INTERNATIONAL
NATIONAL
Union Minister for Commerce and Textiles Piyush Goyal today launched the Prime Minister’s Mega Integrated Textile region and apparel park in Virudhunagar Tamil Nadu via video conference from Chennai in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin. Union Ministers of State Dr. L. Murugan and Minister of State for Textiles Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a twitter message said that the aspirational district of Virudhunagar will be home to PM Mega textiles park. He also said that this will boost the local economy and will prove beneficial for the youngsters of the State. Mr. Modi has said that the park will enable the State to have a greater share in the man-made fibre and technical textiles market globally thus boosting India’s efforts to be a global hub for textiles. Speaking at the launch in Chennai, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told that the integrated park will have all the necessary utilities needed for a complete textile park including technical research at one place. Beginning from a thread to the final product of a garment it will be an integrated facility for a mega park. The Minister said that India had proved itself during Covid that it can handle any challenge. Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all the efforts to put India in the global map of a fast developing Country, he said that the world is looking up to India to solve the problems of the world. He told that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been counted as the world’s most popular Leader. Mr.Goyal said that Prime Minister had high regards for the rich ancient Tamil language and culture and wanted other States to realise it. He appreciated the State Government for cooperating with the Union Government to bring about development in all aspects. Speaking at the function, the Union Minister of State for Textiles Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh said that this was an auspicious day for the beginning of the day. The first mega park is all set to be a milestone in textile manufacturing all at one place with the highest potential. State textiles minister Gandhi expressed thanks to the Prime Minister for having the mega park constructed in the State. Addressing the gathering, Union Minister of State Dr. L. Murugan said that the Centre is in the process of setting up seven integrated textile parks in the Country and it was a kind gesture of the Prime Minister for setting up a park in Tamil Nadu. A first of its kind, the textile park is all set up with a higher aim to bring about an opportunity for the growth in South Tamil Nadu. The park will be set up at 1056 acres providing one lakh direct employment and 2 lakh indirect employment. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Union and the State Government was signed today along with eleven other projects with massive investments.
Source: The New sonair.com
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended that the central government relax write-off norms related to unpaid receivables of exporters after notices by a law enforcement agency spooked exporters, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. RBI seeks to address exporters’ concerns after several of them received Enforcement Directorate (ED) notices for alleged violation of foreign exchange norms, the people cited above said, requesting anonymity. Many Indian companies have unrecovered dues from their exports. RBI’s master directions on the export of goods stipulate how such dues must be written off. According to the rules, any dues up to 5% of the total export proceeds of a company can be written off by the company itself. If the dues exceed this threshold, then it would have to be written off by the authorized dealer (AD) bank. In both scenarios, the exporter is required to submit supporting evidence to AD bank, which proves that the company has exhausted all recovery options. However, in some cases, it was found that the dues were so minuscule that companies did not write them off. In a few other cases, while the exporter wrote off the dues, it did not provide any supporting documents to the AD bank. Most of the ED notices have gone to companies with export dues between 2016 and 2018, said a person cited above. Emails sent to spokespeople for RBI and the Union finance ministry remained unanswered. “Unrecovered export dues are taken seriously by regulators since the route could be misused for money laundering. However, in many cases, companies have received such notices for dues even less than $100,000," said one of the people cited above. The second person said the companies were spooked by ED notices and approached the central bank, seeking its intervention. “We have been informed that RBI has recommended a higher de-minimis threshold for unrecovered dues so that smaller transactions don’t face enforcement action." While RBI regulates foreign exchange laws, any changes to the rules, experts said, would have to be made by the central government. Regulators normally specify a de-minimis threshold—a Latin word meaning “something of little importance"—and transactions falling below that threshold are considered small transactions that need not be tightly regulated. “There should certainly be a higher de-minimis threshold linked to total foreign exchange revenue to address genuine challenges in respect of trade-related payments. Also, there are challenges with the updation of the reporting platform, which in a few cases take the form of enforcement notices," said Moin Ladha, a partner at Khaitan & Co. Companies should keep a check on real-time updates and create a communication trail should the delay be beyond their control due to technical glitches, Ladha said. Experts said the 5% limit currently applicable for self-write-offs is too low, especially because the limit is calculated on total exports by a company. In the case of smaller companies that undertake limited export orders, even a single default by the foreign entity receiving these exports may trigger the 5% threshold, they said. The industry wants a higher limit and the limit to be linked to total foreign income of the company instead of being linked to total exports. There is also a demand from the industry that companies be exempt from submitting evidence documents if the unrecovered due is less than the de-minimis threshold specified.
Source: live mint
Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal commended the industry for their enthusiasm to set up and expand businesses in the upcoming Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks. Chairing the Industry Interaction on ‘Investment Opportunities in the Textiles Industry under PM MITRA Scheme’ yesterday in New Delhi, the Minister strongly urged the industry to collaborate and partner for Research and Development (R&D) and innovation to jointly achieve greater strides in the sector. Shri Goyal praised the exemplary initiatives taken by the 7 state Governments, namely, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, in providing a thriving ecosystem for textiles manufacturing. The Minister further encouraged the industry to take benefit from the existing attractive schemes of the Ministry of Textiles, including the National Technical Textiles Mission and Scheme For Capacity Building In Textile Sector (Samarth). The Minister also suggested setting up a dedicated Invest India desk in the Ministry of Textiles to assist and handhold investors looking to set up or expand their manufacturing base to meet increasing global demand in the sector. Shri Piyush Goyal released a PM MITRA Brochure prepared by the Textile Team of Invest India during the event. Sectary Ministry of Textiles, Ms. Rachna Shah and senior officials from the Ministry and State Government of the 7 shortlisted states under the PM MITRA scheme held wide-ranging discussions with the industry. During the first session chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Ms. Rachna Shah, senior Government official from each selected State Government showcased the strengths of the respective State in the textiles sector with a special focus on infrastructure & connectivity, scheme benefits & incentives and basic utilities provided besides initiatives for an industry friendly ecosystem to attract investments in the upcoming PM MITRA parks. This session was followed by an exclusive industry interaction session chaired by Sh. Goyal with participation of senior leadership from 80+ prominent textiles companies besides infrastructure developers, banks, and international organizations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The industry interaction revolved around the themes of Sustainability, introduction of R&D centres and making upcoming factories in the PM MITRA, ESG (environmental, social and governance) compliant and ensuring value added products are manufactured in the upcoming parks. The Minister emphasized the need for phase-by-phase development of these parks for efficient utilization of resources and better integration of the textile value chain. It was suggested that two 5 member Action Teams be set up to study ESG norms and model park design in line with global leading practices for upcoming units in the PM MITRA parks. The session offered a unique platform for the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and the 7 selected State governments to deliberate together with the industry on various aspects related to PM MITRA scheme and pave the future roadmap for this scheme. Inspired by the 5F vision (Farm to fibre; fibre to factory; factory to fashion; fashion to foreign) of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi of building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and positioning India strongly on the global textiles map, the scheme for setting up of 7 PM MITRA Parks was announced in Union Budget for 2021-22. PM MITRA scheme will offer the opportunity to create an Integrated Textiles Value Chain right from spinning, weaving, processing/dyeing, and printing to garment manufacturing at one location and will reduce logistics cost of Industry. PM MITRA scheme will help India in attracting investments, boosting employment generation, and position itself strongly in the global textile market. It is expected to generate around 1 lakh direct and 2 lakh indirect employment per park, spreading over 1000 acres each and attracting proposed investments of around ₹ 70,000 Cr. These parks are envisaged to be located at sites that have inherent strength for the textile industry to flourish and have necessary linkages to succeed. The PM Mitra Parks will be developed in Public Private Partnership mode through a Special Purpose Vehicle jointly owned by the Central and State Governments. The Central Government will provide development capital assistance of Rs 500 crores to each Greenfield PM MITRA Park for the development of common basic infrastructure besides Rs. 300 crores per park as an incentive for investors on a first come, first serve basis.
Source: PIB
Several drawbacks of the government’s flagship Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme are being flagged by industry players, as the government is planning a comprehensive review of it, along with all stakeholders on June 27. The slow uptake of incentives and lack of enough investor interest in at least half a dozen sectors among the 14 covered, have necessitated the review.The PLI scheme, which started in March 2020 with announcement of incentives for pharma, medical devices and large-scale electronics, was later expanded to other sectors. For all 14 sectors covered by the scheme, outlay for incentives has been kept at Rs 1.97 trillion. The incentive package for each sector runs for five years and as new sectors have been added to it over time the scheme will run till 2028.Since the start of the scheme, only Rs 2,900 crore of incentives have been disbursed. “Only 2% of the funds have been used and going forward this problem will increase. One reason for the slow start of the scheme is that it is very complicated and to qualify for incentives the investors have to meet many parameters,” founder of Global Trade Research Initiative Ajay Srivastava said. “The design of the scheme should be simple and there should be as few conditions as possible to make it easy for investors and officials managing it,” he said. Scheme for each sector is managed by the ministry responsible for the sector and between the government and the investor a layer of Project Implementing Agencies has been placed. The Industrial Finance Corporation of India is handling 10 sectors, Small Industries Development Bank of India two schemes, Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants and IREDA and Solar Energy Corporation of India are managing one scheme each. This adds to the complexity and because of the long list of conditions officials would be vary of signing the grant of incentives, another analyst who did not wish to be named said. The payment of a claim of `900 crore of incentives by Korean mobile manufacturer Samsung has got stuck in the maze of rules of PLI, according to reports. The company’s representatives have been quoted in the media reports saying that they are in the advanced stage of discussions with the government for the redressal of the issue. Of the 14 sectors covered by PLI, activity has been visible only in six sectors – large scale electronics, telecom, pharmaceuticals, food processing, white goods, and auto and auto components. Most visible success story of PLI is mobile phone manufacturing and pharma. The PLI may not support immediate recovery of capital expenditure but for the long-term we are positive on it, Prashant Tarwadi, director at India Ratings, said. The government may not be able to utilise the entire amount of incentives under PLI during the time period of the scheme. “The scheme may continue in some form or the other beyond its stated term,” Tarwadi said. The government has been running incentive schemes to give a leg up to manufacturing since 2012-13 and must have spent close to `1 trillion on them without making a lasting impact. PLI is the latest of such incentive models. The analyst who did not wish to be named said that sectors under PLI that are yet to take-off should be taken out of it and new sectors should be brought in that are strategic in nature. “PLI should never have been for finished products but for components and parts,” he said.“The developed world like the EU, UK and US are moving towards the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism or carbon tax that will put punitive tariffs on India’s exports. PLI funds should be used to handhold the industry to shift to low carbon manufacturing,” Srivastava said. He said PLI should also be shifted towards building of components for high-tech items like mobile phones and rechargeable batteries. By assembling components participation in value chains would remain low,” Srivastava said. The assembling of mobile phones and capturing a low-end of value chain has both its critics, including the former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rakan, but supporters as well. “We have to start somewhere, but not at the top of the value chain. At least we are getting 5% of the value of mobile phones, earlier we were getting zero,” former Vice Chancellor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Manoj Pant said. He pointed out that when China entered electronics manufacturing in 2008 it also started with assembling. “It started with 6% of the value chain in electronics and has now taken its share to more than 40%.”. The government says that value addition in mobile phones has touched 20% as manufacturing of components like printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), camera modules, chargers and battery localised. It also said that green shoots are visible in component making with the entry of Tata group. “How fast we scale up from here depends on us,” Pant said, adding that assembly has another advantage of providing employment to large numbers of semi-skilled persons. He said that most of the world trade happens in value chains and for India to emerge as a trading power then capturing some of those supply chains in electronics that are already shifting would be the key. According to government data exports of mobile phones in 2022-23 touched Rs 90,000 crore from almost nil in 2014-15. Imports of mobile phones have also dropped to 5% from 78% in 2014-15.
Source: Financial Express
Following the completion of a statewide survey, India will soon have its own standard body sizes for the apparel industry, with only the finishing touches left to be done, according to Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal. However, he warned, it will take some time to standardise the size of Indian shoes. “The faculty members of the National Institute of Fashion Technology, who conducted the survey (after) travelling to every state, have done very good work. A presentation (of the survey) was made before me a few days ago,” Goyal said during a press conference at the BJP headquarters. Once it is accepted, it will receive a finishing touch before being implemented nationwide, he added.
Source: Apparel resources
Karnataka Textiles and Sugarcane Development Minister Shivanand S Patil in a meeting with Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal urged him to set up a Prime Minister-Mitra Mega Textile Park at Vijayapura. The state’s textile minister also requested the Union Minister to set up a Centre of Excellence to take up research and development projects in textiles in Vijayapura. The Union Textile Ministry has already approved setting up PM-Mega Textile Park at Kalaburgi. In the project, which will come up with public private partnership, around 14 investors are expected to invest. As per reports, during a meeting with the union minister, Patil appealed to the centre to complete the process, so that the investors can come and invest in the mega textile park at the earliest. Seeking additional schemes and funds for Karnataka for promoting textile industry, Patil said the state is a multi-product export hub from fabrics to apparel of all sorts. “It exports approximately USD 2 billion worth textile products to more than 40 countries. Textile value chain is spread across the state giving equal employment opportunities across the state,” he said. Richard Vincent D'Souza, Secretary to Textile and MSME was also present at the meeting.
Source: KNN
Locally produced fabrics based on the cultural heritage of the country such as muslin, jamdani, silk and khadi could be instrumental in grabbing a substantial portion of the global market share of high-value apparel products, said stakeholders at an event in the capital on Wednesday. The global luxury bridal clothing market is valued at $62 billion annually and Bangladesh has the potential to capture a significant share of this market, said Anadil Johnson, fashion designer of Bangladeshi origin and founder of Neval, a Chicago-based fashion house. "Jamdani fabrics are not limited to sarees but can also be used to create exquisite high-end garment items, particularly for weddings and bridal collections," she told the journalists at the closing ceremony of the training project titled "Creating High-End Fashion with Local Heritage Materials of Bangladesh". In partnership with the Ministry of Commerce and the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) organised the training programme for 160 aspiring fashion design students, young designers, local weavers, and garment representatives. The objective of the training, held at the BGMEA Complex in Uttara, was to foster the development of designs inspired by local motifs. Anadil Johnson, one of the trainers involved in the project, shared her experience of sourcing jamdani fabrics from Sonargaon for over a decade. She revealed that she has been utilising these exquisite fabrics to create highend garment items, particularly for her customers in the USA, with a special focus on wedding and bridal collections. She said that millennials in the USA are increasingly interested in adopting new fashion trends that are outside of the traditional mainstream. She believes that heritage fabrics from Bangladesh, such as jamdani, could be a good replacement for these trends. Showing the jacket she was wearing, Johnson said, "It is made of Bangladeshi jamdani fabrics and we sell it at $800 in our store." "We collect jamdani fabrics from the weavers and produce high-value apparel items through this. We also work on Monipuri and other heritage fabrics. I ask the weavers to provide fabrics, not sharees to prevent wastages," she added. "We are also focusing on producing and exporting high-end lingerie items made of heritage fabrics," she further said. Dr Ayub Nabi Khan, pro-vice-chancellor of the BUFT, said that India has been exporting heritage fashion garments worth $5 billion annually. "We have collaboration with 23 universities. We have to work on recycling, technical textile and other sustainable aspects," he added.
BGMEA focuses on heritage fabrics BGMEA president Faruque Hassan, emphasised on heritage fabrics as they aim to harness their potential in achieving the ambitious $100 billion export target by 2030. He expressed the desire to establish Bangladesh as a renowned brand by producing high-end products that incorporate local heritage fabrics, which would also open avenues for product diversification. "In pursuit of our vision and to enhance our global market share, we are dedicated to advancing ourselves in various aspects. These include product and fabric diversification, product sophistication, new design development, value addition, and technological upgradation," he said. "We are focusing on various motifs of our cultural heritage such as the Royal Bengal Tiger, Water Lily and rickshaw paintings," he added. Faruque Hassan said the training programme will help connect weavers, designers, academicians, and brands. Currently, fashion designer Kuhu Plamondon is working with aspiring fashion designers from ten different factories to bring innovation within the industry, he said. Elias Mia, project director of the training initiative, said that the project for developing designs based on heritage materials for high-end fashion items was initiated by the commerce ministry in August 2018. The project, focused on utilising local heritage materials, is set to conclude at the end of this month, he said. According to the BGMEA, 160 participants have been trained under this project, divided into eight batches. These participants encompass various institutions and sectors including 75 from the RMG factories, 20 from BUFT, 17 from BUTEX, 6 from Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology, 15 from BKMEA, 5 from AFDB and 19 local weavers.
Source: The tbsnews.net
American businesses are looking at India as a place where they can diversify their supply chains, an influential US lawmaker has said on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden state visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden. India and the US have an enormous ability to cooperate on technology and innovation, and this is partly because of the diaspora, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said on Tuesday in his keynote address to the inaugural INDUS-X conference. It used to be that being Indian-American was a challenge and rising up the corporate hierarchy, he said at the event organised by US-India Business Council in partnership with the Department of Defence and India's Department of Defence Production. "Now, and I'm joking, you almost have to be Indian-American to run one of these tech companies. It's come a long way, but that provides a huge opportunity to cooperate on critical research, AI, on critical research, on climate, on critical cooperation, and helping foster a manufacturing renaissance in the US and making sure manufacturing is taking place in India as opposed to China for the Asia hub," Khanna said. "I mean (Apple's) Tim Cook in my (Congressional) district, I mean, he is talking about going to India. Everyone in the Valley and other parts of the business world are looking at India as a place where they can diversify their supply chains," said the Indian-American lawmaker who represents Silicon Valley in the US House of Representatives. Khanna in his remarks noted the popularity of Prime Minister Modi in the US. "l will tell you what the mark of how far we came when the British Prime Minister came here post-Brexit, no one really cared. No one paid attention. And when the Indian Prime Minister is coming, the entire Congress is the hottest ticket in town. Now, if you had told my grandfather that the Indian Prime Minister is going to way outshine the British Prime Minister, that would not have been a likely story," he said.
Source: Economic times
India has communicated its unwillingness to dilute its stance on data, intellectual property, and government procurement to the European Union and the United Kingdom as part of ongoing trade agreement talks with them, officials said. India is firm on its red lines on cross-border data flows as there is no ecommerce policy at present, while any commitments on data exclusivity and patent extensions would impact the manufacturing and distribution of generic medicines, they said. On government procurement, India plans to stick to its stance to continue to reserve 25% for medium and small enterprises, officials said. “The digital space and intellectual property rights are evolving areas. The red lines like data are to be kept away,” one of them told ET. The IPR red line is of data exclusivity, which EU is seeking since long. It is a provision that would hamper production of cheap generic medicines in the country, officials said. The UK and the EU have sought amendment in India’s Patents Act to allow ‘evergreening’ of patents, especially in the pharmaceuticals sector. Section 3(d) of the Act prohibits the grant of ‘evergreening’ patents, which are additional patents for a drug with no therapeutic benefit and serve only to increase the term of patent monopoly.”Patent monopolizing is a red line for us and that’s clearly conveyed because we want generics while the EU is strong in patented drugs,” said the official quoted above. In government procurement, India has stated that it can’t compromise on the comforts given to small and medium enterprises. Experts said India needs to be cautious about any commitments in services trade leading to cross-border data flows. “Even if the UK shows flexibility on the digital front, India needs to be careful and not cede grounds in the services chapter,” a trade expert said. Similarly, any commitments on digital trade will mark a permanent shift in India’s trade policy stance on e-commerce at the World Trade Organization (WTO) where it is opposed to any binding commitments besides having implications for India’s security. India has so far refrained from making any international commitments on digital trade in order to protect its policy space to design national digital sector policies in the future including on digital industrialization.
Source: The vervetimes.com
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States may encourage more American companies to consider investing in the South Asian country as they look to reduce their reliance on China for manufacturing-related activities. The United States is the third largest source of foreign investment for India, with over $60 billion invested between 2000 and 2023, according to official data.Following are some recent investment announcements, mostly by U.S. companies:
TESLA Elon Musk said Modi was pushing the electric-car maker to make a "significant investment" in the country, adding that such an announcement was expected soon.
MICRON TECHNOLOGY India's cabinet approved the chipmaker's $2.7 billion plan for a new semiconductor testing and packaging unit, a senior government source said, ahead of Modi's state visit to the United States.
Modi met Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in Washington on Wednesday and invited the company to boost semiconductor manufacturing in India, the Indian government said in a statement on Thursday.Boeing The aircraft-maker plans to invest about $24 million in India to set up a logistics centre for airplane parts. The announcement preceded the company bagging an order for 220 jets from Air India.
AMAZON.COM
Amazon Web Services said it planned to invest $13 billion in India by 2030 to build its cloud infrastructure and create thousands of jobs
APPLE
The U.S. tech giant opened its stores in Mumbai and Delhi in April. It has been trying to make India a bigger manufacturing base and has started manufacturing several products there through contract electronics makers Foxconn, Wistron Corp and Pegatron Corp
During his visit to India in April, CEO Tim Cook said Apple was "committed to growing and investing across the country."
FOXCONN
The Taiwanese contract manufacturer plans to invest $500 million to set up manufacturing plants in the south Indian state of Telangana and almost $968 million in neighbouring Karnataka. The investments are expected to create more than 70,000 jobs, Indian officials have said.
The Apple supplier also plans to build a factory in India to manufacture AirPods, Apple's wireless earphones.
CISCO SYSTEMS
The U.S. networking equipment maker will begin manufacturing from India as it looks to diversify its global supply chain. It has set a target of $1 billion in production and exports from India over the next few years.
WALMART
The retail giant's CEO met Modi during his India visit last month and reiterated that the company planned exports from India worth $10 billion a year by 2027.
GENERAL ELECTRIC
Modi invited General Electric to play a "greater role" in aviation and renewable energy sectors in India in a meeting with CEO Lawrence Culp on Wednesday, the Indian government said.
APPLIED MATERIALS
Modi invited Applied Materials to contribute towards strengthening the "semiconductor ecosystem" in India and developing "process technology and advanced packaging capabilities" in a meeting with CEO Gary Dickerson in Washington on Wednesday.
Source: The Business-Standard
Union Textile Miniter Piyush Goyal on Wednesday urged the textiles industry to collaborate and partner for research and development (R&D) and innovation to jointly achieve greater strides in the sector. Chairing the industry interaction on investment opportunities in the textiles Industry under the PM MITRA scheme’ in New Delhi, he commended the industry for setting up and expanding businesses in the upcoming PM MITRA parks. The minister further encouraged the industry to take benefit from the existing attractive schemes of the Ministry of Textiles, including the national technical textiles mission and scheme for capacity building In the sector. The Minister also suggested setting up a dedicated invest India desk in the ministry to assist and handhold investors looking to set up or expand their manufacturing base to meet increasing global demand in the sector. Notably, the interaction revolved around the themes of sustainability, the introduction of R&D centres and making upcoming factories in the PM MITRA, environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliant and ensuring value-added products are manufactured in the upcoming parks. The minister emphasised the need for phase-by-phase development of these parks for efficient utilisation of resources and better integration of the textile value chain. It was suggested in the meeting that two five-member action teams be set up to study ESG norms and model park design in line with global leading practices for upcoming units in the PM MITRA parks.
Source: The Business-Standard
INTERNATIONAL
The value-added textile exporters on Wednesday expressed concerns over “additional tax” on income, profits and gains and rejected the government’s move by terming it “harsh” and “anti-business.” They complained that the exporters are already burdened with high operational cost of manufacturing after the PDM government discontinued Regionally Competitive Energy Tariff (RCET). Besides, the government has also suspended Duty Drawback on Local Taxes and Levies under National Textile and Apparel Policy 2020-2025, leaving the “textile export uncompetitive,” they said. July-May textile group exports fall 14.72pc to $15.029bn YoY A super tax was imposed for one year in the past, which the new fiscal budget also proposes for another term, which they called “unfair” for export business. Exporters continue to face scores of “unprecedented” challenges over the past one year since the PDM rule took over, they said. The country’s economic “turmoil” made manufacturer costs “too high” to afford for the export, besides leaving it “unviable” on the world markets, they said. “Further burdening the exporters with additional tax burden will compel them to shift their industries abroad resulting massive flight of capital and unemployment,” they added. The government should refrain from the proposed the “additional tax on income, profits and gains” u/s 99D, Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, Chairman, Pakistan Apparel Forum said. “Any income on which income and super tax have already been levied at a prescribed rate under normal course of business should not be further burdened with additional tax under proposed Section 99D,” he said. Exporters, who might have accrued exchange gains on a particular transaction does not necessarily mean additional income or a gain for the whole year since they are facing a number of cost-increase factors, he added. Such factors also include: Buyers demand prices reduction on the rupee devaluation; loss from non-receipt of DLTL and late receipt of tax refunds under FBR’s FASTER system for which working capital has to be financed at exorbitant interest rates. Lastly, he said that an abrupt discontinuation of RCET takes place with an immediate rise in energy and other input costs following every devaluation. “At least 918 exporters have since gone out of export business due to incurring losses on account of above factors,” he said. The overburdening of taxation is feared to force a huge number of exporters to close down their units, which will resulting in further fall in exports, he said. Bilwani said: “Exporters have already opposed this proposed imposition and agitated to the Anomaly Committee to recommend and delete the proposed section.” He demanded that the proposed section should be deleted because any income, on which tax under normal course, has been levied, should not be taxed again. He said the existing rates of income tax are already too high and the further taxation will burden export sector.
Source: The Brecorder
Despite global inflationary pressures, Bangladesh has witnessed notable growth in apparel exports to the EU, UK, and Canada. However, the situation differs for the US, as exports to the country, which serves as the largest destination for Bangladeshi garments, have declined by 5.07 per cent during the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2022-23, as reported by the Export Promotion Bureau. During the first 11 months of FY ’23, the United States imported apparel products worth US $ 7.73 billion from Bangladesh, which is a decrease compared to the previous year’s corresponding period when the exports amounted to US $ 8.15 billion. 81 per cent of Bangladesh’s apparel exports are sent to the US, UK, EU, and Canadian markets, with the last 11 months seeing exports worth US $ 33.54 billion out of a total of US $ 42.63 billion. The EU remains a key market for Bangladeshi garments, comprising around 50 per cent of total exports. In the first 11 months of the current fiscal, Bangladesh saw a 9.94 per cent growth in garment exports to the EU, amounting to US $ 21.22 billion, compared to the same period last year. Previous fiscal’s total exports to the EU reached US $ 21.4 billion. Meanwhile, BKMEA VP raised concerns over the work order situation in the garment industry due to high inflation in major markets even as factory capacities reduced by 20-30 per cent on account of the same impacting operations.
Source: Apparel resources
Global Textile is an integrated textile company in Uzbekistan, producing cotton, yarns, grew and dyed knitted fabrics. The company started production in 2018. The factories are located near the largest transportation hubs of Uzbekistan, in Tashkent and Fergana. Mr. Christian Schindler, Director General of ITMF, stated that “the decision of Global Textile to join the ITMF as a Corporate Member is a clear indicator that Uzbekistan has evolved from a mainly cotton producing and exporting country to an international supplier of yarns, fabrics, apparel, and home textiles. For an integrated producer ranging from cotton to finished knitted fabrics ITFM can offer Global Textile an international forum that provides a unique international network covering the entire textile value chain including textile machinery and chemical companies. This will help Global Textile to better understand international markets, increase visibility, and connect with relevant international players in the industry. ITMF members will have the opportunity to discover Uzbekistan both as a production alternative as well as a customer and partner”. Mr. Muzaffar Razakov, Chairman of Global Textile, commented that “joining ITMF is enabling Global Textile to receive statistics and publications in a timely manner, participate in surveys, webinars, workshops, or conferences, and to participate in the discussions about the trends shaping the future of the industry. It is vital for a company like Global Textile, Uzbekistan textile ambassador to the world, to be an active part of a global community and expand its network, and ITMF is offering this in a unique way.” For more information about Global Textile go to https://global-textile.uz/ and/or contact Ms. Guly Baltieva, Corporate Communication Officer, Global Textile.
Source: Textile world
As part of a partnership with the Embassy of Norway in Pakistan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with Pakistan Textile Council (PTC), organised a two-day consultation on the development of a Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Code of Conduct for Pakistan's textile sector. This collaborative initiative aims to provide practical guidance to Pakistan’s textile companies on fulfilling their responsibility to respect human rights throughout their value chains. Implementing the Code of Conduct will contribute to enhanced protection of the rights of vulnerable informal workers and local communities. Over the course of the two-day consultation, UNDP Pakistan provided an overview of its support to the Government of Pakistan in implementing the National Action Plan on Business & Human Rights since 2018. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were also presented, highlighting their relevance to the textile sector. Detailed technical presentations and brainstorming sessions were held with representatives of textile sector companies on the practice of HRDD to inform the design and drafting of the Code of Conduct. The consultation also provided a platform for home-based workers in Pakistan’s textiles sector to highlight their challenges. "Shahnaz, a home-based worker from Faisalabad, shared her appreciation for the consultation and said, “Today we learned a lot about our fundamental rights as informal workers and how businesses are responsible for ensuring that our rights are not violated through their activities. Informal workers form the backbone of Pakistan’s textile industry, so we encourage further such events to be organised to raise our awareness so that we may stand up for our rights as informal workers.” During the consultation, Mr. Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal, CEO at PTC, appreciated UNDP's engagement with the private sector in Pakistan and its commitment to strengthening human rights protections across the country's value chains. He emphasized the benefit of a HRDD Code of Conduct and suggested a phased approach in its application in Pakistan to ensure realworld impact for rights-holders without disrupting business continuity. A similar consultation was held in Lahore over May 24-25, and will also be conducted in Karachi, Multan, and Sialkot in the coming weeks.
Source: Textile world
