The USAID Feed the Future Bangladesh Improving Trade and Business Enabling Environment Activity imparted training to 25 customs officials on the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme on Monday, said a press statement. The programme is part of USAID efforts to assist the Bangladesh government in reducing the time and cost of clearing goods. Firms receiving AEO accreditation will enjoy fast-tracked imports and exports through a dedicated channel, including the privilege of receiving their goods without a physical customs inspection. This helps firms save time and stay on external trade schedules. A Time Release Study conducted by NBR showed that consignments in the Chattogram port required over 11 days to clear Customs and be received. Having AEO status will dramatically reduce that time with the added benefit of reducing the congestion at the ports. The training has been provided aiming to build the capacity of customs officers to validate AEO applications and to manage the post-AEO accreditation procedures, the USAID press statement said. This training will support the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to implement the globally-practiced AEO in Bangladesh. While NBR offers this status only to three firms now, it intends to provide more firms with the AEO facility from the textile, pharmaceutical, and leather sectors. 63 firms have applied for AEO status and are awaiting a formal response from NBR. The Feed the Future Bangladesh Trade Activity supports the government of Bangladesh to bolster economic growth and food security by improving trade facilitation, enhancing market access, and improving the business-enabling market. The Trade Activity provides technical assistance, training, institutional strengthening, and other direct support to the Government of Bangladesh and non-governmental partners. It also promotes greater collaboration among the government, private sector, and civil society organizations.
Source: The Financial Express
Manufacturers are eyeing 7-axis cobots, which are collaborative robots designed to interact directly with humans in a shared space, to help automate the textile industry. All industries are undergoing some form of digital transformation to create disruption proof operations. Kassow Robots will deploy its KR1018 7-axis cobot—a collaborative robot designed to interact directly with humans in a shared space— to help automate the textile industry. It’s designed specifically for smaller footprints and should bring greater productivity in a variety of factory tasks that haven’t been open to traditional robotics quite yet. The seventh-axis choice enables continuous dispensing, welding, and material-removal applications thanks to increased mobility and access angles. The arm can actually reach around corners, providing greater flexibility for installation location and ensuring that the robot can be used in smaller operations where space is more confined. In addition, it features an easy to use interface so that operations can begin without the aid of specialized robot engineers. It’s a plug-and-play concept intended for all company sizes. A long reach with up to 1800 mm of reach and payloads up to 18 kg and simple programming techniques help remove the obstacles to traditional robotics installations 60 robots / cobots delivered in stages to the USA The delivery will happen in stages, supplying the cobots to the factories of a particular textile client in the United States. The team acknowledges the potential for more and believes that demonstrations in real working environments will be the proof of concept needed to slowly expand delivery. The use case is as follows: The cobot will mount on an AGV equipped with a magazine and a control system. The factory will use it to restock cabling machines. As a result, the company will be able to ensure seamless bobbin changes and improve its material tracking. There’s no need to reorient the arm, and the addition will help humans within the factory continue their tasks without unnecessary interruptions or troubleshooting.
Source: RT Insights
Hope for the stalled India-UK bilateral trade deal has increased manifold after Indianorigin Rishi Sunak was appointed British prime minister (PM). Sunak had earlier told an Indian English-language daily that he was ‘strongly committed’ to the UK-India free trade agreement (FTA) to create jobs in both sides and for India to liberalise its consumer financial services industry. Sunak had said the United Kingdom could facilitate climate finance to fund India's net zero ambitions. There are media reports in India of heightened expectations of a much-needed boost to bilateral ties. PM Narendra Modi tweeted: "Warmest congratulations @RishiSunak! As you become UK PM, I look forward to working closely together on global issues, and implementing Roadmap 2030. Special Diwali wishes to the 'living bridge' of UK Indians, as we transform our historic ties into a modern partnership." India’s ministry of external affairs last week said New Delhi hopes its UK ties won't get affected after the new leader takes over as PM. The UK-India relationship was ‘a partnership of equals’ where the brightest talent from both countries travel back and forth to study and work, one which includes a close trading partnership on goods and services, and where the UK and India freely exchange world-class ideas and innovation, Sunak had said earlier this year. "The UK does not have a natural right to sit at the table with one of the world's largest, fastest growing, and most dynamic economies. We must earn it. Right now, there are something like 900 million Indian people under the age of 35. They are smart. They are increasingly welleducated. They are ambitious. And when they look out at the world, we can't take for granted that they will look to the UK," he had told the India Global Forum UK-India awards earlier this year.
Source: Fibre2 Fashion
The COVID-19 pandemic was hugely challenging for those working within the Australian apparel, accessories, and textiles industries – disrupting industry networking events, international sourcing trips and global supply chains. With things returning to normal, the good news is that the International Sourcing Expo is back and better than ever for its 11th edition, taking place from 15-i17 November 2022 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The premise of the expo is sourcing from offshore and Julie Holt, Global Exhibitions Director at the International Exhibition & Conference (IEC) Group says that it is the ultimate destination for trade professionals to meet and network with international manufacturers and suppliers. “International networking is more necessary than ever given all that has taken place in the past three years and how isolated Australia became from the rest of the world. The upside of COVID has been the innovation we have seen brewing during this time of quiet. The local market is primed to embrace the wealth of fresh new ideas and committed trading partners from across the globe,” she explains. “Visitors will have the opportunity to source directly from global apparel powerplayers such as India, who specialise in apparel and textiles across a wide range of ready-to-wear garments and home textiles. The country’s rich natural resources for making and decorating textiles are unrivalled, and we’re excited to share that there will be a significant Indian presence at the Expo, including a large contingent represented by Federation of Indian Export Organisations, Apparel Export Promotion Council, and Handloom Export Promotion Council, in apparel and textiles, and Council for Leather Exports India in the co-located Footwear and Leather Show,” she adds. Raw material support Mr JS Rana is the joint director of the AEPC and will attend the International Sourcing Expo in November. He shares that the country’s contribution to the international textile market is unique in that they are competitive in both the labour-intensive hand-woven sector and the capital-intensive mill sector. “India enjoys a comparative advantage in terms of skilled manpower and in low cost of production relative to other major textile producers, hence our status as the secondlargest exporter of clothing and textile in the world,” he says. Another feature that makes Indian-produced products attractive to Australian buyers is their emphasis on sustainability through manufacturing textiles that use natural recyclable materials. The country is spoiled for choice when it comes to these highquality recyclable raw materials with huge quantities of cotton, Jute, and silk at their disposal. The necessity of diversifying one’s supply chain While Australia has long enjoyed a friendly trade relationship with India, the Australian government’s decision to close the borders in 2020 to stop the spread of COVID-19 left many local apparel businesses that had relied on Indian materials and products scrambling. “Unfortunately, choosing to source only from Australian suppliers simply isn’t a realistic prospect for most local apparel and textiles businesses, due to high labour and material costs. Another significant factor is that most local suppliers simply aren’t large enough to meet the demand and volume needed,” explains Julie. It’s clear that to remain competitive, Australian businesses need a diversified and global supply chain. The Indian textile trade industry is set up to meet the needs of local buyers in both small and large-scale production and can offer value all along the supply chain, starting at fibre and ending at finished goods. “There is a strong focus on the Australian market as a growth opportunity,” says Mr Rana. This sentiment is reinforced by India’s new Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement with Australia which now means that Indian textile exports to Australia are excluded from duties. ‘This is no doubt going to be a great boon to further cooperation opportunities between Australia and India’ says Ms Holt. “With a robust presence of Indian exhibitors and industry associations exhibiting at the International Sourcing Expo, it is clear that there is real interest and commitment to engaging with Australian business and we look forward to realising these opportunities in November 2022, and through our events in 2023 and beyond,” Julie concludes.
Source: Financial Express
Imagine a fabric that can cool you down when it is hot outside and warm you up when it is cold outside. That is exactly what researchers at the Shinshu University in Japan are working on. Textile engineers at Shinshu University in Japan have woven a fabric that can heat up or cool down depending on the outside temperature. The fabric is woven out of super-fine nano-threads that contain a special “phase-change” material (PCM) that can store and release large amounts of heat. “This fabric can potentially be used as a personal thermal management system to help people maintain a comfortable temperature. It can also be used in non-wearable applications. For example, as an external packing component to help regulate the temperatures of electronics and batteries,” Hideaki Morikawa told indianexpress.com over email. Morikawa is the corresponding author of the research article published in the journal ACS Nano. Occupations in many industries, like cold storage, baking, and others, require workers to shift between vastly different temperatures as part of their work. Apart from making their work uncomfortable, such temperature shifts can also cause workers to fall ill. One solution to this could be constantly changing clothing, which can be cumbersome. It would be very inconvenient for a cold storage worker to wear a sweater every time they go into a freezer and take it off when they exit. This is where PCMs come in. Their ability to absorb and release heat could mean that they can absorb heat in hot conditions and release it when it gets cooler and vice versa. But these materials present their own set of problems. A t-shirt would not be very practical if it were made out of a material that would melt when you step out in the heat. Some methods have tried to solve this problem by having small “microcapsules” containing these PCMs built into various applications. But according to Morikawa, this technology offers “insufficient flexibility for any realistically wearable applications.” Because of this, Morikawa and his team turned to a different method called coaxial electrospinning. Electrospinning is a method to manufacture fibres with diameters in the order of nanometers. The research team spun a nanofiber with a PCM encapsulated at its centre. But they didn’t stop there. They then went on to couple this PCM-encapsulated material with two other technologies: photoresponsive materials and an electrothermal conductive coating. The photoresponsive material absorbs heat from direct sunlight and the electrothermal coating converts excess heat into electricity. The fabric combines these three different technologies to expand the range of environments where it can be used. But according to Morikawa, “there may be a long way to go before large-scale production” of this special fabric. For one, the researchers did test various configurations of the fabric in temperatures between zero to 80 degrees celsius but they did not explore how the material could deteriorate over time in various conditions. Also, coaxial electrospinning is a complicated process that according to Morikawa has “strict requirements for spinning,” making it currently impractical outside laboratory settings. Further, the conductive polymer used in the fabric is quite expensive and the researchers will need to find a cheaper alternative in the future.
Source: Sethu Pradeep
The goals for 2047 have been set for international trade and till 2027, the commerce department will work towards laying a strong foundation to achieve these goals," said an official. The plan is to increase the share of exports in the gross domestic product to 25%. "The goals for 2047 have been set for international trade and till 2027, the commerce department will work towards laying a strong foundation to achieve these goals," said an official. The plan is to increase the share of exports in the gross domestic product to 25%. India aims to raise the share of its exports in global trade to 3% by 2027 and 10% by 2047 from the current 2.1%, promoting hundred Indian brands as global champions. A Customs 'ONE' will be set up to provide import-export clearance within one hour of arrival at entry points and customs ports to facilitate trade. These are among the commerce and industry ministry's several India's hundredth year of independence year goals under the India@2047 umbrel It includes setting up economic zones outside India as an extension of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. "The goals for 2047 have been set for international trade and till 2027, the commerce department will work towards laying a strong foundation to achieve these goals," said an official. The plan is to increase the share of exports in the gross domestic product to 25%. The focus sectors are pharmaceuticals, gems & jewellery, marine & agriculture, textiles & leather, engineering goods, electronics & telecom products, and chemicals. Similarly, there is a blueprint for the services as well. "The plan is to become top three in global services trade in tourism, IT & ITeS, business services, financial services, healthcare & wellness, education, and AV services," the official added. The roadmap also includes branding India as a supplier of high-value and high-growth products, enhancing the participation of MSMEs in trade, and attaining a 10% share in niche products called "creative economy". Branding campaigns would focus on promoting exports of pharmaceuticals, tea, coffee, engineering goods & services, and developing districts as export hubs. The government’s responsibility is to construct dams and reservoirs to prevent floods, provide energy to the export-oriented industry at regionally competitive rates, drive research into better cotton seed, and encourage value addition at all levels – argues CEO Gohar Textiles, Pakistan’s leading exporter of home textiles, in discussion with Editors GVS.
Source: Economic Times
Textile and garment businesses are facing pressure due to weaker purchasing power caused by mounting inflation and other global uncertainties. Textile and garment businesses are facing pressure due to weaker purchasing power caused by mounting inflation and other global uncertainties. Textile and garment exports in September dropped by nearly 1.2 billion USD, or 27%, from the previous month, to 3.2 billion USD. Sharp export declines were recorded in the US, Europe, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), and China, according to the General Statistics Office. The SSI Securities Corporation said the number of orders placed for the fourth quarter of 2022 fell by 25-50% from the second quarter, when orders increased strongly, because the unsold inventory in import markets is high at present. Many companies have received orders to be delivered in the first quarter of 2023, but the order number is still much below their capacity, SSI noted. It added the enterprises whose buyers are mainly in the US and Europe will be hit harder compared to those exporting to Japan and the RoK. Aside from inflation, fluctuations in material prices are also a problem. Le Tien Truong, Chairman of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), said there are uncertainties running up to the end of the year, especially the Russia-Ukraine conflict and material price fluctuations. Enterprises are seeking ways to diversify material supply sources as well as export markets because when material sufficiency is ensured, they can boost shipments to many markets, thus helping guarantee production stability, supply chain, and sustainable exports, he said. Another challenge is foreign exchange rates, according to analysts. Nguyen Duc Hao, a specialist from the VNDirect Securities Corporation, said the euro has continually depreciated as a result of recession concerns due to Russia’s threat to reduce gas supplies for many European countries, adding that businesses could suffer from lower profits, even losses. Echoing the view, SSI held that most textile and garment companies earn revenue in the US dollar, but many of their costs such as materials, logistics and lending are also calculated in the greenback. It said while the export outlook is bleak, the USD/VND exchange rate is predicted to continue falling in the last half of this year, causing an adverse impact on businesses, especially those with high expenses calculated in the US dollar
Source: TBS News
Judicious engagement with the global economy and pursuit of the benefits of international trade and international finance are still what India needs to raise its citizens’ standard of living. The world has changed dramatically in the past two years. The two most significant triggers of this change have been the Covid pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These two events have disrupted the structures of economic globalisation. National policy responses have been less than ideal, with the largest mistake being the US Federal Reserve’s tardiness in combating rising inflation. Their delayed action is shocking the global system even further. Even before these shocks, there was mounting concern about the effects of globalisation on the livelihoods who were not well equipped to benefit from increased competition and rapid technological innovation. Populist nationalism was rearing its ugly head, even in seemingly liberal democracies like the United States and United Kingdom. Rana Foroohar, who occupies a prominent and influential position as the global business columnist for the Financial Times of London, offers her perspective on the state of the world in a new book, Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World. Her diagnosis is a familiar one, and two quotes capture her perspective well: “far from making us all “free,” the free market changed us from citizens into consumers, increasingly beholden to the increasingly large companies that outsourced our jobs and mined our personal data…” and “two groups prospered disproportionately under American-style neoliberalism: multinational companies and the Chinese.” In essence, Foroohar’s solution is to enhance and diversify sites of local production. “Homecoming” in this context means, according to the publisher’s blurb, keeping “operations, investment, and wealth closer to home, wherever that may be.” Economists will recognise familiar ideas underlying this vision, including the dynamics of comparative advantage, learning by doing, agglomeration economies, and so on. Perhaps the new component in current formulations is the concept of “resilience, given salience by the Covid pandemic and its impacts. In addition, information technology provides new tools for this re-localisation, just as it aided globalisation over recent decades. Foroohar’s thesis and prescriptions are somewhat reminiscent of Raghuram Rajan’s ideas in his 2018 book, The Third Pillar—How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind. There, Rajan noted the rapid progress of economic globalisation, spurred by trade and technological change, and how national governments had scaled up accordingly, leaving communities behind. Rajan’s communities are a localised version of the general concept of civil society, and he emphasised the value of social ties and social capital. In that sense, his ideas complement those of Foroohor, who argues that geographic specialisation has gone too far, exceeding what is optimal, though she mixes this with value judgements about consumption. Implicitly, her case is also that robust local economies are a necessary for civil society to thrive. There is much to be commended in analyses that question the extent and pattern of economic globalisation. What is striking is that both books have a primarily developed country perspective. They recognise the growth of inequality within developed countries—something that is being repeated in developing countries as well – but not the reduction of inequality across countries. “The Chinese” who have benefited disproportionately were much poorer three decades ago than they are now, on average. They have caught up with their American counterparts and rivals, and this is not a bad thing for the world as a whole. The unequal distribution of wealth and income in each country should concern policymakers in each—they have clearly not done a good job of serving many of their citizens well. But the average Chinese is now four times as well off as the average Indian. Judicious engagement with the global economy and pursuit of the benefits of international trade and international finance are still what India needs to raise its’ citizen’s standard of living. Interestingly, the area of globalisation that has been the most problematic is the international movement of people. War and political instability have created, chaotic flows of refugees and other migrants, and have been one of the foremost causes of national populism. Rajan and Foroohar both are champions of immigration and the movement of people, both within and across national boundaries. But such movements will always cause some tension, and there is no general answer to how to balance the movements of people, products, raw materials and financial capital. Nor is it clear how local governments and communities are supposed to deal with adjustment costs and the provision of public goods, such as local infrastructure and education, in the world of relocalisation. Finally, if the world is to survive at all, it has to deal with carbon emissions very quickly in the next two or three decades. This will require a major restructuring of the global economy, one which will require national policies and international cooperation and coordination. Technological change will matter more than ever to achieve this transition. India has to embrace globalisation with these goals in mind. It has to globalise on its own terms, and equip its citizens to participate as fully as possible in the new economy. Strong local communities and local economic clusters are a good thing, but they are no substitute for global thinking and global action.
Source: Financial Express
After urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to roll back 5 per cent GST on handloom products KT Rama Rao Telangana Textile minister has launched an online campaign against it. Explaining the petition, the Minister pointed out that India is home to almost 5 million handloom workers who produce unique products without the aid of mechanical energy. “And the highly decentralized and rural-based handloom industry mostly has women in its workforce,” he added. The Minister took over his Twitter handle to voice his opinion in public and said in a tweet, “Let’s protect the handloom sector by joining hands for a noble cause. I request everyone to sign this petition and also share it with their friends and family.” Last week he had written a postcard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to roll back 5 per cent GST on handloom products. “The handloom sector in India is reeling under the impact of the COVID pandemic and any move to increase the tax will sound the death knell for the sector,” he stated. He said that handloom weaving represents one of the richest and most vibrant aspects of the Indian cultural heritage.
Source: KNN India
It's time to persuade fashion high street brands to embrace a more sustainable approach to clothing production, writes Dr Alan Hudd, the founder of digital textile dyeing and finishing company, Alchemie Technology. Although the fashion and textile industry is one of the most polluting on the planet, second only to oil and gas, consumers remain largely unaware of its real impact on our environment. The fashion industry is in fact the second largest cause of industrial water pollution in the world – and is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, more than international flights and shipping combined. In the UK alone, consumers continue to buy an average of 26kg of clothing every year. But while the impact producing these clothes is having on our planet is a real problem, fashion brands continue to ignore the root cause of the ever-growing environmental issue they are causing. Now is the time for action, and for industry leaders and fashion brands to lead by example. One of the most damaging elements of the garment manufacturing process is the dyeing of fabrics, and addition of properties such as wicking and waterproofing, which are still done by decades-old – and highly polluting – traditional methods. To put the scale of the issue into perspective, the total amount of clothes we buy globally creates 553 billion tonnes of CO2 and 8.3 trillion tonnes of dye-polluted wastewater each year – from the dyeing process alone. And if fashion brands don’t act now to change the way their clothes are dyed, the CO2 emissions generated by clothes production are predicted to reach 2.5 gigatonnes by 2050. These figures are particularly worrying in the context of the growing global energy crisis we are currently facing. What is the fashion industry doing to embrace sustainable clothing production Fashion designer Stella McCartney has been a pioneer of environmentally responsible fashion for over 20 years, committed to circularity and protecting the planet for tomorrow. Most recently, at her Paris Fashion Week show, her SS23 line featured the “world’s first-ever luxury bag crafted from mycelium”, while another collection used grape waste to create a plant-based alternative to animal leather. Another brand making positive sustainable waves in the luxury fashion space is Pangaia. With a similarly environmentally focussed mission, Pangaia’s climate positive strategy focusses on minimising waste, increasing efficiencies, with a particular focus on reducing their water footprint. Just this month, the brand announced their latest capsule collection, in which the garments have been dyed with food waste ingredients as an alternative to reactive dyes, minimising the use of chemicals and utilising food waste. But while some high-end designers are paving the way for change, getting high street fashion brands to adopt similarly sustainable production methods is a much harder ask. A growing trend in the world of high-street fashion is for brands to appoint celebrity ‘sustainability ambassadors’ in the hope that famous faces will promote sustainable behaviour amongst consumers and spark positive change. Perhaps the most well-known example of this is fast fashion giant Boohoo, who announced their partnership with reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian Barker in September. While her 45-piece collection is set to be made from recycled cotton and polyester, critics have pointed out that this is not a big enough change, with the collection only representing a tiny proportion of the 40,000 annual styles released by the company. Other brands, like PrettyLittleThing, have turned their attention to reselling, launching celebrity-endorsed resale platforms where consumers can sell their unwanted clothes in return for a discount off their next purchase on the brand’s website. While this move demonstrates an effort to move away from their ‘throwaway fashion’ label, the offer of a discount – thereby encouraging customers to buy yet more new clothes – shows they have missed the mark. Understandably, moves such as these have faced huge backlash for being disingenuous and ‘too little too late’, but accusations of greenwashing are not overly helpful. Any step, however big or small, to generate debate around sustainability in fashion surely must be regarded as a positive. However, overhauling the way our fashion is produced and embracing more sustainable clothing production would be far more beneficial to the planet than investing in celebrity-endorsed marketing campaigns. The good news is that the technology exists for the fashion industry to stop the pollution caused by dyeing our clothes in its tracks and reverse the damage it is making to our environment. As a company, Alchemie Technology is on a mission to encourage brands and clothing manufacturers around the world to switch to alternative dyeing methods. Research has shown that if textile dye houses around the globe were to switch to waterless dyeing systems 470 billion tonnes of CO2 and 7.9 trillion litres of wastewater could be saved from damaging the environment each year. For many fast-fashion brands, profit remains the number one focus, and as such adopting a new, innovative technologies such as this is not often a priority. There is the often perception that opting for the sustainable option is more expensive, but this certainly isn’t always the case. In fact, by adopting energy-efficient, sustainable dyeing methods now, brands are not only being kinder to the environment but they are also making substantial energy and water savings at a time when energy costs continue to soar, and the problem of water scarcity, is threatening the very survival of the manufacturers that brands depend on. The working conditions are also far cleaner, safer, and less damaging than using dye baths full of chemicals. It’s all about thinking long term. If fast-fashion giants really want to show their commitment to sustainability, they would invest in cleaner manufacturing solutions and more sustainable clothing production and would encourage their suppliers to do so too. About the author: Dr Alan Hudd is the founder of digital textile dyeing and finishing company, Alchemie Technology. The company has developed a low carbon, waterless, digitally controlled dyeing solution to reduce the amount of water used by 95%. It is said to produce no polluted wastewater and reduces energy consumption by 85% compared to traditional dyeing.
Source: Just Style
Over the four months of operation of the import substitution platform at the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE), companies from the Russian Federation were among the most active users of the exchange trading platform, ensuring not only the highest volume of transactions among non-resident participants but also coming close to the indicators for some regions of Belarus, BelTA learned from the press service of the BUCE. According to the analytical report prepared by the BUCE specialists, in June-September 2022, Russian companies concluded 165 transactions for the sale and purchase of import-substituting products for a total of Br8.5 million. For comparison, the figures for Mogilev Oblast was Br8.7 million. Among the most popular groups of goods with the Russians were textile products, electrical products and synthetic casing for food products. According to the BUCE, the demand for the exchange platform among participants from Russia is connected not only with the urgent topic of import substitution, but also with the functional features of the Belarusian trading platform, allowing to enter into transactions with companies from Belarus, as well as with residents of other countries, using the exchange as a hedging tool. “It is noteworthy that a significant share of transactions made by Russian companies on the import substitution platform are the so-called ‘transit transactions', in which both the seller and the buyer are non-residents of the Republic of Belarus. Russians are attracted to the Belarusian trading platform thanks to the convenient search for the necessary goods and their suppliers, as well as a much lower level of risk compared to traditional aggregator sites serving the B2B segment. Apparently, this is why the transaction amounts are sometimes quite large. For example, the largest transit deal for import-substituting products concluded between two Russian residents was the purchase of cotton fabric for almost Br2 million in equivalent. However, such deals are still rare, and most Russian bidders use the import substitution platform for small operational purchases,” the BUCE press service said. The BUCE currently features 39,500 active bids for sale and 2,600 bids for purchase of import-substituting goods. The total amount of transactions exceeds Br75.5 million.
Source: Belta
Over the four months of operation of the import substitution platform at the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE), companies from the Russian Federation were among the most active users of the exchange trading platform, ensuring not only the highest volume of transactions among non-resident participants but also coming close to the indicators for some regions of Belarus, BelTA learned from the press service of the BUCE. According to the analytical report prepared by the BUCE specialists, in June-September 2022, Russian companies concluded 165 transactions for the sale and purchase of import-substituting products for a total of Br8.5 million. For comparison, the figures for Mogilev Oblast was Br8.7 million. Among the most popular groups of goods with the Russians were textile products, electrical products and synthetic casing for food products. According to the BUCE, the demand for the exchange platform among participants from Russia is connected not only with the urgent topic of import substitution, but also with the functional features of the Belarusian trading platform, allowing to enter into transactions with companies from Belarus, as well as with residents of other countries, using the exchange as a hedging tool. “It is noteworthy that a significant share of transactions made by Russian companies on the import substitution platform are the so-called ‘transit transactions', in which both the seller and the buyer are non-residents of the Republic of Belarus. Russians are attracted to the Belarusian trading platform thanks to the convenient search for the necessary goods and their suppliers, as well as a much lower level of risk compared to traditional aggregator sites serving the B2B segment. Apparently, this is why the transaction amounts are sometimes quite large. For example, the largest transit deal for import-substituting products concluded between two Russian residents was the purchase of cotton fabric for almost Br2 million in equivalent. However, such deals are still rare, and most Russian bidders use the import substitution platform for small operational purchases,” the BUCE press service said. The BUCE currently features 39,500 active bids for sale and 2,600 bids for purchase of import-substituting goods. The total amount of transactions exceeds Br75.5 million.
Source: Belta
A BGMEA delegation led by its President Faruque Hassan met Jiyeon Janice Ryu, resident representative of the International Finance Corporation in Korea, on Tuesday A delegation of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), led by its President Faruque Hassan, met on Tuesday, Jiyeon Janice Ryu, resident representative of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Korea, and discussed issues related to the apparel and textile industry and its challenges, and ways to accelerate environmental sustainability. The BGMEA team included Vice President Shahidullah Azim, Director Asif Ashraf, DBL Group Managing Director MA Jabbar, and Hams Group Managing Director, Engr Md Shafiqur Rahman. Nuzhat Anwar, senior country officer, IFC Dhaka, and Nishat Chowdhury, programme manager of IFC's "Partnership for Cleaner Textile: PaCT" programme were also present, reads a press release. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan informed the IFC of the progress made by Bangladesh's apparel industry in the area of environmental sustainability, including remarkable results in reducing water consumption in the clothing sector of Bangladesh through the PaCT programme, supported by the IFC. The "Partnership for Cleaner Textile: PaCT" programme has been supporting participating factories in reducing their carbon and water footprint. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is strongly focusing on enhancing business capabilities while attaching importance to sustainability, said Faruque Hassan, adding that IFC has already funded several studies for the RMG sector to explore its opportunities and ways to realise them One of the studies aims is to identify the potential scope of non-cotton textiles and apparel for Bangladesh in the global apparel market and to formulate a strategy to develop the country's overall competitiveness and strength in the area. He requested the IFC Representative in Korea to exchange knowledge and expertise in the area of sustainability from a Korean perspective. Faruque Hassan invited the IFC team in Korea to the "Made in Bangladesh Week" which will be organised by BGMEA from 12-18 November in Dhaka to promote Bangladesh and the RMG industry by showcasing its strengths and encouraging stories internationally.
Source: TBS News
Taiwan’s textile manufacturers are following brands such as Nike and Adidas to use more sustainable and recycled materials for their products More Taiwanese textile manufacturers are joining the trend to develop recycled products as the EU pushes the implementation of its “Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles” in 2024, and the global textile sector targets a 45 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Several local firms, which displayed environmentally friendly products at the Taipei Innovative Textile Application Show earlier this month, have followed in the footsteps of other global brands to incorporate environmental, social and corporate governance principles into their business operations in response to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The companies include Far Eastern New Century Corp (FENC, 遠東新世紀), Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp (新光合成纖維), Lealea Enterprise Co (力麗), Zig Sheng Industrial Co (集盛實業) and Formosa Taffeta Co (福懋興業), according to the trade show’s organizer, the Taiwan Textile Federation. Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a note on Thursday that recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) demand has been increasing, with prices rising three times higher than those of virgin materials, as global brands such as Nike Inc and Adidas AG have pledged to use sustainable and recycled materials for their products. R-PET is made mainly from plastic bottles, which are then made into a resin to be used in the production of textiles. The world’s three largest R-PET suppliers are Thailandbased Indorama Ventures Holdings LP, Taiwan’s Far Eastern New Century and Mexicolisted Alpek SAB de CV, Yuanta said. To meet strong demand, Indorama plans to expand its R-PET capacity by 94 percent to 750,000 tonnes by 2025, from 387,000 tonnes, while Far Eastern is looking to increase its capacity by 169 percent to 870,000 tonnes from 324,000 tonnes over the same period, while also launching a plastic bottle recycling project with convenience stores in Japan and Taiwan, Yuanta said. “FENC has focused on research and development for eco-friendly materials for years. It supplies multiple PET, textile and apparel products for international brands,” Yuanta analysts led by Lisa Chen (陳玫芬) said in the note. The Taipei-based company has been supplying R-PET for Nike’s sports jerseys for national teams for more than 10 years. FENC also used plastic bottles retrieved from the sea to produce sports shoes for Adidas in 2015, and is to extend the collaboration to sportswear this year. The two companies are working to provide tear-resistant sports jerseys for nine national teams at this year’s FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar, as the shirts are moisture-wicking and suitable for sports involving collision, Yuanta said. Supplying Lululemon Athletica Inc and Inditex SA’s Zara brand, FENC used recycled polyester chips in their products this year, which would also be adopted for their products to be launched next year, it said. Shinkong Synthetic, Lealea and Zig Sheng purchase PET bottle flakes to make R-PET, which is used to manufacture recycled polyester fiber. Formosa Taffeta purchases recycled polyester fiber to make fabric, with R-PET accounting for 50 percent of its total PET shipments, while used fishing nets and oyster ropes make up 20 percent of its total nylon shipments, Yuanta said. “Taiwanese suppliers should continue to benefit from the eco-friendly approach of apparel brands like Nike, Adidas and Lululemon,” Yuanta analysts said.
Source: Taipei Times
Skyrocketing inflation and energy costs are expected to dampen European spending on retail goods, which will come down hard on Asian production centers. Southeast Asian exports are beginning to be hit by the economic challenges faced by Europe, as concerns grow that possible recessions in the West could also strain Southeast Asia's economic recovery efforts well into 2023. Spiking inflation and energy costs, as well as other economic impacts of the Ukraine war, are likely to see European economies struggle over the coming 12 months, with consumers cutting back on spending. This is expected to have a significant impact on Southeast Asian exporters, particularly those in textile manufacturing, the largest export sector for several countries in the region. Dark economic forecasts for 2023 The World Bank has warned that the world is edging towards a global recession next year, possibly leading to a string of financial crises in emerging markets and developing economies, according to a study it published last month. Fitch Solutions, a financial research company, expects the US to suffer a "mild recession” in late 2023. The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, reckons the eurozone area will see growth of 3.1% in 2022 and just 0.5% 2023, according to its latest outlook published this month. "The decline in exports [from Southeast Asia] will worsen," said Brian Lee Shun Rong, an economist at Malaysia's largest financial services group, Maybank. "Global growth will likely cool further, and recessionary risks are climbing. The EU may head into a recession as it continues to face supply and cost of living shocks from the Russia-Ukraine war," he told DW. Export numbers declining More precise trade figures from Southeast Asia will likely be released later this year, but across mainland Southeast Asia, preliminary numbers show exports have been declining since July. In 2022, the export of Cambodia's textile goods, which account for more than half of the country's overall exports, grew year-on-year by 37% between January and June but slowed to 19.9% in July and just 2.7% in August. Exports in total decreased by 7.5% in September, compared to the same month last year, according to data from the Cambodian General Department of Customs and Excise. Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, an industry body, told DW he thinks Cambodia's exports to European markets will continue to decline in the fourth quarter of this year and into 2023. Vietnam, whose trade with EU markets soared by 14.8% last year to $63.6 billion (€64.4 billion), saw its exports decline by 14% between August and September, with many factories already suspending operations, according to Vietnam government data that was reported by local media. Vietnam's monthly goods export growth could slip to single digits or even into negative territory in the fourth quarter of this year and early 2023, said Rong of Maybank. In Malaysia, export growth looks strong in 2022 at 26%, but is expected to fall to 1.3% in 2023, according to UOB Research, the analytical wing of the Singapore-based bank, UOB. Thailand and Myanmar, other major textile exporters, have also reported a drop in exports to EU states. "Inflation and looming recession in Europe have led to slowing exports from Southeast Asia," said Lay Hwee Yeo, director of the European Union Center in Singapore. "The economic slowdown in the EU will certainly have a knock-on impact on Southeast Asian countries as the EU is one of the top four trading partners of many Southeast Asian countries," he told DW. Slowdown, not a meltdown The EU is the third largest trading partner of the 10-state Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), accounting for around a tenth of the region's annual trade but a far higher share of its overall exports. Compounding the problem, many European buyers now have an "inventory glut" after a surge in trade in the early months of 2021 and an over supply during the post-pandemic recovery, said Loo from the Cambodian garment makers' association. However, business interest groups have presented a rosier picture for near term trade between Europe and Southeast Asia. Chris Humphrey, executive director of the EUASEAN Business Council, which represents European businesses in Southeast Asia, said European investment in the region had "rebounded strongly" after reaching $25.5 billion in 2021. Europe's bilateral trade with the 10-members of ASEAN had nearly recovered to prepandemic figures by the close of 2021, when it was worth $270 billion, he added. "There has been a strong bounce back in trade between the European Union and ASEAN in 2021 and continuing through the first part of 2022, as both regions begin their recoveries from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic," he told DW. A tapering off of trade over the coming months is not unexpected, Humphrey said, but "we remain confident about the strong trade and investment ties between the EU and ASEAN going forward." Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist covering Asia at French investment bank, Natixis, told DW that businesses should expect "a slowdown, not a meltdown of exports." Not all Southeast Asia markets will be impacted in the same way, with export-oriented economies like Vietnam and Cambodia expected to be more exposed to Western economic problems as they have a high share of exports to GDP, Nguyen added. The other problem for the region's economies is that Chinese demand is not likely to recover meaningfully enough to pick up the slack, she said. Furthermore, European and American markets, two key purchasers for Southeast Asian goods, could experience minor recessions at the same time.
Source: David Hutt
A BGMEA delegation led by its President Faruque Hassan met Jiyeon Janice Ryu, resident representative of the International Finance Corporation in Korea, on Tuesday A delegation of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), led by its President Faruque Hassan, met on Tuesday, Jiyeon Janice Ryu, resident representative of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Korea, and discussed issues related to the apparel and textile industry and its challenges, and ways to accelerate environmental sustainability. The BGMEA team included Vice President Shahidullah Azim, Director Asif Ashraf, DBL Group Managing Director MA Jabbar, and Hams Group Managing Director, Engr Md Shafiqur Rahman. Nuzhat Anwar, senior country officer, IFC Dhaka, and Nishat Chowdhury, programme manager of IFC's "Partnership for Cleaner Textile: PaCT" programme were also present, reads a press release. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan informed the IFC of the progress made by Bangladesh's apparel industry in the area of environmental sustainability, including remarkable results in reducing water consumption in the clothing sector of Bangladesh through the PaCT programme, supported by the IFC. The "Partnership for Cleaner Textile: PaCT" programme has been supporting participating factories in reducing their carbon and water footprint. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is strongly focusing on enhancing business capabilities while attaching importance to sustainability, said Faruque Hassan, adding that IFC has already funded several studies for the RMG sector to explore its opportunities and ways to realise them One of the studies aims is to identify the potential scope of non-cotton textiles and apparel for Bangladesh in the global apparel market and to formulate a strategy to develop the country's overall competitiveness and strength in the area. He requested the IFC Representative in Korea to exchange knowledge and expertise in the area of sustainability from a Korean perspective. Faruque Hassan invited the IFC team in Korea to the "Made in Bangladesh Week" which will be organised by BGMEA from 12-18 November in Dhaka to promote Bangladesh and the RMG industry by showcasing its strengths and encouraging stories internationally.
Source: TBS News
Cambodia and Japan have shown commitment to improve cooperation between the Ministry of Commerce, ILO-Tokyo office and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), to improve working conditions, workers’ rights, and freedom of professional organizations and promote competition in the textiles and garment sectors. According to an announcement by the Ministry of Commerce, focus will be to comply with international labour and other standards. Ok Bung, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Commerce, met Yuki Kobayasho, ILOTokyo Program Coordinator of the International Labour Organization. Stating that the implementation of policy of trade association with labour standards has increased the confidence of buyers of well-known brands, he said it had resulted in increase in orders for key products, like textiles, clothing, footwear, travel and luggage from Cambodia. Yuki Kobayasho praised the efforts and commitment of the Royal Government of Cambodia to improve working conditions, workers’ rights, freedom of professional organizations, especially the promotion of occupational safety and health of workers in the sector. In addition, Cambodia will study the inclusion of footwear, electronics and other export potential sectors under the “Better Factories Cambodia” (BFC) project as a framework for boosting orders from Cambodia. Cambodian Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak said the Royal Government of Cambodia has a policy of linking trade with labour standards since 2001 to improve working condition of labours in the garment and textile sector. The policy fully recognizes international labour standards through full implementation for labour law and related laws of the Kingdom. The Royal Government has also implemented the strategic framework and programmes to restore and promote Cambodia’s economic growth ‘in living with Covid-19 in the new normal 2021-23’ in order to restore the economy affected by the crisis. In addition, the Government of Cambodia has also implemented the “Development Strategy for the Garment, Footwear and Bag Production of Cambodia 2022-27,” which sets out a vision, objectives, goals and strategic measures to continue to strengthen and manage the development of this sector in accordance with the Cambodian environment.
Source: Khmer Times
