Despite disruptions in the global economy, India's goods and services exports stood at $670 billion and exceeded the $400-billion target for merchandise export alone, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged industry to set up longterm export targets and suggest ways for the government to achieve those figures. Despite disruptions in the global economy, India’s goods and services exports stood at $670 billion and exceeded the $400-billion target for merchandise export alone, he said. “Encouraged by this success of the past years, we have now increased our export targets and doubled our efforts to achieve them. Collective effort of everyone is very necessary to achieve these new goals,” Modi said, adding there was also a need to set long-term export targets. The Prime Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the new Vanijya Bhawan in New Delhi. He said the Bhawan would significantly benefit people associated with trade, commerce and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. He also launched the NIRYAT (National Import-Export for Yearly Analysis of Trade) portal. The portal aims to break silos by providing real-time data to all stakeholders. “From this portal, important information related to more than 30 commodity groups exported to more than 200 countries of the world will be available. In the coming time, information related to district-wise exports will also be available on this. This will also strengthen the efforts to develop districts as important centres of exports,” he said. He also said that exports play a critical role in transforming a developing country into a developed nation, besides creating job opportunities.
Source: Business Standard
the Government of India hosted its first-ever National Logistics Excellence Awards in New Delhi today. Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal along with the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Som Parkash Sharma gave away the awards in 12 categories. The National Logistics Excellence Awards aim to acknowledge the many logistics service providers in the country that have been able to display innovation, diversity and efficiency. With 169 entries and 12 categories for awards in its first edition, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries undertook a year-long process of identifying, categorising, and selecting qualified applications. An Expert Screening Committee of 18 diverse experts and a National Jury of 9 senior dignitaries was formed to make the final deliberations. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal urged the industry to work with the government to bring down the logistics cost from 12-14% to 7-8% as prevailing in the developed countries. The minister emphasized that the expansion of infra spending from Rs. 2.5 lakh crore to Rs. 7.5 lakh crore and Gati Shakti will benefit the logistics sector most with investment across roads, highways, ports, airports, multi-modal terminals etc. Shri Goyal said that GatiShakti will help in efficient planning and implementation, thereby ensuring that last-mile connectivity related issues are not there. He also informed that the government is actively thinking of promoting manufacturing of containers and shipbuilding. Shri Goyal appreciated the role played by the logistics sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the resilient and efficient supply chains developed by the operators in the logistics sector helped India overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the growth in trade seen over the last 2 years. Shri Goyal also asked the industry to involve start-ups to become more transparent and efficient. He said going forward, a separate category of awards should be created for MSMEs in the logistics sector given the role played by them. The Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash Sharma said that the availability of cost-effective logistics is critical for growth of the Industries and Indian Economy and that adoption of technologies and upgradation of skill levels of human resources engaged in the sector is a must. Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary of the DPIIT, acknowledging the excellence portrayed by the logistics sector, shared that GatiShakti, Atmanirbhar Bharat, driven by many MSME and Startups of the country, make the logistics sector very crucial to India’s economic ambitions. In addition to the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) report that measures that appreciates the endeavours of the State Governments, the Logistics Excellence Awards will continue to be an annual exercise recognizing excellence in logistics with the private sector in India. National Logistics Excellence Awards 2021 - List of Winners 1. Best Cargo Airline & Terminal Operator – FedEx Express Transportation and Supply Chain Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. 2. Best Road Freight Service Provider – DHL Supply Chain India Pvt. Ltd. 3. Best Rail Freight Service Provider – Adani Logistics Ltd. 4. Best Shipping & NVOCC service Provider – Maersk India Pvt. Ltd. 5. Best Port Service Provider – DP World 6. Best Warehouse service provider – Transport Corporation of India Ltd. (Through TCI Supply Chain Solutions) 7. Best Cold Chain/Refrigerated service provider - Transport Corporation of India Ltd. (Through TCI Supply Chain Solutions) 8. Best Express Logistics Service Provider – Safexpress Pvt. Ltd. 9. Best Logistics infrastructure and service provider – Adani Logistics Ltd. 10. Best Freight Forwarders – Kuehne + Nagel Pvt. Ltd. 11. Best Customs House Agent/Customs broker – International Clearing & Shipping Agency (India) Pvt. Ltd. 12. Industry Excellence Award – Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Source: PIB
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated 'Vanijya Bhawan' and launched the NIRYAT portal in Delhi today. Union Ministers Shri Piyush Goyal, Shri Som Prakash and Smt Anupriya Patel were among those present on the occasion. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said today another important step has been taken in the direction of the journey of Citizen-Centric Governance in New India on which the country has been moving for the last 8 years. The country has got the gift of a new and modern commercial building as well as an export portal, one physical and other digital infrastructure, he said. Referring to many examples of the recent past, the Prime Minister said that in the new work culture of the New India, completion date is part of SoP and is strictly adhered to. He remarked that only when the government's projects do not hang for years and are completed on time, similarly, the government's schemes reach their goals, then only, the taxpayer of the country is respected. Now we also have a modern platform in the form of the PM Gatishakti National Master Plan. He said that this Vanijya Bhawan will give a push to the nations ‘Gati Shakti’. The Prime Minister noted that last year, despite the historic global disruptions, India’s exports stood at a total of $ 670 billion i.e. Rs 50 lakh crore. Last year, the country had decided that despite every challenge, it has to cross the threshold of $ 400 billion i.e. 30 lakh crore merchandise export. We crossed this and created a new record of export of $ 418 billion i.e. 31 lakh crore rupees. “Encouraged by this success of the past years, we have now increased our export targets and have doubled our efforts to achieve them. Collective effort of everyone is very necessary to achieve these new goals”, he said, further adding that not only short term but long-term targets should be set. The Prime Minister cited the new Vanjiya Bhawan as also the symbol of his Government’s achievements in the field of commerce during this period. He recalled that at the time of foundation stone laying, he had stressed the need for innovation and improvement in the Global Innovation Index. Today, India is ranked 46th in the Global Innovation Index and is continuously improving. He had also talked about improving ease of doing business at that time, today, more than 32000 unnecessary compliances have been removed. Similarly, GST was new at the time of foundation stone laying of the building, today, 1 lakh crore GST collection per month has become commonplace. In terms of GeM, 9 thousand crore rupees worth orders were discussed then, today, more than 45 lakh small entrepreneurs are registered on the portal and orders worth more than 2.25 lakh crore have been placed. The Prime Minister had talked about 120 Mobile units at that time up from just 2 in 2014, today this number has crossed 200. Today India has 2300 registered Fin-tech startups, up from 500, 4 years ago. At the time of the foundation stone laying of the Vanijya Bhawan India used to recognize 8000 startups every year, today, this number is more than 15000, the Prime Minister informed. The Prime Minister underlined the role of increasing exports in the transition of a country from developing to developed country. The Prime Minister said that in the last eight years, India has also been continuously increasing its exports and achieving export goals. Better policies to increase exports, easing of the process, and taking products to new markets, have helped a lot. He said that today, every ministry, every department of the government is giving priority to increasing exports with a 'whole of government' approach. Be it the Ministry of MSME or Ministry of External Affairs, Agriculture or Commerce, all are making common efforts for a common goal. “Exports from new areas are increasing. Even from many aspirational districts, exports have now increased manifold. The increase in exports of cotton and handloom products by 55 per cent shows how the work is being done at the grassroot level”, he pointed out. The Prime Minister said that NIRYAT - National Import-Export for Yearly Analysis of Trade portal will help in breaking silos by providing real time data to all stakeholders. “From this portal, important information related to more than 30 commodity groups exported to more than 200 countries of the world will be available. In the coming time, information related to district-wise exports will also be available on this. This will also strengthen the efforts to develop the districts as important centers of exports”, the Prime Minister said. Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, while addressing the event said that Prime Minister’s vision is to make a modern India by bringing transparency to the system. On the one hand, an inefficient and inaccessible organization like DGS&D (Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal), which stood at the same place, was wound up and on the other Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a transparent purchase system has been established. The GeM has provided platform to women entrepreneurs, Start-Ups, MSMEs sector and others to contribute to the system and accelerate its efficiency. Adding on, he said that the Prime Minister on June 22nd, 2018, exactly 4 years ago, laid the foundation stone of the Vanijya Bhawan. The building has been completed in less than the budgeted cost of 226 crore. Shri Goyal said that it was part of this new thinking where the projects are being completed in a time-bound manner. He said that “Whole of Government” approach helped in getting various departments to come together for successful completion of the Vaanijya Bhawan. Shri Goyal said that the Vanijya Bhawan will be made completely digital and will become a symbol of India’s growing power on the global platform.
Source: PIB
The ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks, is gaining increasing traction from the industry. A total of seven companiesone buyer side app, five seller side apps and one logistics service provider app – have adopted ONDC protocols and built their own ONDC compatible apps. These apps have been able to successfully complete cascaded transactions across the ONDC network during the pilot phase in five designated cities- Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatore - in grocery and food and beverages segments. The information was provided during the meeting of the ONDC Advisory Council chaired by Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal to review the progress made in the project in New Delhi today. The meeting was attended by Shri Nandan Nilekani, Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman QCI, Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, Shri R S Sharma, CEO, NHA, Shri Suresh Sethi, CEO NSDL e-Gov, Shri Dilip Asbe, CEO, NPCI, Shri Praveen Khandelwal, SG CAIT, Shri K Rajgopalan, CEO RAI, Shri Arvind Gupta, Ms Anjali Bansal, Avaana Capital and Shri Anil Agrawal, Additional secretary, DPIIT. The meeting reviewed the status of the pilot launched since April 29, 2022 and discussed plans for faster rollout of the ONDC platform to a larger number of traders, categories of goods, geographies and companies. The success achieved has ignited tremendous interest in many new companies and a large number of companies on buyer side, seller side and logistics side are now building their own apps and are in advanced stages of integration with ONDC. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has stated that the ONDC will open up new opportunities for small traders, MSMEs and businesses. While the pilot phase of ONDC has given promising results with traders who were already digitally present, ONDC must prioritize strategies towards inclusion of non-digital traders, handicraftsmen and artisans so that the benefits of e-commerce may be availed by these sections. The Minister asked the department to launch a pilot with focus on non-digital traders from one single market. He said the local trader associations should be involved in the exercise and necessary measures for awareness generation and capacity building of various stakeholders be taken. During the meeting it was informed that the ONDC and NABARD are working on a program to bring the agriculture sector to ONDC and as a first step, a hackathon is being organized on 1-3 July to build innovative solutions for FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations). The Minister said that ONDC may prove to be an invaluable tool to assist farmers find the right prices for their produce. It was also apprised that Govt of UP has actively started working with ONDC to get all the ODOP products available on ONDC network. Shri Goyal directed that building on the template of collaboration with Govt of UP on ODOP products, similar efforts must be made for GI, Khadi, handicraft and tribal products. DPIIT should also work with GOI Ministries and State Governments to get all such entities integrate with ONDC. Minister Goyal also asked the department to leverage the strength of Startup India to build ONDC based applications. As the ONDC architecture removes many entry barriers to e-commerce, it is much more feasible for entrepreneurs to create sustainable businesses on ONDC architecture. The network of Startup India Seed Funded incubators may be leveraged for this purpose. Creation of apps in regional languages should be promoted for catering to the diverse needs of citizens living in various towns and villages across country. Shri Goyal said that ONDC must closely work with various industry associations to bring faster adoption to ONDC. Shri Goyal directed that ONDC network needs to make robust policy framework for building trust in the network. The National Consumer Helpline records show that major grievances of consumers are related to delivery of wrong, defective or damaged product, non-delivery or delayed delivery, no refunds as promised and deficiency in services promised. All these issues must be addressed effectively.
Source: PIB
The commerce and industry ministry has begun the process to ease the process of denotifying empty spaces of above 100 million sq ft built-up area, worth ₹30,000 crore in the 250-plus SEZs in the country so that the areas that have no more demand can be used for industrial or other purposes. The draft law to revamp the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) into Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) has met the services industry's long standing demand to allow partial denotification to free up the area not in demand. It has also proposed to set up an integrated single window clearance mechanism for the grant of time-bound approvals for the establishment and operation of these hubs, including the single application forms and returns. Permitting partial notification of IT and services SEZs, it said that "the built up area in a services hub shall not be required to be contiguous". It has also proposed to set up an integrated single window clearance mechanism for the grant of time-bound approvals for the establishment and operation of these hubs, including the single application forms and returns. Permitting partial notification of IT and services SEZs, it said that "the built up area in a services hub shall not be required to be contiguous". Further, to give a boost to ease of doing business, the draft DESH bill also provides for establishment and maintenance of an online portal within six months from the date of commencement of the Act. "The online portal shall serve as the single window clearance mechanism for the grant of time-bound approvals for the establishment and operation of Development Hubs, including the single application forms and returns," it said. These proposals are part of the overhaul of India's SEZs into DESH which may be allowed to sell in the domestic market, and also contract manufacture for those outside these zones. At present, sub-contracting is allowed with annual permission and certain conditions such as the value of the sub-contracted production of a unit in any financial year to not exceed the value of goods produced by the unit within its own premises in the immediate previous fiscal. While the draft law allows for disputes to be resolved through mediation, it also states that arbitration to be the route "where the commercial dispute could not be settled or has been settled only in part by mediation". It also suggests the state boards to also have private sector participation with one representative nominated by the developer concerned. "Company representation on the board is not desirable as it can lead to confusion. We have suggested the government to stick to the concept of Development Commissioner only," said an industry representative. SEZ exports fell to $102.3 billion in FY21 from $112.3 billion in FY20. A relook at the SEZ Act came after the government last year adopted a sunset clause, suggesting that only those units that started production on or before June 30, 2020, would be granted a phased income-tax holiday for 15 years.
Source: Economic Times
Some of the areas that could worsen the economy’s growth are negative sentiment shock for consumers, supply chain disruptions, worsening energy availability and tighter financial conditions. Nomura has forecast India’s GDP to grow at 7.2% in 2022, before moderating to 5.4% in 2023. In a research note on Thursday, the research firm said the ‘prolonged mild recession’ in the US can lead to a slowdown in India, which has been recovering to a prepandemic level. The rate hike by the Federal Reserve can also dampen the investor spirit, it said. Nomura released its Nomura India Normalization Index to track the growth of various sectors in India. According to the index, the service sector is above 40 percentage points (PP) as compared to the pre-pandemic level. The country is seeing a broad-based improvement across almost all the sectors including consumption, investment, industry and the external sector, the note said. Nomura has forecast India’s GDP to grow at 7.2% in 2022, before moderating to 5.4% in 2023. In a research note on Thursday, the research firm said the ‘prolonged mild recession’ in the US can lead to a slowdown in India, which has been recovering to a prepandemic level. The rate hike by the Federal Reserve can also dampen the investor spirit, it said. Nomura released its Nomura India Normalization Index to track the growth of various sectors in India. According to the index, the service sector is above 40 percentage points (PP) as compared to the pre-pandemic level. The country is seeing a broad-based improvement across almost all the sectors including consumption, investment, industry and the external sector, the note said.
Source: Economic Times
The managing board of Lenzing carried out a comprehensive review of its corporate strategy to maximise the use of growth opportunities and enhance the company’s leading position in sustainability. As a result, Lenzing will sharpen its corporate focus; prioritise projects that best serve its customers’ needs, while contributing positively to the society. Lenzing will continue to leverage its leading position in the growing market for sustainable cellulosic fibres by innovating, developing, manufacturing and distributing high-quality premium products. As a key value driver, Lenzing will further intensify its ingredient branding activities as this has proven to be an effective means of communicating the superior properties and sustainability advantages of its nature-based fibers more broadly in the customer and consumer spheres. By repositioning its product brands, the Lenzing Group has been sending a strong message to consumers since 2018. With Tencel and Lenzing Ecovero as umbrella brands for all specialty products in the textile segment, Veocel as the umbrella brand for all specialty nonwoven products and Lenzing for all industrial applications, the company is showcasing its strengths in a targeted manner, the company said in a press release. “We will maintain our pioneering role by further strengthening the integration of recycling and thereby accelerate the transformation of the textile business from a linear to a circular model. As champions of sustainability, we know that moving towards a circular economy is vital in the textile and nonwoven industries,” said Robert van de Kerkhof, chief commercial officer Fibres. “As part of the strategy process, we also reviewed our current energy mix. The result of this analysis is that, following the construction of the largest photovoltaic plant in Upper Austria, we will also invest in sustainable energy sources at all other sites,” said Christian Skilich, chief pulp officer. After the successful start-up and market launch of key investments in Brazil and Thailand, as well as sustainability investments in existing plants during the last two years, the new corporate strategy is based on the positive resonance within the market. The core outcome of the corporate strategy has led to higher financial targets for 2027. “We will continue to drive excellence and make significant investments while maintaining a balanced risk profile at all times. Based on this strategy, we will further enhance our financial performance by significantly increasing both EBITDA and ROCE by 2027, allowing us to drive up total shareholder returns substantially while consistently paying attractive dividends, assuming a healthy economic environment prevails,” Stephan Sielaff, chief executive officer of Lenzing AG, said.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
The U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) came into effect on June 21. This potentially far-reaching legislation prohibits imports that are made by forced labor in Xinjiang, China, which includes cotton products. About 90 percent of China’s cotton is produced in Xinjiang, and the region has almost no capacity to provide evidence that forced labor is not used. The situation may cause China’s textile and garment factories to avoid using Xinjiang-produced raw materials if they want to export their products, unless the Chinese regime stops slavery in Xinjiang. The European Union adopted a resolution on June 9, condemning the crimes against humanity toward Uyghurs and calling for a restriction on imports of products made via forced labor. UFLPA The State Department implemented the UFLPA on June 21. The State Department is committed “to continue combating forced labor in Xinjiang and strengthen international coordination against this egregious violation of human rights,” read the State Department statement. The Act was signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on Dec. 23, 2021. The State Department said in its 2021 report on international religious freedom, released on June 2, that the White House estimated that the Chinese regime “has detained more than one million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Hui, and members of other Muslim groups, as well as some Christians, in specially built internment camps or converted detention facilities in the Xinjiang” since April 2017. Although Beijing denies any violation of human rights, the State Department stated on Tuesday: “We are rallying our allies and partners to make global supply chains free from the use of forced labor, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the PRC to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses, including forced labor.” The UFLPA impacts the production of Xinjiang cotton, which impacts China’s textile businesses that use cotton as one of its raw materials. As the Chinese regime proudly claimed, China is the world’s largest textile exporter. According to Statista, China exported textiles valued at $154 billion in 2020, accounting for 43.5 percent of the world’s textile export market. Xinjiang is suited for growing cotton due to its vast lands and a desert climate. The Chinese National Statistics Bureau released on Dec. 14, 2021, said that Xinjiang produced 89.5 percent of China’s cotton in the year using 82.8 percent of the country’s total cotton planting area. In 2022, Xinjiang’s cotton planting area used 86.4 percent of China’s total cotton planting area, which means its output will share more than 90 percent of the country’s total production, China Cotton Association reported on May 25 after conducting a nationwide survey. Xinjiang is divided into north and south by the Tianshan mountains. In northern Xinjiang, over half of the residents are of Han ethnicity. The farmers plant short staple cotton, which enables them to use machines to plant and harvest the crop. In southern Xinjiang, the majority of people are Uyghurs. The cotton planted there is the long staple species, which is the best quality cotton in China. However, cotton harvesting relies on hand-picking. Labor costs in Xinjiang are relatively low. The cotton is picked by hand in south Xinjiang and partially in north Xinjiang, which might involve the use of forced labor. In recent years, more and more cotton farmers in north Xinjiang started using machines to harvest the crop. According to the Chinese regime, 69.83 percent of cotton was picked by machines in 2020. According to the UFLPA, the exporter, who wants to sell the textile or apparel products to the United States, must present conclusive evidence that no forced labor was involved in the products. Since most of the textile and apparel are made from cotton, the exporter needs such evidence if the cotton is from Xinjiang. However, textile industry insiders said that there’s no independent auditing service in Xinjiang, which means the exporters who use Xinjiang cotton can’t verify that their products are free from the use of forced labor. “The law will essentially act as a trade embargo against goods with input from Xinjiang,” Doug Barry, vice-president of communications and publications with the US-China Business Council, told South China Morning Post on June 20. China’s Cotton Industry As the world’s largest textile manufacturer, consumer, and exporter, China produced 54.3 million metric tons of fiber in 2017, over 20 million tons of which were exported to other countries, the China Cotton Association (CCA) reported on Dec. 21, 2018. Based on a CCA report, 36.8 percent of China’s fibers are exported, and the United States is China’s biggest importer. At the same time, China imports cotton from the United States, Brazil, India, Australia, and other countries. According to China National Cotton Information Center, 25 percent of China’s cotton used in 2021 was imported, and this percent will decrease to 24 percent in 2022 due to the high cotton price in the global market. To meet the textile and apparel export volume, China needs to import more cotton because Xinjiang cotton isn’t qualified to export to the United States. UFLPA Impact “The UFLPA is great for Chinese people and the global supply chain,” Wang He, U.S.- based China affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times on June 22. Wang believes that not all Chinese textile companies could immediately purchase qualified cotton to produce the products for export, but have to catch up because more and more countries and regions will follow the United States and ban forced labor products. “I think that citizens of the EU would be shocked to know that a ban on products known to be made with forced labor does not already exist,” Laura Murphy, a human rights professor at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, told BBC on June 20. “The EU also needs to be a leader in passing mandatory human rights due diligence. Both these tools are necessary to ensure that companies address the forced labor and other abuses in their supply chains.” The textile industry contributed 11.4 percent of China’s exports in 2020, valued at $296 billion, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. “Being unable to use Xinjiang cotton for the textile and garment exporting industry is a disaster for the Beijing regime,” Wang commented. “The Chinese economy is damaged badly by the regime’s COVID-19 zero tolerance policy because cities are locked down one after another and people aren’t allowed to work. The regime relies on the textile industry because China’s textile and apparel exports earn almost $300 billion every year, and contribute over 50 percent of China’s trade surplus.” Wang said the importers might face difficulties in finding alternatives to China-made textiles in the global market for a while. But in the long term, the world will enjoy the benefit. “In fact, the UFLPA forces the international brands, such as H&M and Nike, to search for their original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in other countries. This can diversify the global supply chain and prosper the economy of other developing countries.” In addition to cotton, the polysilicon, a-silicon, and amorphous silicon, used in the solar energy industry will be impacted by UFLPA as well. According to China Photovoltaic Industry Association, China accounted for 97.3 percent of global silicon used for solar energy in 2021. State-run Xinjiang Daily reported on Feb. 28 that Xinjiang produced 58.9 percent of China’s output. The United States has banned the import of goods produced by forced labor since 1930, when section 307 of the Tariff Act went into effect. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on its website the entry into force of the UFLPA and released operational guidance for importers on June 13.
Source: The Epoch Times
After 3 years, the ITMF Annual Conference is back as an in-person event. Participants will meet from September 18-20, 2022, in Davos, Switzerland in the wonderful settings of the Swiss Alps in the heart of Europe. ITMF is proud and delighted that both Swiss Textiles and Swiss Textile Machinery are cohosts of this year’s conference. General Theme: “Climate Change and a Sustainable Global Textile Value Chain”. The world is faced with many short- and mid-term challenges as a result of the pandemic and disrupted supply chains. The consequences and learnings resulting of these challenges will be addressed. The long-term challenge our industry must deal with is climate change. Identifying solutions for sustainable textile production, new products, and market opportunities are key for a successful textile value chain. The conference will provide an ideal platform to exchange best- practises and demonstrate successful cooperation models. Speakers: Industry experts from the following companies and organisations will share their expertise and vision and will engage in discussions: Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Bosshart is a renowned philosopher, futurist, retail & consumer analyst with in-depth knowledge about consumer behaviour and the retail industry. He was CEO of the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economic and Social Studies in Rüschlikon/Zurich for 22 years. He will deliver a keynote-address with the title “Between cheap, aspirational, and sustainable – textile manufacturing in a fully disruptive and interconnected world”. Start-up Sessions: Next to speakers with a long history in the fibre, chemical, textile machinery, textile, garment, and home textile industry we are also inviting up to 6 start-up companies to share their innovations and business models. Engaging with start-ups is an effort to learn from each other and to help identify new solutions that turn challenges into opportunities ITMF Awards 2022: For the first time, ITMF will recognise persons/companies for their outstanding achievements with the newly introduced ITMF Awards. In 2022, the ITMF Awards will be granted in two categories, namely “Innovation & Sustainability” and “International Cooperation”. World Café: The format of the World Café, which was introduced for the first time in 2019 in Porto, Portugal, will provide delegates with the opportunity to discuss actively in smaller groups selected questions about how to navigate the current and future business environment. The results of the different groups will be shared among the participants at the end of World Café with some main take aways. Networking Opportunities: The delegates will have many opportunities to discuss with old and new friends and colleagues the state of the industry and the way forward. The networking opportunities during the conference are numerous – breakfast, coffee breaks, lunches, and dinners. The traditional Welcome Dinner will take place in a mountain restaurant “Fuxägufer” high above the city of Davos. The informal get-together will take place in an extraordinary setting with traditional entertainment. The traditional Gala Dinner will take place in the Hotel Schweizerhof in the city of Davos and will feature a fashion show by the Swiss Textile & Design School. All information about ITMF 2022 Davos can be found on the ITMF Conference 2022 Website. People interested to attend this unique event can contact the ITMF-secretariat at secretariat@itmf.org.
Source: Textile World
Supplies from Sri Lanka are cheaper and industry insiders said its exporters have the order book full, but their customers have started shifting orders elsewhere. Lanka exports $5.42 billion worth of garments annually. Global apparel brands are seeking discounts from Indian exporters as they seek to divert orders from Sri Lanka to de-risk supplies from disruptions amid the political and economic crisis in the island nation. The brands have shown interest in India-made garments but are asking for lower prices as key buyers US and Europe are facing high inflation, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman Narendra Goenka said. "Garment exporters are considering to reduce prices by 5% to bag orders from the global brands. Our margins are already squeezed and a reduction in prices will have a further impact," he added. Supplies from Sri Lanka are cheaper and industry insiders said its exporters have the order book full, but their customers have started shifting orders elsewhere. Lanka exports $5.42 billion worth of garments annually.
Source: Economic Times
