INTERNATIONAL
NATIONAL
Negotiations over a free trade agreement between India and the UK are still ongoing, with a UK team recently flying into New Delhi to resolve the outstanding issues. Reports are that they are in the final stretch, which is usually reserved for the toughest unresolved issues before both nations face elections next year. There is therefore a short window to clinch an agreement. The FTA is no doubt a top priority at the highest political levels of both nations. India wants an agreement that is “balanced and comprehensive”. UK PM Rishi Sunak has indicated that he is not in a hurry to secure a deal and would not “sacrifice quality for speed”. Trade deals entail a complicated process of give and take for greater access to each other’s markets. If India seeks greater market access, it must also allow the UK to sell more of its goods and services to expand bilateral trade worth 38 billion pounds in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023.“It’s the Pareto principle, that the few bits left are always the toughest bits,” stated the UK’s business and trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, in response to queries from the Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee in September. The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 principle, is named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto that states that 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. There are 26 chapters in the FTA, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property rights. Around 80% of them are closed with the remainder in advanced stages of negotiation. An investment treaty is also being negotiated along with the FTA. Among the 20% tough chapters to resolve include rules of origin, tariff duty concessions on electric vehicles, Scotch whisky and liberalisation of financial services. On IPRs, the UK wants India to go beyond the WTO TRIPS agreement while India wants to protect its generics industry. A critical area of interest for India is free visa movement for its professionals, which the UK is resisting. To curb legal migration, the UK recently raised the minimum salary thresholds for skilled worker visas and has put the student graduate visa route “under review”, both of which are not good news for India. Badenoch indicated in interviews that while concessions on business mobility are possible, Indians will not receive the same kind of deal as Australia—with which the UK signed an FTA—permitting under-35s to live and work in the UK for three years. The UK, for its part, is frustrated with the lack of movement towards the opening up of theIndian market for professional services in law and accountancy, according to the Financial Times. For such reasons, India-UK FTA negotiations are bound to be tough with an additional complication that national elections are due in both nations in 2024. This would indeed make talks “difficult” if a deal is not finalised before then. The big challenge for both nations is to revive the economic component of the bilateral relationship that is somewhat underwhelming considering the long historical association. While the FTA negotiations will take their own course, beyond unrealistic deadlines like Diwali, both partners can still follow the roadmap 2030 on trade and step up investments in each other’s economies, besides boosting cooperation in defence and security, health, climate change and people-to-people contacts to bolster a comprehensive India-UK strategic partnership.
Source: Financial Express
Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi on Tuesday flagged lower participation by private sector banks in the government's financial inclusion drive and nudged them to step up their efforts to popularise such schemes. Speaking at the 20th Global Inclusive Finance Summit, Joshi also asked banks and financial institutions to work on three areas — getting KYC done for inoperative accounts, nomination for bank accounts and strengthening cyber security. Joshi also said that currently, 92 percent of the adults in India have at least one bank account, and around 3 crore Jan Dhan accounts are added every year. "We are not far from a situation where all the adults in the country will be covered with at least one basic bank account," Joshi added. In over nine years of the launch of the PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), 51 crore bank accounts have been opened. "While public sector banks have done a wonderful job in furthering financial inclusion efforts and have done a lot of outreach for popularisation of financial inclusion schemes, the participation of mainstream private sector banks, with the exception of IDFC First Bank, is lacking and there is a lot to catch up by private sector banks with their public sector counterparts in this aspect," Joshi said. He said that while private sector banks have increased their credit disbursal under the Mudra scheme, where loans are given to micro businesses, in other financial inclusion schemes, their participation is lacking. "I would request the private sector banks to increase participation in PMJDY and Jan Suraksha schemes in order to realise the ambitious goals which the government has set for itself," Joshi said, adding that financial inclusion does not only mean opening bank accounts but also providing insurance and pension coverage to customers. The flagship government insurance schemes are Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Besides JDY, other financial inclusion schemes include the Mudra Yojana and the StandUp India Scheme. Joshi also said that currently, 18 per cent of the JDY accounts are inoperative and banks should work towards getting KYC from the account holders. Also, customers need to be nudged to have nominations for their bank accounts. Besides, cyber security is an area of importance for banks and increased awareness will help build resistance to attempts of cyber frauds, he added.
Source: The Cnbctv18
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday cleared a net additional spending of ₹58,378 crore in the current fiscal ending March 2024, with a large chunk going towards MGNREGA and subsidy on fertiliser. The gross additional spending sought by the government was over ₹1.29 lakh crore, of which ₹70,968 crore would be matched by savings and receipts. Replying to a debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that fiscal prudence is the top priority of the government without compromising on social welfare. She also said that the net additional spending by the government would be ₹58,378.21 crore in the current fiscal. The additional expenditure includes ₹13,351 crore towards fertiliser subsidy and about ₹7,000 crore towards spending by the Department of Food and Public Distribution. The House also approved an additional outgo of ₹9,200 crore spending by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and ₹14,524 crore by the Ministry of Rural Development towards MGNREGA.
Source: The Cnbctv18
After becoming the country's largest apparel retailer, Reliance Retail is now scaling up distribution of clothing and fashion products to thirdparty stores, creating an exclusive portfolio of branded products for this business-to-business venture. The company has already launched more than 50 such exclusive brands and the number will be increased by 2-3 times shortly as part of its latest strategy to expand the fashion business, going beyond its own stores as that offers much higher growth opportunities, two senior industry executives in the know of the development said. The brands it has launched so far include Silkfeet and Jivers in footwear, Xlerate in footwear and athleisure, Feet Up in women’s footwear, Dhuni by Avaasa in Indian wear, Riva in womenswear, John Player Select in menswear, Kidlyboo in kidswear and Altair in t-shirts. These brands will be distributed by Reliance Retail across all markets, including rural, to be sold through third-party stores that are part of its apparel distribution network. The company is running a pilot under the Ajio Business banner, which will be scaled up by next spring-summer, one of the executives said. “Reliance will launch its own apparel and fashion brands across categories such as western wear, Indian wear, inner wear, lingerie, costume jewellery, footwear, fashion accessories in the value and midpremium range to be sold through lakhs of third-party retailers. Organising the unorganised will be the next thrust area,” the executive said. The other executive said the B2B business in apparel will become a bigger revenue generator than Reliance Retail’s own apparel retail stores in five years. He said 80% of the apparel retail market is unorganised in India which is a bigger opportunity to cater than just grow through own stores. “The textile industry is a large employment generator and Reliance would want to nurture it by ensuring small apparel retailers can offer an assortment. Reliance will create a backend for them so that they can also do sales by showing catalogues,” he said. An email sent to Reliance Retail seeking comment remained unanswered at press time Tuesday. Reliance is also distributing other popular apparel and fashion brands through Ajio Business. These include Campus, Khadim’s, Liberty, Biba, Globaldesi, Lotto and Adidas. Reliance Retail is the country’s largest apparel retailer with over 4,000 stores across multiple brands. Its Trends brand is the largest fashion retail chain with over 2,600 stores. It has recently launched new formats like Azorte which is into high street fashion, youth-centric fashion at Yousta and Centro departmental stores. “The company will expand the newer formats by 50% annually for next few years, while Trends stores will be expanded by 10-15%. While the overall apparel market is growing at 11%, organised retail is growing at 18-20%,” the second executive said. Reliance, the country's largest retailer, is also the leader in consumer electronics and mobile phone retailing, and grocery.
Source: Retail.Economictimes.indiatimes.com
A proposed comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman is on a fast-track mode, with a team of officials from the department of commerce in Muscat for negotiations, people aware of the matter said. It is learnt that the department of commerce has set an internal deadline of finalising the deal by month-end. The development assumes significance since India and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) —has not been able to begin negotiations for more than a year. This is due to differences pertaining to the terms of reference, especially with Saudi Arabia. If the trade works out, Oman will be the second GCC member after the UAE to ink an FTA with India. That apart, the proposed agreement is also expected to further strengthen India’s economic ties with West Asia. India and the UAE had signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) in February 2022. “The India-UAE agreement is expected to be replicated in the case of the trade pact with Oman,” one of the persons cited above told Business Standard. Oman is India’s 29th largest trading partner. Bilateral trade has been witnessing robust growth, increasing from $3.15 billion in FY22 to $4.48 billion during FY23, up 42 per cent year-on-year (YoY). During the previous financial year, petroleum products, primarily motor gasoline, accounted for close to half of India’s exports. Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that India can hope to radically increase its exports to post FTA, as currently over 80 per cent of its goods enter Oman at average 5 per cent import duties, and there are not many trade barriers. “Over 83.5 per cent of India’s goods exports, valued at $3.7 billion, currently face a 5 per cent import duty in Oman. With the new FTA, these products, including major exports like motor gasoline, iron and steel, electronics, machinery and textiles, among other items, will benefit from the duty elimination,” GTRI said in a report. It added that about 16.5 per cent of India’s exports to Oman are already entering duty free. So, they will not see additional benefits from the FTA. Imports from West Asian nations are greater than exports and saw 15.6 per cent increase to $7.91 billion in FY23. Top inbound shipments include petroleum products and urea, which comprise close to three-fourth of imports. “The India-Oman CEPA, while offering direct economic benefits through import duty reductions, also serves a larger strategic role in India’s foreign policy. While acknowledging the limitations set by Oman's smaller economic size and population, the agreement’s true value lies in its potential to open doors for India in the Middle East, fostering economic and strategic ties in a region of critical importance,” the GTRI report, authored by former trade ministry official Ajay Srivastava said.
Source: Business-Standard
INTERNATIONAL
The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) has released an official analysis of third-quarter trade data on recyclable plastics materials, authored by PLASTICS Chief Economist, Dr. Perc Pineda. Dr. Pineda writes, “Examining the third-quarter trade data on recyclable plastics materials unveils several noteworthy trends within the U.S. plastics industry. The sector has notably amplified its recycling efforts and augmented its importation of recyclable plastics materials. Remarkably, the U.S. was a net importer of recyclable plastics materials: 14.7 million kilograms (kgs) equivalent to $15.6 million.”
Source: Textile World
INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, and The Nonwovens Institute (NWI), have announced their 2024 workforce development program. The INDA/NWI portfolio of training content covers the full spectrum of the nonwovens value chain, ranging from raw materials to processes to products. Jointly organized courses include a combination of classroom learning supported by handson activities in NWI’s world-class nonwoven production and testing labs on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University. Each course is designed to be accessible and valuable to those who are new to the nonwovens industry and/or come from a nontechnical background, as well as seasoned nonwovens professionals.
2024 INDA/NWI Training Course Schedule: Elementary Nonwovens – January 23-24, 2024 Intermediate Nonwovens – February 6-9, 2024 Meltblown Technology – February 27-29, 2024 Spunbond Technology – March 19-21, 2024 Intermediate Nonwovens – April 30-May 3, 2024 Elementary Nonwovens – May 7-8, 2024 Nonwoven Fabric Property Development and Characterization – June 4-7, 2024 WIPES Academy – June 17-18, 2024 Fiber and Filament Extrusion Fundamentals – July 24-27, 2024 Nonwoven Product Development and Innovation – August 13-16, 2024 Absorbent Hygiene Course – August 27-29, 2024 Elementary Nonwovens – September 10-11, 2024 Carded Nonwovens Technology – October 3, 2024 Intermediate Nonwovens – October 15-19, 2024 Dr. Matt O’Sickey, INDA director of Education and Technical Affairs, said: “INDA is committed to being a ‘must-have’ resource for nonwovens continuing education. We are delighted to continue our partnership with NWI to meet the development needs of nonwoven professionals. This suite of courses provides organizations serving the nonwovens industry a vital resource to ensure their employees have the knowledge and skills to continuously contribute to the success of the business.”
Short Course Value Packs New this year, INDA and NWI are offering a Short Course Value Pack program, enabling companies to purchase a block of registrations, which can be used by any combination of employees to register for any combination of training courses, at a discounted rate. Value Packs are available in bundles of 5, 10, 15, and 20 registrations, with discounts ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent, depending on the size of the Value Pack. Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, NWI executive director, said, “Workforce Development is a pillar of NWI’s service offering, and the INDA/NWI portfolio of training courses is unmatched in the value it offers to organizations operating in and/or serving the nonwovens industry. The Short Course Value Pack program represents a strategic opportunity for business leaders to invest in the knowledge and expertise of their workforce to achieve a competitive advantage in nonwovens, while doing so at an extremely favorable price point.”
Source: Textile World
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan has urged Epic Group to make investments in product and design development, particularly in high-end apparels in Bangladesh. He also requested the Epic Group to continue its support and collaboration in improving efficiency, technical knowledge and sustainability in the RMG industry of Bangladesh. This call was made by Faruque Hassan during his meeting with Ranjan Mahtani, Executive Chairman of Epic Group, alongside Epic Group CEOs Sunil Daryanani and Dinesh Virwani. The meeting was also attended by Azfar Hassan, Director of Giant Group. Held in Hong Kong on December 12, the primary focus of the meeting was to explore avenues to fortify the longstanding business partnership between Epic Group and Bangladeshi suppliers. They also talked about how BGMEA and Epic Group could work together to enhance global promotion of Bangladesh’s apparel industry, focusing on its strengths, world-class workplace safety, environmental sustainability, and exemplary industry practices. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan urged Epic Group to collaborate closely with their suppliers in Bangladesh in developing their capacities and technical expertise in the manufacturing of high-end apparel products. He also called upon Epic Group to increase its sourcing of high-value garments from Bangladesh.
Source: The Financial Express
