The textile traders made representation on three major points. First, postpone the implementation of the rules for a year. Second, small and big traders should be included under MSMEs while enforcing this rule. The third major demand of the textile traders was to extend the time limit of payment from 45 days.
Surat: Textile traders from the city met union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday in New Delhi and raised concerns over the newly introduced payment norms in the Income Tax Act. Meanwhile, city’s weaving industry players have supported the new norms and demanded strict implementation in a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. As per the new norms, a buyer is supposed to make payment for the purchase from MSME unit within 45 days. If he fails, the amount will be considered as profit of the buyer. The amendments came in force from current fiscal. The textile traders made representation on three major points. First, postpone the implementation of the rules for a year. Second, small and big traders should be included under MSMEs while enforcing this rule. The third major demand of the textile traders was to extend the time limit of payment from 45 days. “We met the FM along with BJP Gujarat president C R Patil. The minister heard our concerns and assured us of a favourable decision,” said Kailash Hakim, president, Federation of Surat Textile Traders’ Association (FOSTTA). Along with FOSTTA, members of Maskati Cloth Mahajan, Ahmedabad, and South Gujarat Textile Traders Association (SGTTA) were also part of the delegation. Within hours of the textile traders meeting the FM, Surat’s weaving industry leaders raised concerns over the demand for extension of the payment time limit from 45 days. Federation of Gujarat Weaver Welfare Association (FOGWWA) sent a letter to PM and demanded that there should be no change in the norms. FOGWWA, however, agreed to extend the implementation of the rule by a year. “We oppose the demand for extending the time limit in payment from 45 days. The new norms have been introduced for overall improvement of the industry and it should not be changed,” said Ashok Jirawala, president, FOGWWA. Following the payment time limit rule, textile retailers from across the country have stopped buying from traders in the city fearing the impact of the new norms. Textile market insiders claimed that there was a drop-in trade by almost 50%.
Source: Economic Times
The textile, dyeing and yarn industrialists, under the banner of Swadesh Vyopar Association, met six BJP MPs in Delhi recently and briefed them on how they were incurring huge losses due to flooding of under-billed Chinese cloth in the Indian market. The industrialists maintained that they were a little relieved as the MPs extended their full support in dealing with the issue. An industrialist having a dyeing unit here said it was the first time that all datas were put forth before MPs on how under-billed cloth was being imported from China, which was not possible without the connivance of officials. Due to this practice, the government was incurring losses of thousands of crores every year. Besides, this practice was denting business in markets across the country, including Tripura, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai and Ludhiana. “We expect to be having a meeting with the ministers concerned in coming days. The practice needs to be stopped to save our own industry and manufacturers,” said Rajnish Gupta, member Swadesh Vyopar Association. Rs 8,000 crore tax evaded every year It may be mentioned here that about 800 tonnes of under-billed fabric was reaching India every day and the government was incurring losses to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore per year due to the tax evasion caused by under-billing.
Source: Tribune India
As negotiators from India and Peru start the next round of talks on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement in Lima today, the tariff concessions on gold would be the most challenging issue for New Delhi. Negotiators will meet for the sixth round of talks from February 12 to 15 and from the Indian side diversification of the import basket in terms of essential minerals and metals is one of the expected outcomes of the agreement. India is also seeking to explore the untapped potential of the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Peru is a mineral rich nation and a leading producer of gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead. Some part of the gold mined in Peru is refined in Switzerland and from there finds its way to international markets. According to trade policy think tank Global Trade Research Initiative, gold, a high-value product with low volume, attracts a 10% basic customs duty in India and even minor tariff concessions could lead to a significant increase in imports. After tariff concessions under the India-UAE Free Trade Agreement, gold imports from the UAE, India’s second-largest gold supplier, doubled in the calendar year 2023 compared to 2022. Peru, the fifth-largest supplier to India, could see a similar surge in gold imports if concessions are made,” GTRI said in its report. In 2022-23 around 80% of the total imports from Peru comprised gold worth $1.8 billion. In 2023, India’s global imports of unwrought gold were estimated at $ 43 billion, with Switzerland accounting for 40% of these imports. Given Peru’s gold mines, its gold would easily meet any Rules of Origin criteria. Rules of Origin provisions in a FTA between two countries or a group of countries lay down the extent of local value addition in a product to qualify for trade on concessional terms. “Excluding gold from an FTA would violate the World Trade Organization’s Article XXIV, which requires duty cuts on substantial trade for FTAs,” GTRI said. India’s bound duty (the maximum it has agreed to at WTO) on Gold is 40% and current applied tariffs are 10%. In FTA concessions are sought and given on applied tariffs. Apart from gold, other imports from Peru are copper concentrates ($391 million), calcium phosphate ($ 21.6 million) and silver ($ 14.5 million). In FY 23 India imported $2.25 billion worth of goods from Peru and its exports stood at $ 865.91 million. Key Indian exports to Peru are automobiles, textiles and pharma products. Apart from minerals Peru is looking at exporting agricultural products like avocados, fresh grapes and blueberries to India. Most of the blueberries that are sold in India are sourced from Peru. India and Peru had first started negotiating an FTA in 2017 and five rounds of talks had been held till August 2019 before COVID pandemic disrupted the process. In August last year it was decided to re-start the negotiations. Prior to the sixth round virtual intersessional track-wise meetings are being held for mutual clarity on the text. According to GTRI the tariff elimination by Peru will not result in substantial market access for Indian products as 70% of the items in Peru’s tariff schedule are already duty-free and simple average tariff is 2.2%. “In the services sector, India may push for commitments in sectors like IT, finance, tourism. However, the potential gains in services are limited, as countries typically agree to bind existing levels of policy commitments, implying a continuation of the status quo. Low level of trade is a major deterrent,” GTRI said.
Source: Financial Express
India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is set to be launched in Sri Lanka and Mauritius on February 12, adding to the growing list of countries where the payments system is either acceptable or linked to their own fast-payments network. The launch will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth in attendance, video conferencing, at 1 PM on February 12. The respective central bank governors will also be present at the launch. In addition to the UPI, RuPay card services will also be launched in Mauritius. "Given India's robust cultural and people-to-people linkages with Sri Lanka and Mauritius, the launch will benefit a wide cross-section of people through a faster and seamless digital transaction experience and enhance digital connectivity between the countries," the Indian government said in a statement on February 11. "The launch will enable availability of UPI settlement services for Indian nationals travelling to Sri Lanka and Mauritius as well as for Mauritian nationals travelling to India. The extension of RuPay card services in Mauritius will enable Mauritian banks to issue cards based on RuPay mechanism in Mauritius and facilitate usage of RuPay Card for settlements both in India and Mauritius," it added. Over the last couple of years, Indian authorities have tried to push the use of the rupee and its payments systems globally, with the RBI announcing the setting up of a mechanism to settle global trade in rupees in July 2022. Last year in July, India signed an MoU to link the UPI with UAE's Instant Payment Platform, or IPP. That came close on the heels of Modi announcing during his visit to France that Indian tourists will be able to make rupee payments using UPI from atop the Eiffel Tower. Before that in February, India and Singapore inked a pact to link the UPI and Singapore's fast payments system PayNow. Discussions are also on with Indonesia as well as countries from Latin American and Africa.
Source: Money Control
New Delhi: The Red Sea crisis has started to have repercussions for India Inc, leading to higher freight costs on certain routes, and doubling of transit time of vessels. Container leasing rates for one of the major routes, Shanghai to Chennai, have witnessed 144% increase in Jan 2024 from $85 per unit in Nov 2023, the latest data from Container xChange, an online container logistics platform, showed. The average increase in freight cost for trade from India to Europe and US across sectors, including pharma, automobiles and textiles, has been around 40-50% in Jan 2024 compared to Sept 2023, experts told TOI. Storage charges are reasonable in India, hence liners are preferring to use leased out boxes instead of moving their own containers, they pointed out. “Throughout Jan, container prices have consistently maintained historically elevated levels, reflecting a widespread belief that container prices would continue to soar due to the ongoing Red Sea crisis. So far, the degree of impact for India is lesser as compared to that felt in Europe and US,” they said, adding the market expects a further surge around Chinese New Year. (The Chinese New Year started from Feb 10 and celebrations will continue for 16 days). “Our analysis reveals a pronounced capacity tightening in China, with container rates surging week on week as exporters grapple with moving containers out of China. The challenge compounds as repatriating empty containers from Europe to China faces obstacles due to the Red Sea crisis. In contrast, India experiences a milder impact compared to China and Europe,” Christian Roeloffs, cofounder and CEO of Container xChange, said.
Domestic companies use the Red Sea route through the Suez Canal to trade with Europe, North America and North Africa. These regions accounted for around 50% of India’s exports worth Rs 18 lakh crore, and 30% of imports valued at Rs 17 lakh crore last fiscal, according to Crisil Ratings. “Exports to Europe and Africa are getting impacted as freight rates have shot up. Also, transit time is up, thus impacting cash flow. For our European purchases, transit time increased from 30 to 45 days. Since we buy on a CIF (cost, insurance and freight) basis from Europe, it’s not really affecting us,” an executive with a freight- forwarding firm said. To add to woes, the transit time for certain routes is an additional two weeks. Increasing attacks on ships sailing in this region since Nov 2023 have forced shippers to consider longer route past the Cape of Good Hope.
Source: Times of India
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said India continues to be a preferred FDI (foreign direct investment) destination despite soaring global interest rates. He said that interest rates rose worldwide including in the US and that led to the flow of capital back in the developed nations. "That was a period where one would have imagined a much deeper impact on the developing economies than what India witnessed, but the strength of demand in India, the strength of opportunities that people saw in India, ensured that we did not see the drastic fall that many of our other peer countries (witnessed)," Goyal said. The total FDI -- which includes equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital -- contracted 15.5 per cent to USD 32.9 billion during April-September this fiscal against USD 38.94 billion in April-June 2022. "We continue to have significant FDI coming in a lot of reinvestment of earnings happened even during this period when ideally I would have thought global balance sheets were very stressed," the minister said. He added that India continues to see traction for investments and the country "continues to see money coming in". "The material factor is that it (FDI) continues to come in. Very often when you see a very rapid growth on any statistic, you need some time for it to cool down also," he said. A very continuous and rapid growth of money flow sometimes is "very harmful" for an economy also, "so I think India has been able to create a very fine balance in our control of inflation," he added. The minister was speaking at ET Now Global Business Summit 2024.
Source : Business Standard
The Government is considering expansion of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for textiles, which has a corpus of ₹10,683 crore, to include more items of manmade fibre (MMF) garments & fabrics to make it easier for investors to meet the turnover and investment norms, sources have said. The gestation period for setting up operations, currently fixed at two years, may also be shifted by one year to give investors three years time to start operations. “The recommendations for making the PLI scheme for textiles more liberal with the inclusion of at least 30 additional items by expanding the HSN code coverage and a oneyear extension of gestation period have been made by the Textile Ministry and are part of the PLI recommendations compiled by DPIIT for consideration of the Cabinet,” the source added.
Stakeholder consultation
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which is the nodal Department for the ₹1.97 lakh crore PLI scheme covering 14 sectors, recently held a stakeholder consultation with the industry and government departments to discuss how the scheme could be made to deliver results better and faster. “The DPIIT has put together all reasonable recommendations put forward by line Ministries and Departments on PLI scheme for all 14 sectors and would seek Cabinet’s approval on everyone’s behalf,” the source said. The Textile Ministry has recommended that some MMF items that have been left out of the scheme due to some classification issues, such as T-shirts and some products of both men’s and women’s wear, should be included. “The items that were left out because of HSN classification issues are more than 30. Hopefully these would be included,” the source added.
Investor concerns
Also important is the demand that an additional year of gestation period be given to investors. “The industry has been demanding that because of geo-political problems, the gestation period should be shifted by one year and the end period for the scheme should be 2030-31 instead of 2029-30. The years for making claims would, however, stay unchanged at 5 years,” the source pointed out. The PLI scheme for textiles, implemented in September 2021, covered MMF (manmade fibre) apparels, MMF fabric and technical textiles items. The minimum investment criteria was ₹100 crore and ₹300 crore, for the two parts of the scheme, while minimum turnover criteria were ₹200 crore and ₹400 crore. As the Ministry was able to select just 64 candidates the first time round and was left with an anticipated surplus outlay of over ₹4,300 crore, the window for applications was opened again last year but the terms of the scheme remained the same. The PLI scheme covering sectors such as large-scale electronics manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, telecom, food processing, white goods, solar PV modules, ACC batteries, textiles, drones and speciality steel was launched to create national manufacturing champions, generate 60 lakh new jobs, and incremental revenue of ₹30 lakh crore over 5 years.
Source : he Hindu
Many big and small businesses are playing a cat-and-mouse game. Some are taking an aggressive stance, while most are waiting it out, knocking on the government's doors, as a well-meaning, yet unsettling, law aims to move the wheels of commerce faster. Under the law - Section 43B(h) of the Income Tax Act - whose impact would be felt for the first time this year, a business entity failing to pay its vendors registered as 'micro' or 'small' (MSE) within 45 days of delivery, would not get the deduction of its purchase in the year of the purchase but can claim the deduction only in the year of 'actual payment'. Thus, deduction disallowance for unpaid outstandings would increase the taxable income and tax of companies for FY24.
In grappling with the new statute, companies and vendors are trying to escape its impact in different ways - some of which may not later stand the scrutiny of the auditors and tax office. Tacit deals with vendors For instance, many companies are sending registered letters to vendors asking them if they are classified as MSEs with a tacit understanding that the latter would not respond. In the absence of a response, the vendor is not considered as a government-registered MSE and the purchases are treated as deductible. "Some companies are issuing cheques to suppliers and showing the payment in the books with the understanding that the suppliers would deposit the cheques only on the agreed dates. There are those who are raising an objection within 15 days from the delivery of goods, in which case the payment obligation would arise only when the issue is resolved. Large buyers are also telling the micro/small suppliers to surrender the MSME registration which would make the entire MSMED Act no more applicable on transactions between them," said Manish Dafria, a senior chartered accountant based in Indore. Indeed, a large southern association has advised micro and small enterprises (MSEs) that since it's not possible to pay within 45 days, the suppliers should either cancel their registration or immediately reclassify themselves to "trading" from "manufacturing" entities as wholesale and retail traders, say many tax practitioners, are not eligible for this benefit. The association has also conveyed that its members are planning to return all goods for which payments cannot be made within 45 days and may stop further purchases from MSEs. It feels that the government should not meddle in to re-define business relationships which are "based on trust and honour."
Knocking on govt's door The law was passed by the government to lessen the plight of small businesses who are paid 60 to 180 days after the delivery of goods and services. "The law should allow deduction on expenditures as long as payments are made before the filing of the IT returns, which is October 31 for corporates. Today, this is allowed for other items but not for SME payments. The transition to a strict 45-day payment schedule would take time and the impact would be felt the most in the financial year ending March 31, 2024," said Gautam Nayak, partner at CNK & Associates, a tax and audit firm. In partially softening the blow to big buyers from the change in the tax law, some vendors are 'voluntarily' giving up their claims on interest applicable for delayed payment. However, some practitioners think this may not work out, thanks to provisions of the MSMED Act. Nonpayment to registered MSMEs results in payment of interest which is triple the RBI bank rate "But enforcement is not consistently strict. Companies receiving goods/services from MSMEs with payments exceeding 45 days and failing to file MSME-1 to the ministry of corporate affairs face penalties. Suppliers can also file delayed payment claims against buyers, but most MSMEs hesitate due to potential impact on future relationships," said Paras Savla, partner at KPB & Associates, a CA firm. Last week, a leading industry association from Surat met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to put across the problems generated by the new law. Maharashtra business bodies have made representations to Narayan Rane, the minister of micro, small and medium enterprises. Some of the trade organisations have requested deferring the law by a year and fixing the payment period to at least 60 days. What has rattled industry is the question mark that the law puts on the way businesses have happened for ages. According to Anurag Poddar, who represents multiple trade associations, "Ideally, the government should not be laying down the payment terms. These are commercial deals between businesses and vendors. What the law should probably say is that if a MS supplier is not paid within, say, 15 days of the agreed payment period, such expenditure would be disallowed. But 45 days is too short in the Indian environment. After all, even exporters get 180 days to bring in their proceeds...There is a risk that business could shift from MSEs, and thus end up harming rather than benefiting them."
Source: Economic Times
Last week, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting of the empowered group of secretaries to oversee the progress of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. This came amid concerns over slow takeoff in some sectors and delays in processing of incentives. The secretaries asked the NITI Aayog to set up a mechanism to review the workings of the project management agencies, which process the incentives, and look at tweaking the rules, if needed. PLI is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream scheme to transform India into a manufacturing hub for the world. It offers financial incentives of more than Rs 2 trillion for four to six years across 14 industry schemes — from mobile devices and cells for batteries to textiles and speciality steel. The 14 schemes collectively are expected to bring in capital expenditure of Rs 3 trillion in five years starting 2021-22 (FY22). This could push up the overall private sector capex by 15 to 20 per cent. Till November last year, the total capex on the ground under PLI, says the government, was more than Rs 1.07 trillion — around 35 per cent of the target. The scheme collectively is also expected to generate incremental sales, or production, Rs 30 trillion by the end of the programme. Till November, though, ICRA estimates say it has achieved Rs 8.7 trillion, or 30 per cent of the target. The other aim is to generate more than 6 million jobs. So far the jobs created are about 700,000 — less than 12 per cent. The bigger issue, though, is the abysmally slow pace of processing and disbursement of the incentives and their skew. In FY24, for instance, the total PLI disbursement till December 2023 was Rs 1,447 crore across 10 schemes, but 78 per cent of it went to mobile devices. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the total PLI payout since the first disbursement in FY23 has been Rs 4,415 crore. The disbursement target for this financial year has been cut down to Rs 8,285 crore, from the Rs 11,000 crore expected earlier. The good news is that the resources for PLI are being raised substantially for FY25. In the Interim Budget, allocations for eight key schemes have been nearly doubled to Rs 15,198 crore. Schemes for automobiles and auto components will for the first time come up for incentive disbursement. Government officials dispel any worries on capex. The PLI scheme has been structured in a way that the bulk of the big investments with long gestations, such as advanced cell chemistry (expected capex $5.2 billion), speciality steel ($5.1 billion), solar photovoltaic modules ($8.9 billion), automobiles ($5.1 billion) will get reflected from FY25 and peak in FY26. Estimates say 70 per cent of the expected capex will be reflected from FY25 onwards. The skew Electronics, especially mobile devices, dominate the PLI charts. The ratio of incentive to capex in mobile assembly is low, at 3.7, compared to high capital investment sectors such as speciality steel, where it is pegged at 6.2. Mobile’s share of total PLI capex is 5 per cent, but it contributes 30 per cent of the overall PLI incremental revenues. In contrast, speciality steel will contribute a substantial 19 per cent of the capex but its contribution to incremental revenue will be no more than 4.4 per cent. However, mobile PLI’s success, many say, must be measured by how it catapulted India from an importer of finished phones to a hub for exports. At the projected export value of Rs 1.2 trillion for FY24, led by Apple Inc, mobile will account for more than a third of the exports under all PLI schemes. As a result, electronics have become the fourth largest export item from India. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, says his ministry has paid Rs 3,200 crore in PLI incentives to the eligible players seamlessly. “Yes, the actual achievement under the PLI scheme for mobiles is more than what was committed. However, we have flexibility within the total allocation to ask for advancing money to meet these requirements for an earlier year,” he says. Long haul ahead Many of the PLI schemes have focused on import substitution, and the results have been mixed, or too early to ascertain. The 14 PLI sectors account for 40 per cent of India’s total import. The telecom equipment PLI has been off to a good start. Communications Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw says eligible companies have already invested Rs 2,419 crore — 60 per cent of their capex commitment. In many electronics products, the value addition has crossed 60 per cent. Data shows certain imports, for instance of modems, are down by 50 per cent compared to FY19, and of dish antenna by 20 per cent. The white goods PLI, focused on creating a local component infrastructure for airconditioners and LED manufacturing, had to be tweaked in October last year to make it easier. While 23 per cent of the eligible players have started production, the rest are in the initial stages. For the pharma PLI, the task has been to reduce India’s dependence on imports, especially from China. India imported 65 to 70 per cent of key starting materials, drug intermediates, and active pharmaceuticals ingredients in FY22. While companies under the PLI have started production from FY22, it is going to be a long haul (PLIs are for eight years) to achieve the objective of reducing Chinese dependence by 25 to 30 per cent and become self-reliant in APIs by FY29. Many PLI schemes have been delayed. For example, the textiles PLI had to be amended because of lukewarm response from companies, which complained of the high minimum investment and turnover requirements and exclusion of many product lines. The amended scheme will be for five years, beginning FY24. Of the 64 eligible applicants for textiles, only 30 had made capex investments of Rs 2,100 crore till September 2023 — just about10 per cent of the total commitment, based on ICRA data. Worse, the incremental turnover achieved is not even 0.2 per cent of the ultimate target. Even the auto PLI for electric vehicles — two-wheelers as well as cars — got extended by a year because the government as well as the companies found it difficult to come to a consensus on defining domestic value addition, which is a clause to determine eligibility for incentives. “Due to problems in defining localisation more sharply in FAME II many allegedly gamed the system. For PLI they were extra careful, but one year got wasted as the government held back the certificates needed for incentives,” says a senior executive of a leading electric vehicles company. FAME is short for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles in India. Even the IT hardware PLI had to be revamped, which meant a loss of time, because it was earlier focused only on exports and gave incentives only up to four years (increased to six), with low incentives (2 per cent; now raised to 5 per cent). Those eligible under the new PLI 2.0 have been given the option to choose their base year. They can opt for incentives on incremental sales of FY24 onwards but can extend it to FY25 or FY26 if they need more time to set up factories. The scheme will now end in FY30.
Source: Business Standard
The National Bank of Poland’s (NBP) monetary policy council recently decided to keep its interest rates unchanged to meet its inflation target in the medium term. The reference rate was retained at 5.75 per cent; lombard rate at 6.25 per cent; deposit rate at 5.25 per cent; rediscount rate at 5.80 per cent; and discount rate at 5.85 per cent. In the council’s assessment, incoming data indicate that despite the observed economic recovery, demand and cost pressures in the country’s economy remain low, which amidst weakened economic conditions and falling inflation pressure abroad supports lower domestic inflation. In the first quarter (Q1) this year, annual consumer price index (CPI) growth is likely to fall significantly, while the decline in core inflation will be slower, the central bank said in a release. In subsequent quarters, however, inflation developments are associated with uncertainty, related in particular to the impact of fiscal and regulatory policies on price developments, as well as the pace of economic recovery in the country. Presenting the inflation outlook, NBP president Adam Glapinski reiterated that inflation will fall sharply in the first few months of 2024, and is likely to return to the target temporarily in the first quarter and may be quite close to 2.5 per cent year on year in March. In December last year, producer prices were considerably lower than a year ago, which confirms the fading of most external supply shocks and a reduction of cost pressures. Together with the relatively low economic activity growth, it is conducive to a decline in inflation, the bank’s release noted. The council feels the decrease in inflation is supported by the appreciation of the zloty exchange rate, which is consistent with the fundamentals of the Polish economy.
Source : Fibre2fashion
The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) plans to increase its services through its one-stop service (OSS) to 150 by March 2024 from the current 112 services. Lokman Hossain Miah, the executive chairman of the state-run investment promotion agency, conveyed this during a meeting at BIDA’s conference hall in capital Dhaka. Miah highlighted the need for streamlined processes, emphasising that other nations provide investment-related services with greater efficiency. He cited examples such as Vietnam, which delivers such services within 35 days, Indonesia within 48 days, and India within 60 days. “In order to foster a conducive investment climate, we must minimise administrative hurdles and ensure that investors receive necessary services promptly,” the BIDA executive chairman asserted. The expansion of BIDA’s OSS to encompass 150 services signifies a proactive step toward enhancing the ease of doing business in the country. By broadening its service offerings, the state-run investment promotion agency aims to attract more domestic and foreign investment, thereby stimulating economic growth and development. It may be mentioned here that efficient and timely provision of investment-related services is crucial for attracting and retaining investors and recognising the same, BIDA is committed to optimising its processes and reducing bureaucratic delays. By benchmarking against international standards and best practices, the staterun investment promotion agency seeks to streamline procedures and enhance investor satisfaction.
Source : Fibre2fashion
Over the past month, airfreight rates in Bangladesh have nearly doubled, driven by a surge in volumes and capacity constraints. Stakeholders report that Dhaka’s market now heavily relies on shipments via air, leading to steep increases in rates. For instance, Bangladesh-Europe rates have spiked to $3.50 per kg, up from $2 in December, while rates to the US have surged to $4.50/kg from $3. Freight forwarders attribute the heightened demand to various factors, including the end of the season, congestion at transit points due to the Chinese New Year holiday, and delays caused by the Red Sea crisis. These disruptions have led to significant delays in shipping, prompting exporters to turn to air transport to meet the deadlines. Data revealed a substantial increase in cargo airlifted through Dhaka Airport, with shipments destined for the US, Europe, Turkiye, and Egypt. To ensure timely market delivery, garment manufacturer Tusuka, for instance, reportedly opted to airlift 386,000 pieces of apparel to the US and EU in January. Nasir Ahmed Khan, director of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, noted that extended ocean transit times have incentivised buyers to expedite the shipment of end-ofseason goods via air. This surge in demand has also impacted freight rates from Dhaka to other destinations. Meanwhile, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Shahidullah Azim highlighted that buyers now face additional delays of two to three weeks due to ships rerouting to avoid the Red Sea crisis. Consequently, many exporters are compelled to resort to airfreight to meet delivery deadlines.
Source : Fibre2fashion
