING THE CALL FOR INNOVATION Enter the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) Open Innovation Platform (OIP), Singapore’s national platform for digital innovation. Launched in 2018, the OIP has hosted over 300 problem statements with more than S$8.5 million worth of prize monies and grown its community to a pool of more than 11,000 solution providers. The OIP provides businesses with structured, high-touch and end-to-end support – from refining problem statements, scouting and evaluating proposals to setting the key performance indicators for the prototyping process. Recognising the common issues its members were experiencing, TaFF joined OIP’s quarterly Innovation Call and selected Whale Cloud Asia, a subsidiary of Alibaba, to address the sector-wide challenge using a digital solution. Whale Cloud worked closely with TaFF to develop a digital onboarding platform that reduced offline vendor management and provided real-time event and status updates on exhibition bookings. Repetitive manual administrative work was eliminated, allowing users to focus on higher value tasks like marketing and event promotion. “The team at Whale Cloud was able to tweak its existing platform so that there were elements and functions unique to TaFF’s challenge,” said Ms Wong Jiayi, TaFF’s marketing manager. “Also, the team supported us in project management, helping to monitor the project timeline and journey.” As TaFF’s challenge involved multiple internal and external stakeholders, providing a clear problem statement that effectively addressed both the needs of end users and backend users was challenging. OIP provided a user-centric problem refinement workshop that helped TaFF to better understand and contextualise its business problem. For example, TAFF was able to identify the pain points of its onboarding process for event exhibitors through the OIP process with Whale Cloud, and subsequently define key features to address each point. “The process of getting the solution was smooth. The Whale Cloud team provided the technical information that helped us to define must-have and nice-to-have features,” said Ms Wong. Mr Liu Yuan, the senior vice-president of Business Development and Solutions at Whale Cloud Asia, added that the project team translated TaFF’s business vision into a detailed technical proposal. “There were challenges, like a lack of knowledge of the business logic of the fashion industry, but they were solved by having more frequent and effective communication sessions at all levels.” Through the OIP, TaFF found its perfect match. Whale Cloud also had the opportunity to co-create with TaFF and learn the nuances of the industry, which enabled the successful development of a working prototype that was later refined and deployed. SCALING UP CAPABILITIES FOR THE FUTURE Now that it has been put into action, the onboarding platform developed by Whale Cloud to gather applications from vendors for TaFF’s events has increased efficiency and minimised human errors in data collection, said Ms Wong. “It allows information to be consolidated on a singular platform, making it easily accessible. It also gives TaFF an overview of each event’s application process, so that we are able to effectively follow up with respective brands.” The platform helps resolve some of the immediate challenges we have,” she added. “The goal is to enhance and develop the platform, so it can incorporate other similar onboarding open-call events.” TaFF has used the onboarding platform to gather applications for their events – participants include vendors from the fashion and textile industry. According to Mr Liu, the platform offers scalability and worry-free maintenance. “The minimal human intervention helps companies focus on business development and improving the customer experience. The solution can be easily duplicated to any other industry that has a plan to extend sales channels to e-commerce, as the first step on the roadmap to fully digitised operations.” He pointed out that collected data on the platform can be analysed by Whale Cloud’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm and become part of a company’s intangible assets. Using the data insights garnered, decision makers can better position their companies and make more effective decisions for the short and long term. “This is a constant, ongoing process, since AI algorithms are always evolving,” added Mr Liu. “Ultimately, TaFF and other members of the fashion industry will benefit from this solution and gain a competitive edge over their peers. On Whale Cloud’s part, we intend to leverage the experience gained from matured solutions to help our customers lower their capital expenditure. We have gained much understanding from working with the fashion industry, so the marginal costs will decline when we replicate the solution in similar industries abroad.” Using its new platform, TaFF intends to host several pop-up events for local brands in Singapore this year. Shoppers who are keen on supporting local businesses can follow TaFF on Instagram for updates. TaFF plans to continue working with Whale Cloud to add functions to the platform, such as payment and integration for more accurate insights and community engagement analysis. The added functionality will offer greater flexibility to a wider base of users, as TaFF seeks to expand the adoption of this solution to benefit more fashion brands that host and participate in trade events. TaFF is also exploring other areas of partnership with Whale Cloud, demonstrating how prototypes can be pulled through to commercialisation naturally when solution providers address real-world business needs on OIP. “Digital transformation is a process, not an end goal,” said Ms Wong, who felt that the OIP was an eye-opening experience that showed TaFF the unlimited possibilities of digital solutions. “With technology changing rapidly, there are always new solutions and the challenges businesses face digitally may also change with time. It is important to be clear on the pain points and to target the solutions to resolve those, and then work on developing the solution to enhance it as you go along.”
Source: Channel News Asia
Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (EuroCham) on March 16 entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to foster closer cooperation between the two associations and their members, and to support European garment companies and fashion brands in the Kingdom. The MoU comes just days after Cambodia and the EU renewed their pledge to enhance bilateral trade and investment ties in spite of the lingering economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The MoU was signed within the premises of the Cambodian Garment Training Institute (CGTI), in Phnom Penh. Under the deal, EuroCham will set up a public training programme with the CGTI, focused on sustainable textile sourcing, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and compliance. EuroCham will also coordinate support from German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) under the FABRIC project – a multi-year programme that seeks to promote sustainability and social responsibility in the textile and garment industries in Asia – to fund the training initiative. At the signing ceremony, GMAC chairman Kong Sang noted that Cambodia and the EU are major trading partners, suggesting that the “success and exponential export growth” of the Cambodian garment industry can be attributed in large part to preferential market access to the bloc granted under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme. Sang underscored the importance of updating and adapting strategies to unlock new growth potential and ensure that economic benefits are maximised. “The MoU signed today is an invaluable partnership to further strengthen the industry’s competitiveness through capacity building in the many areas [set out in the deal] and joint advocacy to influence relevant policies. “I am firmly convinced that the secretariats of our two institutions will jointly implement all the action plans to which we have committed to ensure success,” he said. EuroCham chairman Tassilo Brinzer said that his chamber represents a “good mix” of large European fashion brands who play a “crucial role” in Cambodia’s garment and manufacturing industries, as well as local, innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME), factories and peripheric businesses such as auditing and logistic firms focused on the garment industry and its exports. “There is thus a strong synergy across our membership base, which also makes us a powerhouse that is capable to drive the interests of the industry and its stakeholders forward – forward towards more sustainable practices, greener production, circularity, higher skills and higher quality goods benefiting Cambodia’s economy. “Embracing new initiatives such as supply chain due diligence legislation in the European Union will of course be crucial to leverage export opportunities. We are glad that GMAC, as the main industry organisation, is our companion on this important journey. “We are looking forward to a fruitful cooperation and to add a European perspective to the wider Cambodian garment, footwear and apparel industry”, he said. According to GMAC’s Sang, bilateral trade between Cambodia and the EU rose from $4.300 billion in 2020 to $4.500 billion last year. He revealed that Cambodian exports of textile-related goods to the EU in 2021 totalled $2.683 billion, or around 60 per cent of total trade volume. Broken up by category, garments, footwear and travel goods respectively accounted for $2.207 billion, $383 million and $93 million, he said. “Travel goods” is a designation that includes suitcases, backpacks, handbags, wallets and similar items. Sang added: “Of course, a big part of our success and export growth came from the trade preferences of the European Union for [Cambodia] … as a least developed country. “It is important for Cambodia to continue to maintain and further strengthen its competitiveness to reap the maximum economic benefits from the potential of more export growth.”
Source: Phnom Penh Post
Introduces Tri-Safe antimicrobial line Trident’s new home textiles collections are designed with a purpose and a vision: to pave ways toward a sustainable future. Introductions are characterized by a conscientious use of eco-friendly materials and judicious use of earth’s resources. Expanding on the hygiene segment, Trident has exclusively curated the new Tri-Safe range of textiles with lifetime odor-free and microbe resist features. Tri-Safe comprises numerous products developed after months of R&D and collaborations with leading knowledge partners in the antimicrobial ingredients space. In previous New York market weeks, Trident has set benchmarks in innovation with its patented Air Rich technology, which creates towels that stay soft wash after wash. Constructions use fibers made from recycled materials and fine cottons like Supima and Egyptian as well as performanceoriented textiles. For spring market, Trident will show solid colors towels with a range of value-added benefits as well as fashion towels in all-new vibrant colors and designs. Bedding introductions will include solutions for temperature control, antimicrobial and moisture wicking. The company is also unveiling its new showroom at 320 Fifth Ave, 8th Floor, at 32nd Street.
Source: Home Textiles Today
