India’s textiles and leather industries are among the worst hit sectors as per the Index of Industrial production (IIP) for August 2022. The index of manufacture of textiles, wearing apparel and leather and related products recorded a double digit hit in the period under review. The data confirms what the textile value chain has been facing in the last couple of months. Analysis of the IIP data revealed that the manufacture of textiles index fell to 105.5 in August 2022 from 120.2 in August 2021. The cumulative index also came down from 113.8 to 109.3. The industry has recorded a negative growth of 12.2 per cent in August and 4 per cent in April-August 2022. The apparel index slipped by 18.3 per cent to 117.7 in August 2022 from 144.1 in the corresponding period of last year. However, cumulative index managed to register a growth of 26.6 per cent to reach 136.2 from 107.6 of August 2021. The index of leather and leather products fell by 15 per cent to 90.5 from 106.5 in the same month of last year. Cumulative index grew 1.7 per cent to 98.3 per cent from 96.7 per cent in August 2021. IIP confirms the sluggish demand and pressure of prices on the textile value chain. Earlier, Indian textile industry had faced a shortage of cotton and sky-rocketing prices. However, the demand was better than today, as per industry experts. Currently, low demand from domestic as well as international markets is a critical challenge for the sector.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
To make Uttar Pradesh a textile hub, the Uttar Pradesh government has approved a new textile and garmenting policy to ensure development of all units through hand-holding and attracting private investment in this sector. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held here on Thursday. The cabinet has also approved the Uttar Pradesh Textile and Garmenting Policy-2022 and it authorised the chief minister to make any kind of amendment in it. The main objective of the new policy is to establish the state as a global level garment manufacturing centre and sustainable development of all types of units related to textile industry like handloom, powerloom, spinning, weaving, processing, and garmenting. The specific objective of the policy is to attract private investment of Rs 10,000 crore in the textile and apparel sector, to create employment opportunities for five lakh people, develop five textile and garment parks in the private sector, and to increase the income of handloom and powerloom weavers. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna said that in the Uttar Pradesh Textile and Garmenting Policy-2022, there was a provision to provide special incentives with financial facilities in various items to the units investing in the textile sector, for the purpose of generating employment by attracting investment. “This policy will be effective for five years from the date of promulgation. This policy will increase investment in the state and is likely to generate three lakh employment opportunities,” he said. Under the new policy, 25 per cent capital subsidy will be provided to textile and garments units on investment made on purchase of plants and machinery. Apart from this, additional capital subsidy will be reimbursed at the rate of 5 per cent to textile and garments units to be set up in Madhyanchal region of the state and at the rate of 10 per cent to textile and garments units to be set up in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand. The cap on capital subsidy will be limited to Rs 100 crore per unit. In another decision, the state cabinet has approved Uttar Pradesh Dairy Development and Milk Product Promotion Policy-2022 by abolishing Uttar Pradesh Milk Policy-2018. The new policy will be effective for five years from the date of issue of notification. Its main objective is to encourage the establishment of milk-based industries in the state by simplification of procedures for the convenience of investors. A target has been set for capital investment of Rs 5,000 crore in the next five years, to increase the level of milk processing. In the proposed policy, various FPOs, cooperative institutions and private sector entrepreneurs of the state will be provided new milk processing and milk products manufacturing dairy units. Establishment and capacity expansion of manufacturing units (minimum 25 per cent increase in existing capacity) has been proposed. Under the new policy, it is estimated that 1.25 lakh new employment will be created directly and indirectly.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
The rupee was trading in a narrow range against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, tracking a muted trend in domestic equities amid weak domestic macroeconomic data. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee witnessed range-bound trading in early deals. It opened at 82.30 against the US dollar, then rose to 82.29, registering a gain of 4 paise over the last close. It was moving in a tight range of 82.25 to 82.34 in the morning trade. On Wednesday, the rupee fell by 12 paise to close at 82.33 against the US dollar. The rupee started with small gains ahead of US CPI data that could aid investors to evaluate the size of rate hikes that the Fed is likely to deliver this year, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities. A fall in the crude prices could aid sentiments, but most Asian and emerging market peers were weaker this Thursday morning as the FOMC minutes revealed that the Fed will continue its aggressive monetary policy stance and will cap gains for the local unit, Iyer added. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.02 per cent to 113.29. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.01 per cent to USD 92.46 per barrel. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 109.06 points or 0.19 per cent down at 57,516.85, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 25.85 points or 0.15 per cent to 17,097.75. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 542.36 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. On the domestic macroeconomic front, higher food prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 7.4 per cent, while India's industrial production slipped to an 18-month low, contracting by 0.8 per cent in August, mainly due to a decline in output of the manufacturing and mining sectors. The second consecutive month of rise in consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation will add to the pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to again raise interest rates to tame high prices.
Source: Business Standard
Intensive negotiations are ongoing to meet the target to conclude the majority of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) talks by Diwali, UK government sources said on Thursday. Officials said that both countries continue to negotiate a high-ambition free trade agreement that could boost the UK economy by more than GBP 3 billion by 2035. The UK and India set a target to conclude most of the talks by Diwali (24th October) and intensive negotiations are ongoing, sources said. Officials familiar with the negotiations also sought to realign the issue of mobility by drawing a distinction between temporary business visas and long-term migration, saying business mobility is not the same as immigration because business mobility covers the temporary entry for talent to work for a specific time period in a trade partner country. Any commitments we seek on temporary entry will aim to encourage the best and brightest talent in India to temporarily work in the UK, official sources said. It follows UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman's very vocal concerns over what she dubbed an open borders approach with India as part of an FTA, which many feared may have pushed the FTA negotiations off course from an October-end timeline because the issue of mobility lies at the heart of what India would consider a win-win trade deal. According to the UK government, any agreement with India on visas and migration would fall within the country's wider points-based immigration system and be subject to Cabinet approval. While the UK's Department for International Trade (DIT) refused to comment on live negotiations, it did not rule out the prospect of the Diwali deadline being met and said the deadline was focusing efforts and driving progress. The UK has a close, positive working relationship with India and a thriving trade partnership worth over GBP 24 billion in 2021. We continue to seek improvements to our current trading relationship, and this is why we are negotiating a high-ambition Free Trade Agreement, a DIT spokesperson said. We remain clear that we won't sacrifice quality for speed and will only sign when we have a deal that meets both countries' interests," the spokesperson said. There has been intense speculation in recent days over the Diwali timeline for the FTA, which was announced by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his India visit in April. However, since then the UK has undergone much political upheaval with Johnson being replaced by Liz Truss and a new Cabinet team in place. A trade deal with India, expected to more than double bilateral trade by 2030, is considered a major victory for the new Prime Minister in an otherwise tumultuous few weeks overshadowed by financial markets turmoil. Strategic experts on both sides are of the view that if the Diwali deadline for the FTA is still met, the result may be a much less comprehensive deal than was expected, leaving key sectors open for future negotiations. UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch seemed to lay the groundwork for this last week, when she said that an FTA with India would not mean that we can't do even more later. On the UK side, some of the key asks are around the opening up of India's legal services sector and slashing of high tariffs on Scotch whisky. For India, the issue of talent mobility and digital data are among some key factors.
Source: Business Standard
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal has said that PM GatiShakti National Master Plan has the potential to save over Rs. 10 Lakh Crore annually by improving logistics efficiency. He was addressing the National Workshop on PM GatiShakti held to mark the first anniversary of the roll out of the National Master Plan, in New Delhi today. The workshop focussed on the progress and achievements made by PM GatiShakti till date and the way forward. Shri Goyal said that PM GatiShakti is increasingly being used in the social sector for better infrastructure development, thereby, taking fruits of technology to every citizen of the country and improving ease of life for the common man. The Minister said that PM GatiShakti would define India's future in the years to come. Quoting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, he said that PM GatiShakti National Master Plan would lend both 'Gati' and 'Shakti' to India's efforts in Infrastructure development. The National Master Plan will transform the way we work and the outcomes of our work and will drive economic development, Shri Goyal said. He observed that the entire nation has come together, transcending political differences to use PM GatiShakti to the best possible extent. The Minister expressed confidence that PM GatiShakti NMP would find a place in history as a powerful intervention that spurred rapid growth and development in the country. We look upon PM GatiShakti as s service to the nation and society, he said. Shri Goyal opined that the anniversary celebrations must be used as an opportunity to visualize and conceive plans for the future. He asked all stakeholders to envision out of box ways to utilize PM GatiShakti for better, more economical and time bound infrastructure planning. The Minister expressed confidence that PM GatiShakti would help bring in balanced, inclusive, equitable development in the country by helping remote areas, especially those in the Northeast undertake integrated infrastructure planning and close development gaps. The Minister referred to the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for Northeast Region (PM-DevINE) scheme launched yesterday and said that by dovetailing PM GatiShakti into the scheme would help utilize resources much more efficiently. Shri Goyal said that the whole of the government was working in tandem to ensure the best possible use of PM GatiShakti. He added that industry, business and social sector had welcomed PM Gati with open arms. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched PM GatiShakti on 13.10.21 for integrated planning of infrastructure and synchronized project implementation across all concerned Central Ministries, Departments and State Governments. PM GatiShakti is a transformative approach for integrated and holistic planning across concerned Ministries/Departments to improve multimodal connectivity, and logistics efficiency and address critical gaps for the seamless movement of people, and goods, with a focus on minimizing disruptions and ensuring timely completion of works. It provides for an integrated platform, the National Master Plan, where all the economic zones and their multimodal connectivity infrastructure are depicted, along with physical linkages to promote a comprehensive and integrated multimodal national network of transportation and logistics to create efficiency gains and avenues for further developments, value addition and creating employment opportunities. It may be noted that in the last 8 years, Capital Expenditure has seen over 4 times increase from 1.75 lac crores in 2014 to 7.5 lac crores in 2022. The development of 7.582 kms new roads, 2500 kms of new petroleum & gas pipelines, 29,040 circuits kms, and 200 million tonnes of cargo being handled by India’s railway network have been constructed adopting PM GatiShakti’s approach. Through the mechanism of PM National Master Plan 197 critical infrastructure gap projects have been identified and examined in sectors namely, the Ministry of Steel, Coal, Fertilizer as well as Food and Public Distribution under PM GatiShakti to improve logistics efficiency. Over 1300 inter-ministerial issues were resolved in the 11 months through the PMG Portal integrated with the National Master Plan. The Minister also launched the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2022 survey report. The LEADS is an indigenous data-driven index to assess logistics infrastructure, services, and human resources across all 36 States and UTs. By engaging with various end-user stakeholders, the LEADS acts as a feedback mechanism on the existing logistic capacities and draws recommendations for further improvement. The LEADS further uses the feedback evaluation to classify states on the scale of logistics ease currently present among them. The LEADS 2022 has garnered more than 6500 responses from more than 2100 respondents across the country. Unlike the previous versions of LEADS which were based on ranking systems for all states, LEADS 2022 has adopted a classification-based grading, states have been now classified under four categories viz coastal states, hinterland/landlocked states, north-eastern states, and Union Territories. For the assessment of how well a State or UT has performed in comparison to the Top State/UT within the specific cluster. Three performance categories namely, Achievers: States/UTs achieving 90% or more percentage, Fast Movers: States/UTs achieving percentage scores between 80% to 90%, and Aspirers: States/UTs achieving percentage scores below 80% have been made. The LEADS 2022 survey report would assist PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) and National Logistics Policy (NLP) to perform a network mapping of logistics infrastructure, services, and regulatory environment enabling State Governments to identify and fill the gaps and achieve data-driven multimodal connectivity. LEADS continues to act as a guiding & bridging mechanism for the identification of interventions enhancing logistics efficiency at State/UTs.
Source: PIB
Projected to grow bigger than Japan at $5.36 trillion India failed to unseat the UK and missed being the fifth-largest economy by $10 billion in 2021-22. It’ll have to wait another year before it gets that coveted spot in 2022-23, overtaking the UK by $27 billion. By 2025-26 (FY26), the Indian economy would equal Germany’s to be the fourthlargest. It would become the third largest by 2027-28 (FY28), when it is projected to grow bigger than Japan, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) World Economic Outlook. Note: For India, financial years are used, so 2020 would mean 2020-21 and so on. Source: IMF By 2026-27, India’s economy would not be $5 trillion as hoped by the finance ministry, but close enough. It would be $4.94 trillion that year. The following year, India’s economy would hit the $5.36-trillion mark, higher than Japan’s at $5.17 trillion. That year, India would become the third-largest economy. The size of India’s economy was $3.18 trillion in 2021-22 (FY22), while Britain’s was $3.19 trillion in 2021, according to the flagship publication by the Fund. The size of India’s economy is calculated on a financial year basis (April to March). For other economies, it is on a calendar year basis. Earlier, there was a Bloomberg report that stated that India has overtaken the UK in the fourth quarter of FY22, basing it on World Bank data. However, that comparison was made on quarterly figures, not yearly. India would become a $3.47-trillion economy, while the UK’s would be $3.2 trillion in the current financial year (2022-23), according to the data provided by the IMF. By FY26, India’s economy would be $4.55 trillion, equal to the size of Germany’s which was bigger than the former by over $1 trillion in FY22. In fact, if figures are not rounded off, India’s economy would be bigger than Germany’s by $1 billion in FY26. But $1 billion is too small a figure for any forecaster to make a precise projection three years down the line, say experts. Some may argue that purchasing power parity (PPP) is a better method to gauge the size of the economy. PPP takes into account the cost of living in a country while converting a currency into dollars. India has been the third-largest economy on PPP terms for quite some time. It will continue to be so until FY28, according to IMF projections. Bank of Baroda Chief Economist Madan Sabnavis sounded a word of caution in making these interpretations. “There are issues on gross domestic product numbers and calculations which cause these interpretations. (We) should be cautious since all such calculations are in nominal terms and PPP. Inflation and prices (are) used (to) derive this number,” he observed.
Source: Business Standard
India aims to clock $470 billion of merchandise exports in 2022-23. Preliminary data released on October 3 showed $229.05 billion exports in April -September 2022-23, up 15.54% on-year. India's exports to the US contracted 10.7% on-year in September while those to China shrank 45.8% as the country's overall shipments plummeted 3.5% last month with jobcreating sectors such as engineering, garments and cotton yarn being the worst hit. As per the analysis by the commerce and industry ministry, merchandise exports declined for six of the top 10 markets including the UAE and Bangladesh and 18 of the top 30 major commodities.
Source: Economic Times
Spinning mills across the State have declared production holiday since October 10 owing to steep rise in production cost, weak demand in global market and tough competition by the multinationals The textile industry in Andhra Pradesh, which provides direct employment to thousands of semi-skilled workers apart from a driver of economic growth, is now staring at a deep and unprecedented crisis after the spinning mills declared a production holiday from October 10. The decision to cut down on the number of working days comes in the backdrop of a mounting global recession, slump in exports and rising production costs. Most of the spinning mills are now running at a reduced capacity. There are over 125 spinning mills in the State with a combined capacity of 35 lakh spindles and many are cutting down their production of yarn. Indian yarn is known for its fine quality and is preferred by the European and American retailers. “There has been a slump in production of yarn due to weak demand. By the time the production begins, cotton farmers are getting just ₹6,900 per quintal as against ₹9,000 per quintal. The closure of spinning mills has worsened the situation. Buyers are now reluctant as the prices of yarn has fallen drastically. All this has resulted in piling of stocks at spinning mills. Spinning mills have been declared NPAs. This double whammy to cotton farmers and traders is unprecedented,” says Andhra Pradesh Textile Mills Association Chairman Lanka Raghurami Reddy. The entry of multinational giants in the market has hit the domestic industry, the largest organised labor sector in the country, and given scope for speculation, resulting in the steep increase in cotton prices. Despite the concerted efforts of the association, the South Indian Millers’ Association and the Confederation of Textile Industry, the Central government have not taken the remedial measures to check the spiraling prices of cotton and protect the domestic textile industry, Mr. Chowdary points out. Referring to the threat posed by the multinationals, he says those companies have almost cornered the domestic industry by making bulk purchases of cotton from farmers well below ₹20,000 per candy and are now selling them at ₹30,000 per candy. The exports have touched a new high of 85 lakh bales this year as against the cotton advisory board’s caution of limiting it to 65 lakh bales, he explains. The millers hope that the State government would bail them out by releasing the power subsidies immediately. Among the major demands put forth by the owners of spinning mills are immediate release of arrears to the tune of ₹1,400 crore. Thanking Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy for his resolve in releasing ₹237 crore arrears in September 2021, Mr. Raghurami Reddy says that spinning industry would plunge into a great crisis if the State government does not release the arrears. “We are staring at a deep crisis and many of us are not in a position to pay interest to banks. We urge the State government to consider our plea and release the arrears immediately,” appeals Mr. Raghurami Reddy.
Source: The Hindu
Cambodia exported $8.630 billion worth of garments, footwear and other textile-related items in the first nine months of this year, despite heightened global uncertainty, marking a 23.79 per cent surge over the $6.971 billion registered in the same period last year, according to Customs. The aforementioned category of items, corresponding to chapters 61-64 of the harmonised tariff schedule, accounted for just over 50.00 per cent of the value of the Kingdom’s total exports over the period, or $17.258 billion, statistics from the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) statistics indicate. Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) secretary-general Ken Loo told The Post that exports of these items were slowing in the second half of this year, whereas the January-June figure had represented a year-on-year jump of nearly twofifths. Loo’s claim is backed by GDCE data, which put the year-on-year increases for the January-June period, July and August respectively at 37.34 per cent, 19.96 per cent and 2.71 per cent, and indicated that last month saw a 7.55 per cent drop against September 2021. Similarly, August and September witnessed month-on-month dips of 24.50 per cent and 13.72 per cent, following July’s 28.94 per cent rise. “The situation will get worse in the fourth quarter of 2022 and into 2023. There’s no clear picture in sight due to the volatile global situation,” he rued. Ky Sereyvath, an economic researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, commented that the overall increase in these exports seen over the year underscore the robust growth of the Cambodian economy. “The sharp overall rise in exports to the US in recent years augurs quite well for economic relations between the two countries, particularly now that we chair ASEAN. But, at the same time, there’s been a slowdown in exports to Europe due to the Ukraine conflict’s impact on demand there,” he said. GMAC’s Loo largely blamed the recent downturn in Cambodia’s overseas sales of Chapter 61-64 items on deteriorating economic conditions in the US, EU and other top export markets, noting that the crisis in Ukraine has exacerbated inflation. Many buyers now have a lot of inventory on hand and thus they are placing [fewer orders]. The expiry of the US’ GSP [Generalised System of Preferences] also means our travel goods sector does not enjoy duty free [privileges] for now and some orders [are] moving back to China temporarily,” he said. The GSP mentioned by Loo provides non-reciprocal, duty-free tariff treatment for certain products imported to the US from designated beneficiary developing countries and territories, which includes Cambodia. However, the scheme lapsed on December 31, 2020 and has yet to be renewed. And according to the GDCE, the export of travel goods and related products – corresponding to Chapter 42 of the harmonised tariff schedule – have also slowed in the second half, after mushrooming by 55.71 per cent year-on-year in the first half. Although July saw a 15.57 per cent month-on-month jump in Chapter 42 exports, August and September recorded 37.71 per cent and 1.70 per cent declines. Similarly, the July figure rose by 24.59 per cent year-on-year, whereas the numbers for August and September were 3.50 per cent and 17.06 per cent lower on a yearly basis. Loo said that a number of factories have partially suspended operations since midAugust, following approval from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. Speaking at a press conference at the Council of Ministers, or Cabinet, on October 12, labour ministry spokesman Heng Sour also predicted that exports of garments and textile-related items will decline in the fourth quarter, due to pressure on orders stemming from the prolongation of the Ukraine crisis. Late last month, the World Bank raised its 2022 growth forecast for Cambodia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) to 4.8 per cent, from 4.5 per cent in April, as a rise in the export of garments, footwear and travel goods (GTF), bicycles and agricultural items continue to underpin post-Covid-19 economic recovery. “In the second quarter of 2022, the economic recovery gained momentum as investment and trade expanded. Approved FDI [foreign direct investment] project value reached $315 million in the second quarter of 2022,” the Washington-based development lender said in its latest Macro Poverty Outlook (MPO). The MPO added that non-gold merchandise exports “accelerated further, expanding at 33.0 per cent year-on-year during the first seven months of 2022, driven mainly by a recovery of [GTF] exports. “GTF exports to the US, Cambodia’s largest exports market, remained robust, growing at 39.1 per cent year-on-year during the first seven months of 2022. The services sector, especially the travel and tourism sector also improved. “Driven by rising food and fuel prices, consumer price inflation surged. However, inflation eased to 5.4 per cent in July 2022, down from 7.8 per cent in June 2022. The exchange rate continued to be stable at 4,100 riel per US dollar,” it added.
Source: Phnom Penh Post
The value of UK goods imports exceeded that of exports in August this year, with high gas prices having a strong impact. Total imports of goods, excluding precious metals, increased by £3.1 billion (5.7 per cent) in the month due to a £3.5 billion (13.3 per cent) rise in imports from non-European Union (EU) countries, while imports from EU countries decreased by £0.5 billion (1.9 per cent). Total exports of goods, excluding precious metals, increased by £0.4 billion (1.2 per cent) in August, driven by a £0.7 billion (4.1 per cent) rise in exports to non-EU nations, while exports to EU countries decreased by £0.3 billion (1.5 per cent), the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said in a note. The increase in imports from non-EU countries in the month was primarily driven by higher imports of fuels and machinery and transport equipment. For the three months to August 2022, the total trade deficit, excluding precious metals, widened by £0.2 billion to £25.6 billion compared with the three months to May. The trade in goods deficit, excluding precious metals, widened by £0.9 billion to £61.9 billion in the three months to August, driven by a £4.7-billion rise in goods imports. Disregarding the impact of inflation, the total trade deficit, excluding precious metals, narrowed by £6.5 billion to £11.9 billion in the three months to August this year.
Source: Fibre 2 Fashion
China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, South Korea, and Pakistan are among the top 10 apparel suppliers to the US, OTEXA said. This year so far, the US has imported apparel worth $6.64 billion from Bangladesh, an increase of 53.54% compared to the same period last year, according to official data released by the American government. The Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) said US’ total textile and apparel import stood at $6.86 billion, a jump of 51.98%, from January-August this year. In the same period, America imported $6.64 billion worth of garments from the Asian country. Bangladesh is the third largest apparel import source for America, as per the latest statistics released by OTEXA. Between January and August 2022, Bangladesh’s imports from the world surged by 37.35%, OTEXA data showed. During the same period, US’ imports from India grew by 56.90% while it was 37.16% from China. China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, South Korea, and Pakistan are among the top 10 apparel suppliers to the US, OTEXA said. The top five were China ($ 15.55 billion; 37.16% increase); Vietnam ($12.81 billion; 33.62% rise); Bangladesh ($ 6.64 billion; 53.54% jump); India ($4.16 billion; 56.88% jump); and Indonesia ($3.92 billion; up 56.47%).
Source: The Federal
In Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as in India and Indonesia, some suppliers of major clothing brands continue to invoke the health crisis to justify discrimination, threats and even violence when faced with their workers' desire for improvement, according to a report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. An NGO whose recent warnings about the situation of Burmese textile workers were recently relayed by the International Labour Organisation, a UN agency. The latter has just published a 44-page report based on testimonies from 13 factories, collected from 24 union leaders and 124 union activists and labour advocates. According to the NGO, these manufacturers supply 15 major fashion brands, including Adidas, Asda, Benetton, Bestseller, C&A, Sainsbury's, Etam and H&M, as well as Hugo Boss, J. Crew, OVS, Mango, Next, Primark and Under Armour. For 61% of those interviewed by the NGO, the possibilty of collective bargaining with textile companies has worsened since the beginning of the health crisis. Discrimination, intimidation, surveillance and even blacklisting of union workers have reportedly increased, as have discriminatory dismissals. "The emergency measures introduced by governments in response to the pandemic have exacerbated this suppression of trade union rights," said the BHRRC, referring to increased repression of strikes and industrial action. More than a quarter of the professionals consulted report that the pandemic has been used as a reason to prevent the formation of unions by various means. And when these are formed despite everything, the pandemic is said to be used as a reason for refusing to recognise them officially. Covid-19 has also reportedly been widely used to suspend negotiations that had previously begun. Unions report that it is becoming more difficult for them to access production sites. Some companies reportedly use false accusations to have union members arrested or call in "goons" to violently assault them. While trade unions are kept out of the picture, workers are faced with wage theft or redundancy payments, according to 58% of respondents. This is a practice that the BHRRC warned about, specifically in the case of Burma's coup d'etat. An alert that was relayed by the ILO. Some 40% of the witnesses also mentioned security practices, particularly fire safety, which had regressed with the health crisis. Gender discrimination and violence, on the other hand, were reported to have increased among the thirteen factories observed for this report, which can be consulted on the BHRRC website. In July, the BHRRC joined a consortium of NGOs to launch a European Citizens' Initiative to ensure that suppliers of clothing brands guarantee textile workers a "living wage". The coalition has given itself one year to collect at least one million signatures: a milestone that would allow it to refer the matter to the European Commission and impose a parliamentary debate.
Source: Fashion Network
HANOI (Vietnam News/Asia News Network): Vietnam's textile and garment export value reached US$35 billion in the first nine months of 2022, up 21 per cent over the same period last year. To achieve the result, textile and garment enterprises have made great efforts to cope with the challenges of the market. The enterprises did not depend on the five traditional export markets, including the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China, but also expanded the exports to Russia and some other countries. In Europe, they not only focused on a few large export markets such as Germany, France, Spain and the UK as in the past, but also expanded the exports to other countries in the EU. In addition, many businesses have eyed Mexico and other countries in Africa. They also promoted the production of knitwear products for export instead of making only traditional products such as jeans, khakis or T-shirts, due to a shortage of orders for those traditional products. Among textile and garment exporting countries in the world including Bangladesh, India and China, Vietnam had the earliest opening-up policy for normal operation after the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, in the first six months of the year, Vietnam's textile and garment industry had a large number of orders and good business results. Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said in the first half of 2022, the textile and garment industry gained growth in export orders, but entering the third quarter of 2022, the market began to see signs of a decrease. The export order reduction was due to lower demand in major export markets like the US and the EU. High inflation in those markets caused people to reduce their spending significantly. In which, apparel was a commodity seeing strong cuts. Meanwhile, markets that are important trade partners of Vietnam such as mainland China, Japan, and Taiwan are still applying strict measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. That affected supplies of raw materials, auxiliary materials and the consumption of textile products from Vietnam. To cope with those challenges, businesses rearranged working hours to ensure stability for workers. Enterprises in the textile and garment industry are still able to overcome the challenges in the fourth quarter, but difficulties are likely to continue until the first quarter of 2023, Giang said. Tran Nhu Tung, chairman of the Thanh Cong Textile – Investment – Trading JSC, said almost all countries exporting textiles to the US and EU markets have experienced a decline in orders due to high inflation and lower demand for apparel products. According to Tùng, for companies focusing on these two markets, they faced a large decline in production and business. Meanwhile, firms expanding exports to other markets, like Thanh Cong, saw a softer decline than others. Thanh Cong saw a reduction in orders larger than expectations, but it was not too much. In the first nine months of the year, the company has fulfilled 80 per cent of the revenue plan and 85 per cent of the after-tax profit plan, he said. Experts said that if in the first eight months of the year, the average export value per month was $3.7-3.8 billion, the value is expected to be $3.1-3.2 billion per month in the last four months of the year. According to VNDirect Research, the textile and garment industry will be brighter in the first quarter of 2023 because the export tariffs on some kinds of Việt Nam's textile and garment products to the EU market will be reduced by 2-4 per cent thanks to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). In addition, the European Commission forecasts inflation in the EU will reach 8.3 per cent in 2022 and fall to 4.3 per cent in 2023. The lower inflation will stimulate demand for fashion and garments in 2023. Therefore, some local garment enterprises exporting suits, shirts, pants and skirts to the EU such as Song Hong Garment, May 10 and Vietn Tien, will enjoy more benefits from the EVFTA.
Source: The Star
