BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the Make in Odisha conclave, the Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts department organised a road show in Kolkata on Wednesday.Speaking at the event, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts Rita Sahu said while the metal sector has been an inherent strength of Odisha owing to its natural resources advantage, the Government of Odisha has taken proactive measures to broaden the base of the industrial ecosystem in the State. Some of the measures include the identification of priority and focus sectors, development of sectoral policies, development of sectoral industrial parks and infrastructure. The Minister said textiles is one such focus area where Odisha hopes to achieve exponential growth in the coming years. She added that the State government is developing a Petroleum, Chemical, and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) in Paradip with IOCL as the anchor tenant. She further said that the government is developing a technical textile park in association with Indian Oil with a state-of-the- art facility and best-in-class facilitation at Bhadrak, which is close to Kolkata and West Bengal in general. She urged investors in the apparel and textile sector to come to Odisha and check the ecosystem and the investor friendly policy support for potential investors. Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the department Shubha Sarma extended an invite to everyone present at the event to visit Odisha and attend the Make in Odisha Conclave’22 to witness first-hand what Odisha has to offer. “Our government understands that to attract investors we need to build a conducive business ecosystem. While progressive policies are certainly a part of it, we also need to build infrastructure and improve the ease of doing business. And we have done that,” said Sarma.The roadshow was attended by more than 150 delegates and representatives of 15 textile and apparel industries.
Source: The New Indian Express
In such reviews, normally two countries seek more market access for their respective domestic products and resolve issues which are hindering trade. India will seek a review of its free trade agreement with Japan during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and his Japanese counterpart in Los Angeles on Thursday. Nishimura Yasutoshi is the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. In such reviews, normally two countries seek more market access for their respective domestic products and resolve issues which are hindering trade. "I think that's quite long overdue and I am going to raise that issue with my counterpart from Japan. He has just taken over some time back as a new minister. So I will be taking up that issue," Goyal told reporters here when asked if a review of the free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan is on the cards. India and Japan had implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in August 2011. The review assumes significance as domestic steel producers have time and again complained of surge in imports of steel products like hot-rolled steel and other variants from Japan. Goyal said the Australian parliament is expected to approve the trade pact by the end of this year on trade with Australia. Australia's new trade minister Don Farrell is visiting India later this month to discuss trade and other issues. "He has assured me that they are very pleased with the outcome of the Indo-Australia negotiations and the free trade agreement that we finalized , and that they (Australia) will be putting it through parliament soon. And I am told the tentative timelines... end of this year, it will be cleared through their parliament," he said. The pact was signed in April. When asked about the issues which could come up in his meeting with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, he said there are no immediate areas of concern between the US and India. "We have very good and strong business relations. They are our largest trading partner. We do a lot of work for American companies. There's a lot of investment flow from America to India. So broadly, we keep exchanging notes on different issues, international trade. It (the meeting) is just a follow up on that. There's no immediate agenda," Goyal said.
Source: Economic Times
Interacting with the Indian community here, Goyal said the FTA negotiations with the EU will take about one-and-a-half or two years to fructify, given the complexity of negotiating with a 27-member bloc and firming up a new-age FTA that goes well beyond the traditional pillars of just goods, services and investment. India won’t hammer out a free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel until it gets a good deal, as the pact has to be “reciprocally beneficial”, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said, indicating that Israel has to sweeten its market access offer for any such FTA to be a reality. Israel’s tariffs on goods are, as such, very low for all and it’s yet to commit to opening up its services sector for India, the minister said. Both the countries, with bilateral annual trade of about $8 billion now, have been engaged in FTA negotiations since May 2010 without much success. Israel’s trade-weighted average applied tariff stood at just 3.7% in 2020. Interacting with the Indian community here, Goyal said the FTA negotiations with the EU will take about one-and-a-half or two years to fructify, given the complexity of negotiating with a 27-member bloc and firming up a new-age FTA that goes well beyond the traditional pillars of just goods, services and investment. “We are in active negotiations with the UK, Canada and the EU. Out of these, the UK would probably happen soon now that the new government is in place there,” Goyal said. The optimism also stems from the fact that the UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss had a key role in the FTA negotiations between the two countries in her earlier roles as the secretary of international trade as well as the foreign secretary of her country. Elaborating on the FTA talks with various economies, Goyal said: “We have three other sets of countries – the Russian group of five countries, Switzerland and a group of 3-4 countries that are very keen to do FTA with India,” the minister said. “I am trying to assess whether Switzerland and other countries bring something substantive to the table which is good for India. The (Swiss) minister is coming in a week or two to India, the agenda is FTA. Last time, I had kind of conclusively said we are not very keen on this. If he gives me an offer that I can’t refuse, maybe we will do it,” he said. The negotiations with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) members, he said, may be launched “very soon”. The GCC comprises six countries–Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Of course, earlier this year, India signed an FTA with the UAE, New Delhi’s first such trade pact in about a decade. ONDC launch in one or two cities this month: Goyal Commenting on the mega launch of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an initiative to “democratise e-commerce” in India, Goyal said he was “looking at opening it to the public in one or two cities” this month. “The Beta testing is currently going on….I want to make sure that when we come up for public launch, it’s well tried and tested and has sufficient capacity to handle large volumes, and the platforms which come on to the ONDC are sanitised,” he said. “I don’t think we should rush into things. We would rather focus on making a good offer to the people in general.” Earlier this year, the ONDC had started pilot projects in six cities. It was expected to be launched for the broader public in August. The ONDC network will enable the display of products and services from all participating e-commerce platforms in search results across all applications on the network.
Source: Financial Express
The CEPA may be finalised by 2026, by the time Bangladesh graduates to become a developing country, said India’s foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra. India will start talks on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday after a bilateral meeting with his counterpart Sheikh Hasina here, to boost trade ties between the two neighbouring countries. The CEPA may be finalised by 2026, by the time Bangladesh graduates to become a developing country, said India’s foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra. Bangladesh is India’s largest development partner and our largest trade partner in the region, Modi said. Bangladesh is one of India’s top export markets with bilateral trade at about $18 billion in FY22. India had a trade surplus of about $14 billion in FY22. “We also decided to increase cooperation in sectors like IT, space and nuclear energy. We will also continue to cooperate on climate change,” Modi said after the meeting with Hasina who is on a four-day visit to India. Recently, Bangladesh has sought loans from global agencies such as the International Monetary Fund as the country’s foreign exchange reserves dwindled due to rising import bills. However, Hasina has said that Bangladesh’s $416 billion economy remained strong. India has extended nearly $9.5 billion to Bangladesh in concessional loans and is taking up several connectivity projects, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. India is currently taking up several connectivity projects between the two countries: Khulna-Darshana railway line project, Parbatipur-Kaunia railway line project and supply of road construction equipment & machinery. Modi and Hasina jointly unveiled Unit-I of the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project being constructed under India’s concessional financing scheme. The project will add 1,320 MW to Bangladesh’s National Grid. On Monday, both countries signed seven cooperation pacts in areas such as water sharing, railways projects, science and space technology. Tuesday’s discussions between Modi and Hasina also focused on security cooperation. “The discussions between the two leaders have been comprehensive. In this context there is a clear common understanding that the strategic priorities of the relationship of the two countries, interests and concerns of India, and interests and priorities of Bangladesh are all factored in our cooperative matrix of engagement,” foreign secretary Kwatra said.
Source: Financial Express
The finance ministry will kick-start the exercise to prepare the annual budget for 2023- 24 from October 10 in the backdrop of revival of the Indian economy and fears of recession in developed countries. The budget for the next year will have to address critical issues of high inflation, boosting demand, job creation and putting the economy on a sustained 8 per cent-plus growth path. Earlier in the day, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said inflation is no longer "red-lettered" and the priority for the government now is job creation and boosting growth. "Some of course are red-lettered (priorities), some may not be. Red-lettered ones would of course be jobs, equitable wealth distribution and making sure India is moving on the path of growth. "In that sense inflation is not red-lettered. I hope it doesn't surprise many of you. We have shown that in the past couple of months that we were able to bring it to a manageable level," she said. It will be the fifth budget of the Modi 2.0 government and Sitharaman and the last full budget before the general elections slated in April-May 2024. During the election year, the government presents Vote on Account for the limited period. Usually the budget is cleared till July. "Pre-budget meetings chaired by secretary (Expenditure) shall commence on October 10, 2022," according to the Budget Circular (2023-24) of the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs dated September 6, 2022. "Financial advisers should ensure that the necessary details required in the appendices I to VII are properly entered.The Budget Estimates for 2023-24 will be provisionally finalised after completion of pre-budget meetings, it said, adding, RE (Revised Estimate) meetings continue till around mid-November, 2022. "All the ministries/departments should submit details of autonomous bodies/ implementing agencies, for which a dedicated corpus fund has been created. The reasons for their continuance and requirement of grant-in-aid support, and why the same should not be wound up, should be explained," it said. As a follow up action on National Monetisation Pipeline, it said, departments may be required to explain progress in asset monetisation. The Budget 2022-23 is likely to be presented on February 1 during the first half of the Parliament's Budget session which usually begins in the last week of January every year. The Budget for the current fiscal had projected a growth rate of about 7-7.5 per cent in real terms while fiscal deficit was pegged at 6.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government scrapped a colonial-era tradition of presenting the Budget at the end of February. The then finance minister Arun Jaitley had for the first time presented the annual accounts on February 1, 2017. With the preponement of the Budget, ministries are now allocated their budgeted funds from the start of the financial year beginning April. This gives government departments more leeway to spend as well as allow companies time to adapt to business a .. This meant government departments would start spending on projects only from August-end or September, after the monsoon season ended.
Source: Economic Times
The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has sought suggestions and ideas to explore the engagement further in areas around textiles, geotextiles, technology for testing labs. Addressing US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) in San Francisco, the Minister highlighted the fact that lots of innovation is taking place in different fields and new areas are opening up in India such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, E Commerce, Edutech, Fintech, Agritech and Healthtech. He said that India today provides the best investment opportunity to the investors across the world and called upon investors in the US to avail the opportunities that India offers stressing that the next 25 years, the golden period of Amrit Kaal, is the appropriate time to invest in India. He added that partnership between India-US partnership is a ‘Partnership of Trust’, which rests on 3Ts of Trade, Technology and Talent. The Minister noted that India-US relations are based on strong Government-to Government engagement, people-to-people ties, large Indian diaspora, business-to business relations, increasing bilateral trade, deep engagement in geopolitically relevant vibrant Quad, Ministerial dialogue, IPEF and robust trade policy forum. He pointed out that India is opening up discussions with countries on subjects that were never taken up before such as gender, environment, small and medium enterprises, labour and anti-corruption laws.
Source: Apparel Resources
Synopsis According to a detailed recommendation shared with related ministries, the move will remove the need for settlement through convertible currency, reduce transaction costs and eliminate foreign exchange risk for exporters and importers. The Centre has asked banks to speed up the process of opening special rupee vostro accounts (SRVA) of correspondent banks of partner trading countries to promote cross-border trade in rupees instead of the US dollar. It has also asked the department of commerce to talk to exporters and importers to make payment via SRV accounts and negotiate on rupee trade with trade partners. The centre suggested allowing set-off of export receivables against import payables and issue of bank guarantee for trade transactions. According to a detailed recommendation shared with related ministries, the move will remove the need for settlement through convertible currency, reduce transaction costs and eliminate foreign exchange risk for exporters and importers. The finance ministry on Wednesday held a meeting with officials from Reserve Bank, the commerce and industry minister and the ministry of external affairs chaired by Sanjay Malhotra, secretary, Department of Financial Service. Officials aware of the discussions said the move will decrease the pressure on rupee and significantly help partner countries with balance of payment issues. Using this framework, Indian exporters undertaking exports of goods and services shall be paid the export proceeds in Indian Rupee from the balances in the designated Special Vostro account of the correspondent bank of the partner country. The finance ministry also asked Indian embassies and consulates to spread awareness about the framework. In July, RBI released a circular on cross-border trade transactions, making an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment and settlement of exports/imports in rupee. "Indian importers undertaking trade through this mechanism shall make payment in INR, which shall be credited into Special Vostro account of correspondent bank of the partner country against the invoices for the supply of goods or services from the overseas seller /supplier," the circular said.
Source: Economic Times
India Australia leadership dialogue is taking place and the relations have shifted gears and moved into a higher orbit, says EAM Jaishankar. The Australia–India defence relationship now ranges almost every major function of the military, including strategic dialogues, coordination, and military exercises involving ground, air and maritime forces. A new intensity in the interactions have been on visible display from the leadership level. “In recent months, we have produced agreements ranging from maritime collaboration, defence science exchanges, mutual logistics support to cooperation in cyber-enabled critical technology, critical and strategic minerals,” said External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, talking about the new direction and strategic collaboration between India and Australia. External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar was addressing the Australia-India Leadership Dialogue 2022 (September 05, 2022) on the 5th edition of the Australia-India Leadership Dialogue (AILD) along with, Foreign Minister of Australia Penny Wong. India Australia leadership dialogue is taking place as India Australia relations have shifted gears and moved into a higher orbit. “In what today seems like history, the ambitions for our ties were expressed initially by the India Economic Strategy Report 2035 released by the Australian side and the CII Australia Economic Strategy issued by India,” said S Jaishankar. A trade of US$20 billion plus and investments at the US$25 billion level stand to rapidly expand by the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement that was concluded in April 2022. Australia is a major educational destination for Indian students, who number in excess of 100,000. The Indian community, estimated at 720,000, is a source of strength for both societies. He highlighted that it is really in the realm of politics and strategy that the transformation has been the sharpest. Much of the growing convergence has been driven by concerns about the region’s stability, prosperity and security. “The deficit in global goods has sought to be addressed by India and Australia working together bilaterally as well as in larger formats. This reflects their shared concerns about respect for international law and a rules-based order,” Jaishankar pointed out. Australia has been an early and vigorous supporter of India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI). In fact, the big change has been the realization that a stronger bilateral relationship today allows the two nations to contribute much more effectively at a regional and at a global level. Jaishankar explained that the two countries may have long interacted in ASEAN-led forums, Commonwealth, Indian Ocean Rim Association, etc. But stronger leadership and more open exchanges have brought out the mutual benefits of closer cooperation and coordination. Recalling the talks during the QUAD session, he said: “It is remarkable that the first interaction between our Prime Ministers happened literally a day after the current Australian one took office. It is equally notable that our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership now covers an annual meeting of PMs, a Foreign Minister’s Dialogue, a 2+2 Defence and Foreign Ministers meeting, a Trade Ministerial Commission, an Education Council, an Energy Dialogue and sectoral Working Groups.” These milestones bring out the interactive dynamic between the bilateral and the regional facets of our cooperation. Defense and Security One of the important hallmarks of India -Australia bilateral relations is the Exercise Malabar. Australia’s re-entry in the naval exercise led to the greater political confidence and stronger defence cooperation. Besides, both nations collaborated on space applications front which has led to the Australian support for the temporary Telemetry Tracking and Command Centre for the Gaganyaan Mission of India. The Australia–India defence relationship now ranges almost every major function of the military: strategic dialogues, coordination, and information exchanges; military exercises involving ground, air and maritime forces; exchanges and training; and defence scientific and technological cooperation. This adds to growing interoperability that is about the advancement in security relations. Recalling the cooperation during the Covid led crisis, EAM Jaishankar remarked: “In many ways, the fall-out of the pandemic and the demands of governance have accelerated the pace of digitization. How to optimize the opportunities and challenges that emerge is a never-ending process. It is but natural that this conference’s security perspective should focus on cyber security and AI.” In June 2020, Australia and India upgraded their Secretaries 2+2 dialogue (Defence and Foreign Affairs) to the Ministerial level. Ministers from the two countries will meet at least every two years to engage on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Last year also saw the first virtual summit meeting between Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders then elevated the relations to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Australia is holding a massive military exercise–Pitch Black 2022 which is is a wargaming exercise where threats are simulated in a controlled environment to test force integration, interoperability and readiness. The exercise is underway in Northern Australia. India is participating with full contingent. India’s participation was additionally significant for staging the first mid-air refuelling of an IAF combat aircraft (Su-30MKI) by an RAAF aircraft (KC-30A), revealing a degree of coordination not previously demonstrated. The exercise is hosting about 2,500 personnel and up to 100 aircraft including participants from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, US and UK. Mutual Logistic Support Arrangement (MLSA) The Mutual Logistic Support Arrangement (MLSA) was concluded in 2020 during the virtual summit between Australia’s former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The agreement opens up more sophisticated operational cooperation, enabling increasingly complex military engagement, and greater combined responsiveness to regional humanitarian disasters. Besides, bioth countries also inked the the Defence Science and Technology Implementing Arrangement (DSTIA) facilitates interaction between our defence research organisations. Beyond defence A shared concern about trade reliability and economic volatility resulted in greater integration and partnership on the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, along with Japan. On April 2, 2022, India, and Australia signed the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), aggreging to remove trade barriers. “The ECTA was not just a trade deal; it was an outcome of larger systemic confidence that we now see,” he remarked. The pact is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods and services from the existing US$ 27.5 billion to US$ 45 billion in five years. Under this treaty, Australia would provide zero duty access to India amounting to 96.4 per cent of exports to Australia, for textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery, machinery and selected medical equipment; while India would offer zero duty access up to 85 per cent of Australia’s export to Indian market comprising coal, wool, almonds, lentils etc. Apart from increased trade and economic cooperation, IndAus ECTA will further deepen the people-to-people contacts between the two countries by expanding work, study and travel opportunities. The contours of Indo- Australian bilateral relations began to grow out of Tokyo Quad Summit as it provided an opportunity to confirm, if confirmation was indeed needed, that the incoming Albanese Government was just as committed to the bilateral relationship, as indeed to the Quad, as its predecessor. Ministers will soon plan to meet in New York very shortly. The formation of the Quad has certainly a larger context for deepening relations. He sought to confirm that he Indo-Pacific, in particular, will benefit from the fruits of our collaboration. The Quad, on its part has emerged as a key platform progress, prosperity, stability and security. He also referred to advancing the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. India, trilaterally, along with Japan, are working on supply chain resilience.
Source: Financial Express
Global inflation, Russia-Ukraine war, simmering China-Taiwan crisis and supply disruptions are hurting economic growth worldwide, leading to poor demand, experts say Subdued demand amid high inflation in the aftermath of Russian invasion of Ukraine from developed countries and blocs like the United States (US) and European Union (EU) is impacting exports of key sectors including engineering, gems and jewellery and may have implications on India's exports in case the global situation does not improve in coming months. Global inflation, Russia-Ukraine war, simmering China-Taiwan crisis and supply disruptions are hurting economic growth worldwide, leading to poor demand, experts say. The world merchandise trade volume is expected to grow 3 per cent in 2022 against the earlier forecast of 4.7 per cent, mainly due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, according to the World Trade Organization forecast, released in April. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of developed nations, has stated that G-20 merchandise trade growth has slowed markedly in value terms in second quarter of 2022 (April-June). Exporters are keeping their fingers crossed over the country's exports growth and are hopeful that the situation would improve in coming months. Dip in exports and increase in imports widens trade deficit, putting pressure on the value of domestic currency. It also has implications on jobs. In August, the country's merchandise exports declined marginally 1.15 per cent to $33 billion and the trade deficit more than doubled to $28.68 billion on account of 37 per cent rise in imports during the month. Major sectors which recorded negative growth during August include engineering, gems and jewellery, ready-made garments of textiles, cotton yarn/made-ups and fabrics; and plastic. Exports of engineering products, which account for over 25 per cent of the country's exports of $419 billion in 2021-22, dipped for the second consecutive month in August by about 14.5 per cent to $8.25 billion. Similarly, gems and jewellery shipments contracted by 4 per cent to $3.3 billion; and plastics by 1.47 per cent to $744.5 million during August. Commerce Secretary BVR Subhramanyam recently said: "To control inflation and ensure availability of certain products, we have put some restrictions like on wheat, steel and iron ore pellets, and export duties on some goods. All this collectively has led to a certain flattening of exports in these sectors". The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) said that for a number of global factors, growth in the sector has come down in the last few months. "A decline in demand from China and recessionary trends in major economies in the West have contributed to the slowdown in exports. The pace of growth also slackened due to export duty on certain steel products including stainless steel products," EEPC said in a statement. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said September-November period would be challenging for exports as per the current trend. We need to watch the situation carefully. Demand for low value products is there but for high value goods, the demand is not good," he said. Ludhiana Hand Tools Association President S C Ralhan said that demand slowdown and inflation in the US and Europe is hurting exports. "Exporters have orders books only for about two months. If the current global situation will continue, it will impact our exports," Ralhan added. Export sectors like cotton fabrics, cashew, carpet ceramic products, oil meals and oil seeds and iron ore are recording negative growth.
Source: Outlook India
The Punjab government has offered 1,000 acres of land in Fatehgarh Sahib district to set up a textile park under PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (PM MITRA) scheme. In a letter to Union Textile Minister Piyush Goyal, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed the desire for setting up this ambitious project on the sacred land of Fatehgarh Sahib. He said that once commissioned, this project will make Punjab a 'textile hub' of the country. Likewise, Mann said this project will also put the state in the orbit of a high growth trajectory of industrial growth. The chief minister asserted that the ambitious scheme will help attract investments on one hand and open new vistas of employment for the youth on the other. He said the government of India approved the scheme for setting up seven textile parks across the country in partnership with the interested state governments. Mann informed the Union Minister that under this scheme, the state government is ready for setting up Textile Park at Fatehgarh Sahib. He said all environmental clearances and norms as fixed by Centre and state pollution control boards will be adhered to while setting up this mega integrated textile region and apparel park.
Source: Outlook
The Bangladesh Bank recently allowed exporters to retain the value-added portion of export proceeds—the part of the export receipts available after import bills of exporters for back-to-back letters of credit are settled—in US dollars for 30 days instead of 15 days. The decision will help exporters tackle the losses from the USD-taka exchange rate fluctuation. The central bank also permitted exporters to transfer the value-added portion of export proceeds to other banks for the settlement of import bills or liabilities of the Export Development Fund. It had instructed exporters in May to sell their export proceeds to the same banks through which they ship goods as many of them sold the dollars to the lenders that offered the higher rate, creating indiscipline in the foreign exchange (forex) market. The bank asked exporters in August not to retain the value-added portion for more than 15 days to make the domestic forex market stable. The country’s forex market has been facing an unstable situation for several months due to high import bills, prompting the bank to ask exporters to encash their value-added amount within 15 days. The measure helped the banking sector receive additional US dollars. As the volatility has eased to some degree recently, the central bank has extended the period for exporters to retain the greenback, according to Bangladeshi media reports.
Source: FIbre2fahsion
China’s exports of textiles, apparel and clothing accessories increased to $189.353 billion in the first seven months of the current year, registering a growth rate of 17.35 per cent year-on-year. The latest monthly data released by the General Administration of Customs of China shows that the country’s garment exports grew 19.1 per cent in the same period. Garments and clothing accessories export reached $99.558 billion in the first seven months, which was 18.5 per cent higher than the same period of last year. Of this, garment exports alone comprised $87.964 billion, increasing by 19.1 per cent year-onyear. China’s textile exports registered a growth of 16.2 per cent year-on-year and the shipment reached $89.795 billion in January-July 2022. Of this, the export of textile yarn increased by 19 per cent to $9.484 billion, fabrics by 20.2 per cent to $43.410 billion, and textile products by 11.5 per cent to $36.901 billion. Textile and apparel export during July 2022 was $33.22 billion. Textile, yarn and articles export earned $13.583 billion, while garments and clothing accessories fetched $19.637 billion in July this year.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
The US has agreed to cooperate with Sri Lanka's debt restructuring as prescribed by the IMF in its staff-level agreement for $2.9 billion bailout package to help revive the country's ailing economy The US has agreed to cooperate with Sri Lanka's debt restructuring as prescribed by the IMF in its staff-level agreement for a USD 2.9 billion bailout package to help revive the country's ailing economy. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe that the US as a creditor country would participate in the country's debt restructuring. The US has pledged to continue to engage with other government agencies -- the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Wickremesinghe's office said the US treasury department had welcomed the government's decision to seek IMF assistance. On September 1, the IMF reached a staff-level agreement to support Sri Lanka's economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about USD 2.9 billion. Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 which was triggered by a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves. Commenting on the US' decision, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said Sri Lanka thanked the US for agreeing to support it in re-profiling its debts. However, the IMF said financing assurances to restore debt sustainability from Sri Lanka's official creditors and making a good faith effort to reach a collaborative agreement with private creditors are crucial before the IMF can provide financial support. Private creditors or sovereign bond holders account for 48 per cent of Sri Lanka's international debt amounting to USD 51 billion followed by the ADB with 13 per cent, China and Japan both 10 per cent each and World Bank 9 per cent. Sri Lanka in mid April defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history as the country struggles with its worst financial crisis in more than 70 years. It became the first Asian country in two decades to declare bankruptcy.
Source: Business Standard
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday said that the country’s textile sector had demanded lifting of a ban on the import of cotton from India, but the government has so far not taken any decision on the issue. Addressing a press conference along with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif here, Ismail talked about the damage caused to the cotton crop due to devastating floods that have affected more than 33 million people, inundated a third of the country and caused losses of more than USD 10 billion. Replying to a question with respect to trade with India, the minister said that the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) was asking the federal government to allow import of cotton from India. “The government has not taken any decision yet,” he said, without elaborating when such a decision could be taken. Pakistan suspended trade with India after the latter revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. But the ban is hurting the crisis-hit country in the wake floods which caused scarcity of commodities and pushed up prices. When the country faced shortage of onions and tomatoes due to destruction of the crops, Ismail was the first to drop a hint about the option of importing the two items from India. However, Ismail later said that the government will consult coalition partners on the issue, after criticism from the Opposition over the plan in the wake of strained ties with New Delhi over the Kashmir issue. Pakistan allowed import of the two items from Iran and Afghanistan. Ismail said that vegetables such as tomatoes and onion were being imported from Afghanistan and if the market gets stable with this import, the government would not need to import the commodities from India. The issue of cotton and the demand by the powerful textile lobby is quite different from the import of onions and tomatoes because textile is the backbone country’s exporters which Pakistan has been trying to increase. The finance minister also talked about the hike in electricity and petroleum prices for which he blamed the policies of the previous government of Imran Khan but hinted at slowing down the inflation rate from next month. “The nation would have to bear the higher rates for one more month,” he said. He also blamed Khan for not following the commitment made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) especially with regards to subsidies on electricity, gas and petroleum products. The finance minister said that the previous government had committed to the IMF that the government would not give any amnesty to the businessmen and subsidies on petroleum, gas and electricity but going against the commitment, the PTI government offered amnesty in February 2022. “This was the reason why the rates of electricity and petroleum products have skyrocketed now,” he said.
Source: Gulf News
Bangladeshi textile millers are going to put forward at least seven points at a meeting with the International Cotton Association on Thursday, according to sources, seeking changes in the cotton rulebook for ensuring equal treatment for both the cotton buyer and seller. The points include mandating written confirmation for a cotton contract, mediation before arbitration, mandating oral hearing for arbitration, payment of appeal deposit in local currencies and setting up a laboratory in Bangladesh. Local textile millers said rules of the International Cotton Association – the apex body for cotton buyers and sellers – are currently more favourable for cotton sellers. "If the points are addressed, the rulebook will be balanced," Mohammad Ali, president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), told The Business Standard on Wednesday. After China, Bangladesh is the second largest cotton importer of the world. The country's textile sector accounts for around 65% of the annual export earnings. The country imports cotton from Africa, India, Eastern Europe and Asia, USA, Australia and Pakistan. International Cotton Association President Alex Shih-Kang Hsu and Managing Director Bill Kingdon have a scheduled meeting with the BTMA board in Dhaka Thursday. According to textile sources, for mandating written confirmation for any cotton contract, the signature of the buyer must be verified by the buyer himself. In this regard, the BTMA is positive in providing the cotton association with its member details and the signatures. In case of any dispute between the buyer and the seller, the BTMA advocates for an initial investigation before arbitration, and recognising BTMA investigation as a key evidence in the arbitration. In an arbitration, textile millers say oral hearing currently is an option. But it should be "mandatory for the sake of justice". The millers also demand a testing laboratory in Bangladesh so that quality claims can be settled jointly by the International Cotton Association and the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution. Engr Razeeb Haider, a director at the BTMA, told The Business Standard that currently they have to send cotton samples abroad at the association nominated labs if any dispute arises over the quality of imported cotton. "But as a key importer, we want a laboratory in Bangladesh," he added. BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon said despite being the major cotton buyer of the world, Bangladeshi millers often do not get enough space in the International Cotton Association. According to sources, BTMA will seek at least five Bangladeshi members in the cotton association board.
Source: TBS News
