The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, plans to have a series of programmes on Good and Service Tax (GST) so that entrepreneurs in each sector will know in details about its impact on their business with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passing the GST Bill and the country at the cusp of a major tax reform, industries are gearing up for the change. Textile Industrial associations are inviting experts to speak to their members on the impact of GST on the respective sectors. With the GST expected to come into effect from the next financial year, such programmes will only help industries, across sectors and irrespective of the scale of operation, gear up for the new tax system. GST is not going to be very simple. It will have benefits in the long run and industries will be able to take credit for the taxes they pay. There needs to be better awareness about it, said Former president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, D. Nandakumar. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – Coimbatore Zone, had a meeting just before the bill was passed and plans one more shortly. The meeting was attended by some of the chief financial officers of companies too. The Southern India Mills’ Association had a meeting in which experts from Deloitte spoke to textile entrepreneurs. It plans to have one more meeting this month for the top management representatives of textile mills.
Experts will throw light on the tax structure, the likely system of implementation, its benefits to industries, and the processes that the companies should follow, and areas where they might be affected. However, Industries that are in the unorganised sector and have evaded tax will be hit. According to industry source, companies that pay the GST will not be able to sell products to such customers in the value chain. For textile mills, the working capital requirement is likely to go up.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Indian clothes maker T.R. Vijaya Kumar thinks it’s time for his country to take on Bangladesh, Vietnam and even China for leadership in the global apparel industry. He’s a second-generation manufacturer, who’s transformed his small family undershirt business in southern India into an apparel exporter of 1,700 employees and aims to double its sales by 2020. When it comes to his hometown of Tiruppur, which is often referred to as the knitwear capital of India, his ambitions are even greater: tripling exports and adding 500,000 jobs in the process. “The next China will be Tiruppur,” Kumar said one August evening from the offices of his company, CBC Fashions Pvt., as he showcased a hard-cover action plan for the city that he and other manufacturers sponsored. “The cost of production has gone up in China, they are phasing out textile. Opportunities will go to other countries, so we are to grasp it.” The trouble is that other Asian nations are way ahead. India’s $17 billion exports of apparel were about half as much as Bangladesh’s last year and its 3.7% global market share lagged behind Vietnam’s 5.1%. Closing the gap is crucial: Apparel is a labour-intensive industry, which has historically helped developing economies transition out of agriculture. The Indian economy needs to generate 80 million new jobs by 2025 to keep up with its fast growing young population.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest failure so far has been an inability to boost employment, according to a recent poll ahead of as many as seven state elections in 2017. His government recently announced a nearly $1 billion package for textile and garment makers, including subsidies for hiring, tax refunds and relaxation of overtime rules with a goal to create 10 million jobs and boost exports by $30 billion in the next three years. Icra Ltd, the local unit of Moody’s Investors Service, called the target challenging as demand slows in importing countries. “The window of opportunity is narrowing and India needs to act fast if it is to regain competitiveness and market share in apparels,” Arvind Subramanian, the finance ministry’s chief economic adviser and Rashmi Verma, the textiles secretary, wrote in a June op-ed explaining the measures. Adding to the challenge, the textile industry suffered a reputation blow last month, when Target Corp. terminated $90 million of business with Welspun India Ltd for labelling cheaper bedsheets as premium Egyptian cotton.
Automation threat
A key weakness of the sector is worker productivity, which is almost three times lower than in China. That’s in part because Indian apparel manufacturers tend to be unregistered and smaller than in competing countries, limiting the use of modern production technologies and the capacity to take on large orders, according to a study to be published next year by the Asian Economic Policy Review, a biannual journal from the Japan Center for Economic Research. That gap could widen as foreign garment and textile producers continue to embrace automation. “India needs to start climbing the ladder fast to take advantage of its young population,” said Russell Green, an international economics fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Texas. “Automation is making the ladder shorter and shorter over time.” About 78% of Indian companies employ less than 50 workers, compared with 15% in China, according to Subramanian. That also means a lot of them remain below the threshold of government taxes and regulation, known by economists as the “informal” economy. A World Bank report released this year showed that Bangladesh had 15 times more garment workers formally employed than in the informal sector, while India has about seven times more informal garment workers than formal. Among them is Venkatachalam Babu, a small business owner who pays workers by the piece. In a workshop attached to his home, his staff of 12, including two family members, cut and stitch children’s underwear and pants from leftover fabric he buys from exporters. While foreign markets are out of reach, Babu can bank on a fast-expanding domestic market that smaller rivals don’t have. Once an employee himself, he started his company 20 years ago with four workers. He’ll register it, he said, when the headcount crosses 20 people. “We want to grow big,” he said as his mother sat cross-legged on the floor sorting pieces, surrounded by bags of fabric. “A problem is labor shortage.”
Off season
As surprising as it may sound in a country of more than 1.2 billion people, Babu’s complaint was echoed by all four manufacturers interviewed by Bloomberg in Tiruppur, a district of 2.5 million people where the housing capacity hasn’t kept up with a growing migrant population. Kumar’s action plan calls the shortage of skilled labour “the single major threat to the growth of textile industry,” and recommends building 100,000 houses and dormitories for 300,000 people.There’s more holding India back. A focus on cotton garments limits its access to the winter clothes market, while buyers perceive the country as slower and less reliable than China or Vietnam, according to the World Bank report. In neighbouring Bangladesh, where garments account for 80% of overseas shipments, the monthly minimum wage is about 30% lower than India’s $105, and exporters don’t pay duties to the European Union. “With the duty preference for Bangladesh, it becomes very difficult for Indian companies to compete,” despite India’s large cotton production, said Anil Gupta, an analyst with ICRA. The industry “is surviving on government incentives,” that help businesses stay profitable and continue hiring, he said. Still, India’s not as committed to its garment makers as Bangladesh is, said M. Arul Saravanan, chief marketing officer at SCM Garments Pvt. in Tiruppur, which has 15,000 employees and counts French giant sports retailer Decathlon SA among its clients. Signing trade agreements and stabilizing cotton prices would go a long way to spur investment, he said.
Tiruppur exporters have also joined forces to lower costs by educating companies on “lean” production management techniques and training factory staff to raise output. The government is partly funding the programs. Kumar said the push was inspired by Modi, who during a 2013 campaign stop told the manufacturers to make proposals to expand, rather than just list concerns. Now the group hopes to take its action plan to the capital, 1,500 miles north, and have Modi mobilize all ministers at once. “To compete, we have to bring new startups in India, we have to reduce our costs of operation,” Kumar said. “That’s why we are asking our Prime Minister to have a meeting in Delhi—like Tiruppur clusters, we have to make more clusters in India.”
SOURCE: The LiveMint
Concerned over vague size labelling norms for hosiery products, Textile Minister Smriti Irani today asked the Consumer Affairs Ministry to put in place a proper framework to ensure that the small enterprises in this sector are not harassed unnecessarily. While Indian rules require the sizes to be mentioned in centimeters, many entities follow the global practice of putting ‘large, medium or small’ size labels on such products including undergarments, vests and socks. Irani along with a delegation of hosiery manufacturers met Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on this issue. “A committee has been set up to resolve this issue,” Paswan told reporters after the meeting. Besides size labelling, the textile minister demanded exemption of hosiery products from the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rule 2011 which mandates manufacturers to print details like address, date of manufacturing and quantity on the pack. The delegation argued that the exemption is necessary as hosiery products are sold largely unpacked and following packaging norms would be difficult for the unorganised sector, a senior Consumer Affairs Ministry official said. Irani also demanded the minister to exempt threads sold in coil to handloom weavers as well as raw materials used for industrial consumption from the 2011 rules. To which, Paswan said that these two are already exempted.
SOURCE: The Financial Express
The NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion Institute, Tiruppur, India signs a memorandum of understanding with Synthetic and Arts Silk Mills Research (SASMIRA) to develop waterless cotton fabric dyeing technology uses liquefied carbon dioxide instead of water. Advanced appliance for dyeing cotton fabrics would be similar to machines earlier developed for dyeing polyesters which uses liquefied carbon dioxide instead of water, states R. R. Shrinivasan, Chairman, Academic Committee, NIFT-TEA Institute. Their plan is to reduce the duration of effluent coming out through the pre-treatment stage from 72 hours to 12 hours by developing new technologies using peculiar microbes. The two bodies would also consult in the area of eco-labelling, helping the Tiruppur knitwear industry to produce technical textiles for the agricultural sector and use of microbial technologies to reduce the duration of effluent treatment in the dyeing business. The collaborators will pursue technical innovations, research and information exchanges on new ideas.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
The DKTE society's textile and engineering institute in Ichalkaranji and Nanded based Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and technology (SGGS) signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will facilitate both the institute's teaching faculties and students to share their academic and administrative knowledge. SGGS has centre of excellence in image processing, while the DKTE has Centre of excellence in non-woven technology. P V Kadole, principal, DKTE, said that in today's rapidly changing world, they all need competitive engineers and the MoU with SGGS focuses on this need. He added that under the MoU, a joint working body too has been constituted, who will look after the said activities get planned and executed properly. It has to be noted that the University Grants Commission (UGC) had approved the Ichalkaranji based DKTE societys Textile and Engineering Institutes with the autonomous status earlier this year in the month of June. According to the officials, the institute can now design its own curriculum and conduct examinations on its own. Another official from the DKTE said that the SGGS institute is an autonomous institute under the government of Maharashtra and it is currently running a central governments project on the centre of excellence in image processing.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
The Union Cabinet today cleared a proposal to create a Rs 500 crore project development fund to increase economic presence in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which can act as gateways for market access to China and the European Union. "Cabinet approves creation of a Project Development Fund (PDF) to catalyse Indian economic presence in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam," said an official release. The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved creation of a PDF with a corpus of Rs 500 crore for catalysing Indian economic presence in these nations, it said. The PDF will be housed in the Department of Commerce. Exim Bank will operate the fund. "The PDF shall be governed by an Inter-Ministerial Committee under the chairpersonship of the Commerce Secretary," the release said. The CLMV nations - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam - have a unique position in the regional value chains and offer a gateway for market access to China/EU and other markets due to various trade agreements. India will have the advantage in the regional value chain by securing a dedicated market for domestic raw materials and intermediate goods on a long term basis. The regional access will also help India with availability of inputs and raw materials for Indian industry. Despite plenty of opportunities in the CLMV region, Indian businesses in these countries so far have been constricted due to limited information, infrastructure and other contingent risks. Government said the PDF will benefit India's industrial community for business expansion and maintaining cost competitive supply chains, besides integrating with global production networks.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew below expectations at a five-quarter low of 7.1 per cent in the first three months of 2016-17, down from 7.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year. The growth was pulled down by agriculture, mining and quarrying as well as the construction sector. GDP had grown 7.5 per cent in April-June (Q1) 2015-16. However, the government was confident that the growth would be close to 8 per cent this financial year on good monsoon, implementation of the Seventh Pay panel’s recommendations and various structural reform measures taken by it against 7.6 per cent registered in 2015-16. Experts, on the other hand, said moderation in growth would put pressure on RBI governor-designate Urjit Patel to cut the policy rate.
Apart from the growth concerns, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), which connotes investment, contracted for a second straight quarter at 3.1 per cent, showed official figures released on Wednesday. It had declined 1.9 per cent in Q4FY16. In fact, experts pointed out that the growth was primarily consumption-led and hence highly imbalance. Seen in conjunction with the eight-month decline in the capital goods segment in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), the outlook for an investment revival looks dim. India Ratings and Research had said despite several initiatives taken by the government to revive investments, “it has failed to rekindle animal spirits in the economy”.
Headline GDP growth in the first quarter was driven by a strong manufacturing sector, which grew at an impressive 9.1 per cent. Growth was pushed up by the private sector which, based on data of listed companies, grew at a staggering 11.9 per cent (current prices) as opposed to 5.5 per cent the year before. The segment has a 75 per cent share in the manufacturing sector. This suggested that the full effect of higher commodity prices has still not played out. ICRA said in a research note: “… growth in earnings has been higher than revenue growth as well as the volume trend revealed by the IIP, supporting the robust rise in the manufacturing GVA during the just-concluded quarter.”
But the sector’s overall growth was dragged down by the quasi-corporate and unorganised sectors, which — according to IIP data — contracted by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter. Compared to the manufacturing sector, gross value added (GVA) by the mining & quarrying sector was weaker than that observed in IIP. Mining and quarrying sector contracted by 0.4 per cent against 8.5 per cent in Q1 2015-16, while electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services grew 9.4 per cent against 4.0 per cent in Q1 2015-16. On the expenditure side, government consumption expenditure is up 18 per cent in Q1 FY17, after a marginal contraction the year before. Private final consumption grew at a slower pace of 6.7 per cent against 6.9 per cent the year before. Private consumption is expected to pick up towards the beginning of the third quarter as good monsoon was likely to boost rural demand. The impact of the Pay Commission award could also add to the consumption boost.
Gross value added by the agricultural and allied activities sector grew at a mere 1.8 per cent in Q1 FY17, from 2.6 per cent the year before. An explanation for lower crop production could be agricultural growth only captures production during the fag end of the rabi crop. The much-awaited monsoon effect will only be visible towards the beginning of the third quarter. Construction also showed signs of weakness, growing at a mere 1.5 per cent in Q1 FY17, down from 5.6 per cent in Q1 FY16. This is surprising considering that both steel and cement which are major inputs in the sector have actually grown at a faster pace in the current financial year than in the previous one. Steel grew at 3.8 per cent in Q1FY17, up from 2.1 per cent in Q1FY16, while cement grew at 5.7 per cent, up from 1.4 per cent over the same period. In the services sector, GVA by trade, hotels, transport, communication and services sectors grew 8.1 per cent against 10 per cent in Q1FY16. While passenger movement and cargo at major ports registered an upswing, growth was lower. GVA by the financial, insurance, real estate and professional services sectors grew 9.4 per cent against 9.3 per cent in Q1FY16. Data released by the Central Statistical Commission showed that GVA at basic prices grew 7.3 per cent in the first quarter. This suggested that subsidies in the first quarter grew at a faster pace than indirect taxes. “The main reason for that (slowdown) is about 53 per cent higher subsidy expenditure,” economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das said. That is mainly because from Q1 itself, the government has started releasing subsidy allocations to the food, petroleum and fertiliser side, he said. Firat Unlu, lead analyst(India), The Economist Intelligence Unit, said the weak GDP print will mark a first test for the incoming RBI governor, Urjit Patel. "Calls for a rate cut will strengthen, and he will be under pressure to take an easier line on the struggling banking sector," he said. Unlu said the weakness in private sector investment will put the onus on the government to recapitalise the banks quickly. "This is more important than meeting short-term budget deficit targets," he added. India's growth profile is unbalanced, with consumers doing all the heavy lifting, he said.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
Growth in the eight core sectors stood at 3.2 per cent in July, mainly due to a sharp uptick in refinery products and a slow rise in coal production. The index had grown 5.2 per cent in the previous month of June. Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Wednesday show growth in the eight — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity — had a cumulative growth of 4.9 per cent in the five months up to July in the current financial year. Comprising nearly 38 per cent of total industrial production, the sectors had a lower growth of 2.2 per cent in the same period of the previous year. While two sectors had double-digit growth in June, only refinery production did in July, of 13.7 per cent. Growth here had consistently risen since December 2015, before suddenly plummeting to a marginal 1.2 per cent rise in May. After that, growth had picked up steam, rising 3.5 per cent in June. All other sectors rose marginally, other than coal production which rose 5.1 per cent, albeit far less than the 12 per cent rise in June. After consistently providing a major push to the index for most of the past financial year, fertiliser output rose at 2.5 per cent in July, after rising by 9.8 per cent in June. Electricity generation rose marginally by 1.6 per cent in July, slowest in eight months. It had risen by 8.1 per cent in June. A sudden and large fall in growth rate was also seen for cement production, up only 1.4 per cent in July after 10.3 per cent in June. Steel output contracted for the first time since February, falling 0.5 per cent, after rising 2.4 per cent in June. The opposite was in natural gas production, which had earlier grown in February, contracting since. In July, it rose 3.3 per cent. However, crude oil production continued to contract for a fifth month in July. The 1.8 per cent rate of fall was, however, milder than the 4.3 per cent fall June.
After rising to a 17-month high of 8.5 per cent in April due to rise in refinery products and electricity generation, core sector growth plunged to a five-month low of 2.8 per cent in May, after the sectors failed to sustain the momentum. The rise in June was on the back of robust growth in coal and cement. The country’s total industrial growth had accelerated to an eight-month high in June, aided by production of electricity, mining, commercial vehicles and mobile phones. However, the possibility of mining activities slowing due to heavy rain, among other factors, might throw growth off-track in July. “The deceleration in growth of core sector industries and aggregate automobile production, coupled with non-oil merchandise exports reverting to contraction after a gap of only two months, foretell an anaemic IIP (Index of Industrial Production) growth for July.” Nayar said.
SOURCE: The Business Standard
India and the US today resolved to use the Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) mechanism to further elevate mutual trade and investment, while noting that strong commercial ties have defined their growing partnership. In an otherwise sluggish global economy, bilateral trade between India and the United States has held steady, and bilateral investment flows have grown over the last two years, their joint statement released after the 2nd India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue here. They noted the "significantly increased" government-to- government engagement on economic and commercial topics undertaken in the past year under the S&CD. "They resolved to continue to institutionalise and use the S&CD to elevate their ambitions and accomplishments in mutual trade and investment," the statement said. External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry of India Nirmala Sitharaman co-chaired the dialogue with US Secretary of State John F Kerry and US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.
Recognising the success of the ongoing smart city collaboration in Visakhapatnam, the two sides resolved to launch a follow-on phase that will deliver an integrated master plan. They resolved to continue reverse trade missions from the MOU partner cities (Ajmer, Allahabad and Vishakhapatnam) to look at smart solutions for their respective cities. The sides looked forward to working on the Plan of Action developed for mutual technical cooperation for issuance of municipal bonds by Pune, the statement said. The leaders noted the recommendations of the US-India CEO Forum and acknowledged the crucial role of the Forum in strengthening our partnership on commercial and trade related issues. They acknowledged the value of closely integrating the CEO Forum with the Commercial track of the S&CD. "In line with the CEO Forum recommendations, a number of concrete measures have been undertaken," the statement said. Taking note of the India's 'Startup India' initiative to foster greater entrepreneurship and innovation, the two sides committed to further collaboration between Indian and the US startups, venture capitalists and other stakeholders.
SOURCE: The Economic Times
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket as computed/published today by Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was US$ 46.63 per barrel (bbl) on 30.08.2016. This was lower than the price of US$ 47.14 per bbl on previous publishing day of 29.08.2016.
In rupee terms, the price of Indian Basket decreased to Rs. 3128.23 per bbl on 30.08.2016 as compared to Rs. 3166.62 per bbl on 29.08.2016. Rupee closed stronger at Rs. 67.09 per US$ on 30.08.2016 as against Rs. 67.18 per US$ on 29.08.2016. The table below gives details in this regard:
|
Particulars |
Unit |
Price on August 30, 2016 (Previous trading day i.e. 29.08.2016) |
Pricing Fortnight for 16.08.2016 (July 28, 2016 to Aug 10, 2016) |
|
Crude Oil (Indian Basket) |
($/bbl) |
46.63 (47.14) |
40.73 |
|
(Rs/bbl |
3128.23 (3166.62) |
2723.62 |
|
|
Exchange Rate |
(Rs/$) |
67.09 (67.18) |
66.87 |
SOURCE: PIB
The federal government has approved preliminary duties on imports of a Chinese specialty fabric that allegedly have been dumped into the U.S. market, undercutting American-made products at places such as Auburn Manufacturing. The duties approved by U.S. Department of Commerce will take effect on products that have been imported into the country going back to June at a rate of 162 percent of the declared value. This is a really big win, Kathie Leonard, president and CEO of Auburn Manufacturing, said. It shows just how many subsidies have been going to Chinese manufacturers from their government. U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, who worked with the rest of Maine’s congressional delegation to help Auburn Manufacturing bring its case to the Department of Commerce, said at the news conference that the preliminary ruling helps “create a level playing field” for manufacturers. Poliquin said that China illegally subsidizes their manufacturing such that they’re able to sell their product over here and dump their product here; it hurts Auburn Manufacturing and other companies. The fact that these duties are so high shows how much these Chinese companies and the Chinese government has violated international law. Auburn Manufacturing produces amorphous silica fabric, a fireproof material that is used in welding and other manufacturing, and employs about 40 people in Auburn and Mechanic Falls. Chinese dumping has cost the company about 30 percent of its market share for the specialty fabric over the last three years and has caused them to cut back the company’s workforce by about 20 percent over the last year.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
Pakistan is expected to produce around 13 million bales of cotton in the current season, thereby recovering from the dip in production in the previous season. This has been made possible through close coordination between the central government and government of Punjab by controlling the Pink bollworm, which had damaged the cotton crop last season. This information was shared at a meeting of the Federal Textile Board (FTB), chaired by minister for commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan, attended by representatives of various stakeholders from the textile value chain like ginners, spinners, weavers, etc. The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) and cotton commissioner also informed that apart from controlling the Pink bollworm, farmers had also been trained to drain their fields properly to safeguard their crops.
SOURCE: Fibre2fashion
A business delegation from Vietnam which is currently visiting Brunei Darussalam, led by Hoang Van Anh, the Deputy Director-General of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the there is a huge potential for cooperation between the two countries’s future business development in the sectors of garment and textile, information technology (IT), oil and gas as construction. The business delegation received a briefing from DARE (Darussalam Enterprise). Speaking in an interview after the briefing, the deputy director-general shared that if they look at the potential sectors in Brunei that Vietnam can explore more in the future it should be petroleum – oil and gas. But for other sectors, they can see potential for business development in the IT sector, which should be a focal point for business cooperation in the future. The 50-member business delegation includes representatives from the sectors of garment and textile, construction, food, oil and gas as well as electronics and mining companies. They can see some potential for the garment and textile as well as the construction sectors. This is because they have a very young labour force. From Vietnam to Brunei it’s not too far, so they can provide labour force to Brunei easily. He said that bringing a focal group to Brunei in the future would be beneficial. They have also a meeting with the National Chamber of Commerce of Brunei Darussalam and will discuss on how they can cooperate together in the future. It might be that they bring some businessmen or concentrated group to Brunei and Bruneian business people can come to Vietnam. The most important thing for them is that the trade and investment between Brunei and Vietnam should be developed more in the future.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
China’s top economic planner warned on Wednesday that challenges remain in investment and trade, and meeting annual growth targets will require "arduous efforts." It is estimated that pressure will still remain in economic development in the second half of 2016, said Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, during its ongoing bimonthly session. While delivering a report to the session, Xu expressed confidence that the country could meet major annual targets in economic growth, employment, commodity prices and residents' income. He also said it was expected that targets for poverty reduction, energy consumption, environmental protection and shanty town renovation would be met. "Great difficulties remain in meeting goals for investment and trade," Xu said, elaborating on a national economic and social development report. "Currently, the foundations for stable economic development are not solid enough and downward pressure remains large, with difficulties hard to underestimate."
SOURCE: The Global Textiles
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has signed memorandum of understanding with Marubeni, a Japanese textile company, to rehabilitate Mulungushi Textiles Limited in Kabwe and will also set ground for Zambia to buy equipment from Japan to revamp the plant, said IDC executive director of operations Paul Siame here on Sunday shortly after the signing ceremony. The signing ceremony was witnessed by President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo with several other African government officials and private sector companies. With the MoU in place and under the umbrella of Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the IDC expects to access financing to support the running of the Mulungushi Textiles project. The deal follows the re-commissioning of Mulungushi Textiles by President Lungu in October 2015.
One key component that will come out of the partnership with Marubeni is setting up of cotton out-grower scheme as announced by President Lungu during the re-opening. The out-grower scheme is expected to support at least 10,000 farmers within Central Province. IDC in the next two months expected to conclude the detailed project concept that includes costing, which is expected to accelerate the engagement with Marubeni would enable IDC access finances through Japanese Bank for International Cooperation. Mr Siame said that the revamping of the textiles company is a huge step especially that Government’s agenda is industrialization and job creation. It is expected that the out-grower scheme will support about 10,000 farmers within the whole cotton value chain.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
TEXAPP Bangladesh 2016 Forum, a discussion on textile and apparel organized by CEMS USA and CEMS Bangladesh to take place on the sidelines of the 17th Textech Bangladesh 2016 International Expo today. Bangladesh has the potential to become the leading country in textile and apparel exports; for this to happen, proper reforms, strategies and coordinated efforts should be in place, the organisers said. The aim of the discussion is to bring textile and apparel industry leaders and machinery importers of Bangladesh under one roof. The discussion as well as the show will help set the stage for Bangladeshi textile and apparel industry leaders and machinery importers to focus, discuss, decide and set goals for future exports. CEMS Global and Bangladesh Textile Today invite analysts will discuss issues related to the formation of a common position of the Bangladeshi textile and apparel industry leaders in the global arena and talk on a topic “driving business with knowledge” at the forum. It is the right knowledge that could give right track or path or methodology to reach the target. And again it is the real knowledge that helps to build right process.
Discussants include MA Kader Sarkar, secretary of the textiles ministry; Mashud Ahmed, vice-chancellor of Bangladesh University of Textiles; Faruque Hassan, senior vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association; AH Aslam Sunny, first vice-president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and NN Mahapatra, national vice-chairman of Textile Association (India). TEXAPP Bangladesh 2016 will be held at the International Convention City Bashundhara, Kuril, in Dhaka.
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
An international textile fair called the “Preview in Seoul 2016” hosted by the Korea Federation of Textile Industries kicked off in Seoul today to set the stage for trade between global textile and fashion companies and introduce the latest industry trends. The textile fair brings 374 textile and fashion companies from 11 nations. It also attracted about 1,000 overseas buyers from popular fashion brands, including DKNY, Coach and J Crew. The textile fair presents high-tech textile materials, spun thread, fabrics, clothing, shoes, bags and textile machinery. The exhibition will connect manufacturers with overseas buyers through one-on-one consultation sessions, host seminars on the latest market trends and present a high-quality textile fashion show, the organizer said. Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan in an opening speech said that the textile and fashion industry needs to promptly respond to the latest consumption trend and rising trades on mobile platforms. They have to foster globally competitive brands by reading the fast-changing trends and getting ahead of them through technology innovations and audacious challenges. The textile fair will run three days until Friday at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX).
SOURCE: Yarns&Fibers
