INTERNATIONAL
Textile Raw Material Price 2016-05-11
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1040.12 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
VSF |
2032.68 |
USD/Ton |
0.08% |
5/11/2016 |
|
ASF |
1932.97 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Polyester POY |
1010.20 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2293.48 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
40D Spandex |
4448.89 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1273.30 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2140.07 |
USD/Ton |
-0.36% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2109.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Nylon POY |
1119.89 |
USD/Ton |
-0.34% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2500.58 |
USD/Ton |
-0.61% |
5/11/2016 |
|
Polyester FDY |
5720.66 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2807.40 |
USD/Ton |
0.55% |
5/11/2016 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1715.12 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2454.56 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2945.47 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2255.13 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1856.26 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2147.74 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.36 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.82 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.17 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.68 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
5/11/2016 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.15381 USD dtd. 11/05/2016)
The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, said the new textile policy is in the final stages and will be notified soon. She also hinted at the reduction in duty of man-made fibre (MMF) from 12 per cent to 6 per cent and a likely reduction in the import of MMF. Earlier, during the Exporters’ Meet at Tirupur, Verma said that everything would be done to expedite the FTA with the EU, CEPA with Canada and CECA with Australia (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement/ Partnership Agreement). “We are serious about FTAs. Negotiations will resume shortly with the EU as also the US,” she said. The Secretary said the Ministry has proposed to organise the India International Fair in New Delhi during the first week of October.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Positive measures such as 3 per cent interest equalisation scheme for five years, extension of 2 per cent reward under MEIS for exports across the globe and announcement of amended Technology Upgradation Fund scheme for five years would go a long way in strengthening the growth of the garment sector and exports, said A Sakthivel, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association. In a memorandum to Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, the TEA President, while highlighting the potential of the knitwear hub of Tirupur said the exports touched a high of Rs. 23,050 crore in 2015-16 from Rs. 21000 crore the earlier fiscal. “Garment export from Tirupur was a little over 20 per cent of the total garment exports from the country,” he said. The association is confident that with the signing of FTA with the EU, CECA with Australia and CEPA with Canada, exports will increase 30 per cent from the existing levels, notwithstanding the 10 per cent increase in exports to the rest of countries.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Garment exporters today sought the intervention of the Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma regarding the recent Labour Ministry notification on minimum wages for contract workers. The Secretary said she had discussed this with the Labour department and would revisit the proposal. The Labour Ministry’s minimum wages notification has sought to fix contract workers’ wages at Rs. 10,000. Terming this as suicidal to the industry and the people employed by the units, Tirupur Exporters’ Association President A Sakthivel said the industry has been negotiating with the trade unions regularly, inking wage agreement. “Fixing the minimum wage at Rs. 10,000 for contract workers at this juncture would derail the export sector, make us uncompetitive, particularly when we are struggling to sustain in the global market.” The garment knitwear sector is already facing problems in the global market due to lower competitiveness in areas like bank interest, infrastructure, transaction cost, power cost, including labour cost. The total garment exports from India stood at $17 billion in 2015-16, whereas countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam, which do not have raw material base, have surpassed our exports to touch $25 billion and $27 billion respectively. Vietnam has already signed the FTA with European Union; this would come into effect in 2017. Likewise, Bangladesh, being a least developed country, enjoys duty-free status in the EU and Canada. “This minimum wage notification should, therefore, be removed,” the association President said.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma who led a four-member Textiles Ministry team to the Palladam Hi-tech Weaving Park in Tamil Nadu today, has hailed the progress made by the park on a continuous basis and producing value added products. Park officials made a presentation to the officials of the Textile Ministry team regarding the status and strategy adopted by the park to make it world class, Chairman and Managing Director and promoter, of Palladam Hi-tech Weaving Park, M Senthilkumar said in a press release. The park has been receiving first preference from the Ministry of Textiles for implementing the Scheme for Additional Grant for Apparel Manufacturing, Senthilkumar said. He said that the Central Government has given a grant of Rs.10 crores for adding garment and made-ups manufacturing facilities in the weaving park and the project is being planned at a cost of Rs.26.15 crores. One garment unit has come into commercial operation and four more units are under progress. Senthilkumar, who is also the president of the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA), said that the Textiles Ministry has also given a grant of Rs.3.00 crores under the Scheme for Textile Industry Workers' Accommodation and the park is constructing hostel for workers at a cost of Rs.6.55 crores. The park currently provides employment to 2900 workers directly and around 3000 workers indirectly. The park is on the expansion mode and likely to create new jobs for another 3000 people by 2017. The SIMA Chairman claimed that Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma assured him of all support for further value addition and expansion.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) formulates policies on foreign direct investment (FDI), but it isn’t the enforcing authorities of such rules, a senior official said. Stakeholders can, however, seek case-specific clarifications on FDI policies from the DIPP, he added. The statements come as associations representing brick-and-mortar stores and online vendors have been piling up pressure on the DIPP to act against alleged violations of FDI rules by e-commerce players, including Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm. “Any violation of FDI policies are dealt under the penal provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema). The Act is administered by the Reserve Bank Of India, and the enforcement directorate (ED) is its enforcement authority. The DIPP’s role is limited to formulating and notifying the FDI policies,” the official said on Wednesday.
Last week, Confederation of All India Traders’ (CAIT) secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said in a tweet that the DIPP needed to be straightforward on the issue of FDI in e-commerce. “Why keep eye closed on violation by Paytm & Flipkart etc.,” he had asked in the tweet. The CAIT is now seeking clarifications from the DIPP on whether the former should approach the RBI against the alleged violation of FDI rules by e-commerce players. The Retailers Association of India is learnt to be considering seeking a probe by the ED against these players. All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) also recently tweeted: “Paytm isn’t giving cashbacks against new FDI policy.” To this, the DIPP had replied: “Giving discount or not is prerogative of the seller owning inventory. FDI is permitted in marketplace, not in inventory based model.”
Brick-and-mortar stores have alleged that e-commerce players providing marketplace models have been resorting to discounts and other offers in violation of the FDI norms. Clarifying its FDI policies on e-commerce in March, the DIPP had said: “E-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall maintain level-playing field.” DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek subsequently said an e-commerce player providing only a marketplace isn’t supposed to give discounts on products because it’s just a facilitator between sellers and buyers. Giving discount is the prerogative of the seller owning inventory.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
Proposing ‘traffic signal’ like checks on central bankers, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan today asked them to shun monetary policies that can negatively impact other economies, saying even India can follow the same rules in about a decade. “By the time any of this actually gets into policy, I have no doubt India will be among the top 3-5 global economies - around 10 years from now – and our monetary policy will also be subject to the same rules,” he said. Delivering a lecture at the London School of Economics, the former chief economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the policies with zeroto- positive spillover effect for the rest of the world can be given ‘green label’, while those with negative potential impact for others should be labelled ‘red’.
Policies that are negative in short-term but can be positive in longer term can be given an orange label, he said. Giving the ‘driving analogy’, the outspoken Governor also reiterated his all for “a more internationally responsible global monetary policy that follows rules of the game”. In his lecture, ‘Rethinking the Global Monetary System’, Rajan called on the world of academia to conduct deeper research and analysis on how such a system could work in a decade’s time. “We need some element of international responsibility in setting of monetary policy... Weneed rules of the game based on how policies play out in the short term versus long term, will they have negative effects on the rest of the world or positive effects?” he said.
Explaining his ‘driving analogy’ at length, he said:“Policies that have a net positive impact on a country as well as zero to positive spillover effects for the rest of the world, let’s give it a green label. “Policies that are a little more uncertain, short-term negative but long-term positive, (are) more of an orange label. “And policies that may be positive for your country but certainly negative for the rest of the world, now and for ever more, let ‘s give it a red label and say countries should shun those kind of policies. Admitting that the world is “nowhere near” establishing what these policies might be and what colours they could be branded under, the Indian central banker made a call out to the world of academia to step in. “I am calling for a period of reflection, analysis and research so that we can improve on the global monetary system that we have, so that we have policies that are more globally optimal rather than just domestically optimal,” Rajan said. “We need a lot more work, we need studies of what policies have been beneficial and what policies have been harmful. “Once we have a reasonable number of studies, we then move to international discussion and move to a context where we talk of rules of the game and international responsibility,” he added. “Today what you find in international fora is a lot of angst about the monetary policies that other countries are following but never any direct confrontation, because those policies are always ok because of the domestic mandate,” he said, adding that it was time to start discussions. “Rajan also warned that the adverse spillover effects of pursuing any aggressive monetary policy must be managed in time. “We have to move away from a situation where anything goes... For that we need unbiased people in academic institutions doing analysis. “Today the only policy that is prohibited internationally is sustained unidirectional intervention into exchange rate,” he said. His lecture, organised by LSE’s Institute of Global Affairs, marked the launch of a new ‘100 Foot Club’ initiative between the Indian High Commission in London and the LSE South Asia Centre.The name of the club alludes to the recent box-office hit ‘100 Foot Journey’, which centres around bridging cultural divides.
SOURCE: The Tecoya Trend
Rashmi Verma, Union Secretary (Textiles), has said that dialogues with European Union had been revived to get the Free Trade Agreement between India and EU signed at the earliest. This would give an impetus to exports from the country. “Talks have been broken for a while in the recent periods which caused the delay in getting the FTA signed,” she told The Hindu on Wednesday. She was here to attend the inaugural of the 42nd India Knit Fair.She hinted at taking steps to get FTA with the U.S. ratified at the earliest. It should be noted that apparel exporters from clusters like Tirupur were requesting for speedy signing of FTAs with EU and the U.S. for long as majority of exports were to these two regions.
Talking about the priorities listed by Union Government to increase the textile exports from India, she said that through extension of market assistances, we are now encouraging the garment exporters to explore new markets in South America and Middle East, among few other regions. “Similarly, product diversifications are promoted so that apparel exporters can penetrate niche markets across the globe,” she said. On India’s share of apparels made of man-made fibres continuing to remain low, even as 60 per cent of the shelf space in global markets was getting occupied with garments made of man-made fibres, Ms. Verma admitted that it was a matter of concern. “Usage of man-made fibres is low probably due to the tax structure. So, we have suggested to the Finance Ministry to reduce the excise duty on man made fibres from 12 per cent to 6 per cent,” she said. An attraction of the India Knit Fair this time is the participation of a foreign garment manufacturer from Nepal. “We are displaying both knitwear and woven products,” said Santa Budhathoki, who owns that Nepali company.
SOURCE: The Hindu Business Line
India's imports from China has jumped sixfold to $61.71 billion in 2015-16 from $10.87 billion in 2005-06, Parliament was informed today. Increasing imports from China can be attributed to the fact that these are mostly manufactured items required to meet India's demand for fast expanding sectors like telecom and power, which China, due to variety of reasons, is able to export at competitive prices, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. "India's imports from China increased from $10.87 billion in 2005-06 to $61.71 billion in 2015-16," she said. Imports in 2013-14 and 2014-15 were $51 billion and $60.4 billion, respectively. The major imports included computer hardware, drug intermediates, consumer electronics, electrical machinery as well as iron and steel. "These imports feed the growing demand in India for such goods including components and pharmaceutical ingredients needed for India's manufacturing sector," she said. She also said India's pharmaceutical exports to China grew by 17.3 per cent in 2014-15. "However Indian companies do face certain impediments in accessing the Chinese pharmaceutical market as regulatory processes for drug registration, submission of detailed clinical trials data, registration and testing of samples are cumbersome and can prolong the ongoing process for drug registration," she said. India has been raising this issue with China, she added.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
India has been consistently taking up the issue of tightening norms for skilled foreign workers with the UK at the highest level as it is seen to adversely impact Indian IT companies, Parliament was informed today. The UK has been urged not to accept recommendations of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in the interest of the bilateral trade in services between India and Britain and its "adverse impact" not only on Indian IT companies but on the UK's own economy and competitiveness, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. She said the recommendations of MAC seem to be contrary to the spirit of the joint commitment made during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister last year. The UK has informed that the changes are not targeted at any particular country, she said. As per Nasscom's estimates, the Indian software industry is likely to incur an additional expenditure to the tune of 250 million pound, the minister said. "This would impact their competitiveness in the market. This would also make many services expensive to consumers in the UK as well," she added.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
India is awaiting confirmation from the European Union (EU) to resume the negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement, Parliament was informed today. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply to Rajya Sabha said India is willing to proceed with negotiations under India-EU Broad based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement ( BTIA). "India is awaiting confirmation from the EU side to proceed with the negotiations," she said. The talks were started in June 2007 and so far 16 rounds of negotiations have been held. "Due to some outstanding issue, EU withdrew from the negotiations in 2013," she said adding, two rounds of stocktaking meetings took place in January and February. India wants data security status, relaxations in movement of professionals, real market access in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary (norms related with plants and animals); and technical barriers to trade measures adopted in EU. The negotiations were expected in August, but they were deferred by India, expressing disappointment and concern over the EU banning sale of around 700 pharma products, clinically tested by GVK Biosciences. The negotiations for the proposed Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues.
Besides demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles, EU wants tax reduction in wines and spirits and dairy products and a strong intellectual property regime. The free trade pact is aimed at reducing or significantly eliminating tariffs on goods, facilitating trade in services and boosting investments between the two sides. The two-way commerce in goods between India and the EU was USD 98.5 billion in 2014-15. Replying to a separate question, the minister said trading firm STC has written off an amount of Rs 123.66 crore during the last three years.
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$ 43.16 per barrel (bbl) on 11.05.2016. This was higher than the price of US$ 41.92 per bbl on previous publishing day of 10.05.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket increased to Rs. 2878.70 per bbl on 11.05.2016 as compared to Rs. 2797.02 per bbl on 10.05.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs 66.70 per US$ on 11.05.2016 as against Rs 66.72 per US$ on 10.05.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on May 11, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 10.05.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 01.05.2016 (13 Apr to 27 Apr, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
43.16 (41.92) |
41.08 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
2878.70 (2797.02) |
2732.23 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
66.70 (66.72) |
66.51 |
SOURCE: PIB
India’s blended spun yarns export value was up 4.8 per cent YoY in March 2016 while volumes rose 10.6 per cent as compared to the same month last year. Polyester cottons yarns were exported to 51 countries in March, of which, Egypt and Bangladesh were the largest importers of PC yarn from India followed by Morocco. 6.7 million kg of total PC yarns was exported from India during the month. Honduras, Spain, Sri Lanka and Germany were the fastest growing markets for PC yarns while Peru significantly reduced its import of PC yarns from India. Oman and Panama were among the 9 countries that did not import any PC yarns from India during March. Finland, United Arab Emirates and Djibouti were the major destinations among the 10 new markets found in March. In March, PV yarns were exported to 37 countries from India with volumes at 5.4 million kgs. Turkey continued to be largest importer of PV yarns from India followed by Pakistan with total volume at 3.5 million kg. Honduras and Djibouti were the new major markets for PV yarn while 13 countries did not import any PV yarn during the month, including the major ones like China, Uganda and Brazil. Around 1.3 million kg of other blend of yarns were exported worth US$6.2 million during the month. Acrylic/cotton yarn prices were down 19.8 per cent YoY.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Pakistan's textiles products and readymade garments have great export potential for the Indian markets as part of ambitious plan to increase overall exports to India to $1 billion within a year, Commerce Minister Engineer Khurram Dastagir Khan has said. His comments came while chairing a meeting with Pakistani members of the Pak-India Business Council in Islamabad on Tuesday. The minister said that due to land route, Pakistan is the most favorite and cost-effective market for India to import raw material for its agriculture and textile products. But Khurram Dastagir stressed that trade concessions to India cannot be offered unilaterally, and India also needs to extend access to Pakistani products with preferential duty regime. The delegation of the Pakistani members of the Pak-India Business Council was headed by Yawar Ali Shah, who briefed the minister on their recent visit to India and outcome of the meetings held with Indian business and trade stakeholders.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
At a time when nearly one million people are expected to enter the workforce every month for the next three decades, export-oriented apparel production in India and other South Asian countries has the potential to create more and better jobs, says a new World Bank report. The report aims at demystifying the global and South Asian apparel markets, estimating the potential gains in exports and jobs, and identifying policies that can unleash South Asia’s export and job potential compared with those of their closest competitors in the Southeast Asia region, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia. As wages increase, China, the largest apparel manufacturer for the last 10 years, is expected to slowly relinquish its lead position in the global apparel market, opening the door to other competitors. This could be a huge opportunity for India and other South Asian countries. A 10-percent increase in Chinese apparel prices could create at least 1.2 million new jobs in the Indian apparel industry, the report estimates. Women are expected to benefit the most as their share in the total apparel employment is much higher than their share in other industries. A one percent increase in expected wages in the textiles and apparel industry could raise the probability of women entering the labor force by 18.9 percent, says the report. “Apparel manufacturing not only has a huge potential for creating jobs, particularly for the poor but also has a unique ability to attract female workers,” said Onno Ruhl, World Bank country director for India. “Employed women are more likely to create positive social impacts as they tend to spend their income on the health and education of children. Rising costs of apparel manufacturing in China provides a window of opportunity for India to focus on apparel in productively employing its huge working-age population.” The top four apparel producers in South Asia–Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka–have made big investments in world apparel trade and account for 12 percent of global apparel exports. India also has a more diversified export structure and has a well-developed fiber, textile, and apparel manufacturing base.
Though India is gaining market share, Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam are outperforming all South Asian countries in overall apparel export performance, product diversity, and other non-cost related factors. For it to take advantage, India needs to move quickly to ease barriers to the import of manmade fibers, facilitate market access, and encourage foreign investment to reach more end markets, which would also yield dividends for other light manufacturers like footwear and toy, the new World Bank report suggests. “South Asia has taken many steps in recent years to support the textile and apparel sector, but it now needs to step up its game by tackling inefficiencies that are undercutting its competitiveness,” said Gladys C. Lopez-Acevedo, one of the authors of the report and a lead economist for the World Bank. “Greater access to manmade fiber and integration between textile and apparel among other measures can help Indian companies take advantage of the emerging global opportunities and encourage good jobs for development.” The report recommends removing trade restrictions to allow easy access to manmade fibers as inputs; increasing efficiency along the value chain such as integration between textile and apparel; and improving social and environmental compliance by introducing better human resource practices.
SOURCE: The Global Trade Magazine
Pakistan cannot offer "unilateral" trade concessions to India, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir has said, underlining that India should also provide access to Pakistani products with preferential duty regime. Khan said this while he chaired a meeting with a delegation of Pakistani members of the Pak-India Business Council here yesterday. The delegation, led by Yawar Ali Shah, briefed the minister on their recent visit to India and the outcome of meetings held with Indian business and trade stakeholders. The minister said that India should adopt a reciprocal approach as far trade concessions were concerned. "Trade concessions cannot be offered to India unilaterally. India also needs to provide access to Pakistani products with a preferential duty regime," Khan was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune newspaper. He said Pakistan is making all-out efforts to increase exports to India to $1 billion within a year as textile products and readymade garments have a great potential in the neighbour's market. "Due to proximity, Pakistan is the most favourite and cost-effective market for India in terms of raw material import for their agriculture and textile products," the Commerce minister said. He told the delegation that the Commerce ministry had restructured the National Tariff Commission (NTC) in line with the legal framework set under the guidance of the Supreme Court. The delegation informed the minister that Indian food manufacturers were looking for different Pakistani agricultural products like mangoes and kinnows in specific seasons. "Other agricultural products like green peas could also be exported to India as they run cold storages at a far less capacity of 200,000 tons," they said. The businessmen were of the view that both countries should cooperate in the promotion of small and medium enterprises, agriculture, tourism and culture, research, branding of Basmati rice and visits of business groups.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, after an on the spot inspection of ongoing work which is at its peak at the Garment and textile factory said the state is 99% ready for the commissioning of its garment and textile factory as well as the Calabar Monorail which is expected to be done by President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife, Aisha Buhari, in the coming weeks. The Governor hinted that the garment factory which is the biggest in Africa, would be fully automated and expected to employ about 3,000 people, with 80% of them being women especially widows who have been neglected and are the most vulnerable in the society today. Gov. Ayade described the President as someone who identifies with anything good irrespective of party lines and ethnic background. Also speaking, a Director with Lilleker (Nig) Ltd, the firm handling electrical installations at the garment factory, Mr Thorpe Steward, said that everything was in a state of readiness for commissioning.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Cham Ugala Uriat, Ethiopia’s new Ambassador to Japan, who officially assumed his position in April, wants to attract Japanese companies and introduce Japanese technology and investment projects into Ethiopia as it would not only speed up its growth but could also serve as a gateway to Africa. The ambassador believes that Japanese technology will speed up Ethiopia’s growth, and with investment projects in sectors such as the textile industry, will help Ethiopia become the region’s textile hub by 2025. Drawing on Japan’s experience, and with its assistance, many Ethiopian firms has introduced kaizen (improvement) philosophy, which has helped reduce production costs and “makes workers more disciplined. He acknowledged the high technological achievements of Japanese firms, and noted that mid-size companies that entered markets in Asia and the Middle East years ago would also be a good fit for Ethiopia’s economic environment. He sees the strengthening of bilateral ties as an opportunity for both nations, in sectors including agricultural processing and pharmaceuticals. But the ambassador, who before his latest appointment supervised diplomatic missions abroad while at the Foreign Affairs Ministry from 2011 until January of this year, believes his biggest challenge will be to convince Japanese firms to invest in his country. The ambassador explained that over the past 13 years Ethiopia has seen 11.5 percent GDP growth and is one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa and around the world. The ambassador hopes the opening of the government-led Japan External Trade Organization office in the capital, Addis Ababa, will bolster bilateral trade relations. The ambassador added that bilateral dialogue has already resulted in some projects aimed to introduce Japan’s technology to the country. The sixth Tokyo-led Africa development summit, held since 1993 and to be hosted by Nairobi in late August, will provide hope for continued support from Japan. Ethiopia is at the right time now to go out and tell good stories.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
