Exporters are continuing to struggle to get their refunds for the Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST) paid on exports, with officials raising various issues over the required documentation in the absence of a checklist. With just about 30 per cent of the claims for refunds met so far by the government, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia expressed her concern on the delayed payments at a recent meeting of the National Committee on Trade Facilitation, which was chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. “The Commerce Secretary pointed out that there was a need to sensitise States on expediting refunds to exporters as a large amount of their working capital was stuck in the process,” a government official told BusinessLine. Exporters point out that in the absence of a prescribed set of documents, different officials, including State authorities, were asking for whatever documents they fancied, such as bank realisation certificates, and were rejecting claims if such documents were not available with exporters. “The government needs to streamline the required procedures and give a checklist of documents that are required. Everyone, including State authorities, should be made to accept the checklist and no other documents should be demanded,” said Ajay Sahai from the Federation of Indian Export Organisations. As much as ₹1,85,000 crore could get stuck with the government because of the present system, under which exporters pay duties first and then get refunds, according to industry estimates. The government plans to introducethe e-wallet system to help exporters get around the situation from April, but exporters say that the details of how it would work have not yet been shared. The Central Board of Excise and Customs has also asked its officials to speed up work on refunds to exporters. In a recent missive, CBEC Chairperson Vanaja N Sarna has asked Chief Commissioners to monitor the processing of pending claims and to set up a dedicated team of officials for timely disbursals.
States’ concern
“States are also now getting concerned about the delay in refunds and some have said they will raise the issue at the GST Council. State tax departments are setting up teams to look into timely refunds,” said a Finance Ministry official. Under GST, which was launched on July 1 last year, exporters have to pay Integrated GST for exports, which is then refunded. But as this can lead to cash flow problems, exporters had the option to provide an LUT or bond. The state of Input Tax Credit (ITC) refund – the money paid as GST on buying of inputs – is even worse, as exporters have only been able to carry out 5 per cent of the filing done electronically in the manual format, Sahai added. “There is a huge gap between electronic filing and manual filing and we believe that the Revenue Department is taking up the issue with the GST Council,” he said. Due to the non-availability of the refund module on the common portal, the CBC decided two months back to allow applications, documents and forms pertaining to refund claims on account of inverted duty structure, deemed exports and excess balance in electronic cash ledger to be filed and processed manually.
Source : Business Line
MUMBAI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said his government aspires to make his state a $1-trillion economy by 2025 for which a growth rate of 15.4 per cent will be required with more focus on the services sector. At the current growth rate of 9.4 per cent, the state will achieve this target by 2029 itself, thus, there is a need to accelerate the pace of growth to 15.3 per cent, the chief minister said. "We want to make the state a trillion-dollar economy by 2025 and for that we require a growth rate of 15.4 per cent," Fadnavis said on the second day of the Maharashtra global investor summit here. Inaugurating the Magnetic Maharashtra global investor summit, Prime Minister Modi last evening had said he was confident that Maharashtra would become a $1-trillion economy by 2025, when the national economy is projected to scale the $5-trillion mount, and become the fourth largest economy in the world after the US, China and Japan. Currently, the country is ranked sixth in terms of GDP with a $2.6 trillion size, after the US, China, Japan, Germany and Britain, and the third in terms of purchasing power parity after the China and the US. According to the minister, to achieve this growth, the agriculture sector should grow at 5.5 per cent, industries at 12.3 per cent and the services sector at 15.5 per cent. Fadnavis said the agriculture and industry sectors at present are showing positive growth, but some more acceleration is required in the services sector. He estimated that by 2018 the share of agriculture sector in the state's economy will be 11 per cent, while that of the industry and the services sectors would be at 30 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively. "We need to increase this share further. By 2025, the share of the services sector has to grow to 67 per cent, industries to 27 per cent and agriculture to 6 per cent," the minister said. Explaining why the state is aiming for a low agriculture share, he said, "it is because the size of GSDP is expanding and at that phase even a 6 per cent share we will have our production doubled from the present level. I think we have to shift towards a service-oriented economy where 67 per cent of the economy will come from services." Noting that though the share of agriculture to the gross state domestic product is only 11 per cent now, it employs 50 per cent of the people, the chief minister said and highlighted that the sector is unable to absorb more workforce and it is important to skill the labour so that they can work in industries or services. Fadnavis pointed out that the productivity of manufacturing is seven times of agriculture, while that of services is nine times of agriculture. For accelerating the overall economic growth to 15.4 per cent, his government has identified areas of employment-led growth in the digital economy, ease of doing business, public investment in infrastructure led growth and demand led growth in corridors to connect value-added geographies in the state.
Source: Financial Express
Exports for the first month of the calendar year 2018 stood at $24.38 billion. The latest data released by the Commerce Ministry can be interpreted in two ways. Year-on-year, there is a 9.07 percent growth from $22.35 billion reported for January, 2017, but compared to the previous month of December, 2017, when exports reached $27.03 billion, there is a decline of 9.80 percent. For October and November, exports had stood at $23.09 billion and $26.2 billion. So, the trend of growth is not that encouraging. Besides, there are some other concerns as well. First and foremost, highly SME-populated and labour-intensive sectors like garments, carpets, handicrafts, man-made textiles are not showing growth. Among them, fall in exports of cotton textile by 16 percent y-o-y, apparel by about 14 percent y-o-y and man-made textiles by 7 percent y-o-y is particularly depressing. Additionally, petroleum product exports contributed nearly 6 percent to the total export figures in January. Trade deficit for January is also at an alarming level. It reached near a 56-month high of $16.3 billion in January, against $9.90 billion in January, 2017. This increase is mainly due to a 26.1 percent increase in imports to USD 40.68 billion driven by increased inbound shipments of crude oil. During the first 10 months of the financial year, the gap expanded to $131 billion against $88 billion during the same period a year ago. If this trend continues, trade deficit in this fiscal may touch US$ 150 billion. So, urgent steps should be taken before it becomes too late. Meanwhile, exporters have complained that delays in refund of input tax credits are hurting growth of the sector. In this background, an exporter’s body has also urged the government to look into the refund issues seriously and undertake a clearance drive to clear all cases by 31 March, 2018. Recently, the same organisation had also pointed out that exports credit had shown a decline of -2.5 percent in 2016-2017 and a y-o-y decline of -8.7 percent in 2017. These concerns worth paying attention to reverse further slippage and ensure a growth trend in the sector.
Source: SME Times
MULTAN: The business community of southern Punjab has urged the government to end discrimination in gas and power tariff and introduce uniform energy price across the country to make the business viable in Punjab. Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan said the Punjab government should either secure a uniform energy price from the federal government or bear the price differential. He pointed out that the textile industry in Punjab is paying Rs1300 per mmbtu for RLNG against Rs600 per mmbtu in other provinces. Similarly, the imposition of Rs3.60 per kWh electricity surcharge in the electricity bills is being charged unfairly, which cannot be passed on to the buyers in the international marketplace.
Source : Tribune
Export of textiles and apparel have been falling every months despite the government's efforts to give the segment a boost.Data compiled by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) showed textile and apparel export fell 13 per cent to Rs 186 billion in January, against Rs 215 billion in the corresponding month last year. Textile export slumped 13 per cent to Rs 97 billion from Rs 111 billion in the year-ago period; apparel export declined 14 per cent to Rs 89 billion.With the rupee appreciation and preferential treatment given to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by importing nations, the government needs to ease refund of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) and on Return of State Levies (ROSL), says the trade. Also, to ensure importing countries treat exporters at par with their counterparts in LCDs."The sharp decline in exports of cotton textiles by 16 per cent, apparel by 14 per cent and man-made textiles by 7 per cent contributed to the performance. The share of textile and apparel export declined to 12 per cent in January against 14 per cent in January 2017," said Sanjay Jain, chairman, CITI. Textile and apparel export between April 2017 and January 2018, first 10 months of the financial year decline of 4 per cent, to Rs 1,871 billion from Rs 1,940 billion a year ago. However, import of yarn, fabric and made-ups rose 15 per cent to Rs 99 billion in from Rs 86 billion."Effective import duties after GST have come down sharply, making import cheaper for the domestic industry by 15-20 per cent," said Jain. The government had in the Union Budget announced a 19 per cent increase in a special package from Rs 60 billion earlier. While announcing the package in 2016, the government had linked this to employment generation and increase in export."The government needs to address core issues first, with immediate release of IGST which remained blocked since July 1, 2017. This is choking of working capital," said Ujwal Lahoti, chairman of the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council and chairman of Lahoti Overseas."The industry needs immediate relief in the form of a minimum 2 per cent on the Merchandise Exporters from India Scheme on cotton yarn and a ROSL package for fabrics and cotton yarn, to retain competitiveness in the global market. Also, the government should immediately levy customs duty across the value chain to restrict import," added Jain.
Source: Business Standard
Tirupur: A designer studio-cum-library for viscose staple fibre (VSF) products will be opened soon here to provide training on the handling of viscose yarn and fabrics. The garment manufacturers here may be good in handling cotton yarn and fabrics, but not viscose. “For instance, if a manufacturer needs dyeing processors, who could handle the viscose products better, he could step into the studio and get the details,” said Senthil. Grasim Industries, in association with the Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA), will set up the state-of-art-facility.It is important to enlarge the product range from the dollar city, TEA president Raja M Shanmugham told TOI. So, we requested them to educate the manufacturers on VSF before they are able to market it. Tirupur: A designer studio-cum-library for viscose staple fibre (VSF) products will be opened soon here to provide training on the handling of viscose yarn and fabrics. Grasim Industries, in association with the Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA), will set up the state-of-art-facility.It is important to enlarge the product range from the dollar city, TEA president Raja M Shanmugham told TOI. “While 65% of the global apparel segment belongs to man-made fibres, it would be very difficult for the dollar city to survive if it only continued to bank on cotton fabric products, because many developing countries are picking up in the latter market,” he said.“With the Liva brand, Grasim Industries is the giant in VSF market and so, when they approached us, we welcomed them with open arms. The garment manufacturers here may be good in handling cotton yarn and fabrics, but not viscose. So, we requested them to educate the manufacturers on VSF before they are able to market it.
Source: Times of India
The largest global spandex producer Hyosung Corporation of South Korea is likely to invest Rs 3,000 crore in a manufacturing unit in Aurangabad Industrial City, a greenfield smart industrial city being developed in India’s Maharashtra state, as part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. Work will begin in April and production may start in 2019 May. In the first phase, the company will invest Rs 1,250 crore and the state government will soon take a decision on its request to allot 100 acres land near Aurangabad, a top state government official told a news agency. The project’s first phase is expected to generate around 1,000 jobs. Hyosung chairman and CEO Cho Hyun-joon will attend the 'Magnetic Maharashtra' investor summit in Mumbai this week. During Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s meeting with Hyosung president H S Cho during his visit to South Korea in September last year, the company had shown interest in investing in spandex manufacturing for the textile sector in the state. The market size for spandex yarn in India is projected to be over 1,500 metric tonnes this year and the growth of Indian spandex market has been over 10 per cent between 2014 and 2015. (DS)
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Sustainability is the guiding principle for MD of URCConstruction Devarajan Chinnuswamy. So much so that the owner of the Erode-based construction went out of his way to revive the dying weaving clusters in his hometown Chennimalai, about 30km from Erode. Giving a new means of survival and economic independence for weavers in the area, he set up Five P Ventures along with his friend Sampath Kasirajan in 2013. Spearheaded by Chinnuswamy’s daughter Bharathi, the venture has brought new hope for dwindling community of weavers. In the middle of a barren land in Chennimalai, Five P Ventures centre stands out with its modern, well-lit and spacious building. It houses closes 30 looms where weavers bring life to high-end fabric including denim, linen and ahimsa silk. These fabrics are supplied to designers across the globe including Australia, Europe and New Zealand. Besides Nool, their online store, Five P Ventures showcases its products at stores in Chennai and Coimbatore besides their own shop at Tex Valley in Erode. "The market is outside India as there is better appreciation of the products we make. We are seeing potential in India too," said Bharathi. The genesis of Five P Ventures began through conversations Chinnuswamy had with some senior weavers in the town several years ago. "There used to be over 50,000 looms in Chennimalai weaving different kinds of fabric including jacquard cloth. Today, there are barely 3,000," said P Ponnusamy, technical director at the firm. With the onslaught of powerlooms, weavers have long abandoned traditional looms or taken up other jobs to sustain themselves. Bharathi roped in three designers from Australia who helped understand the market and set up the foundation of the business. The biggest challenge was to bring weavers on board. "There is a strong caste system that continues to exist among weavers in Chennimalai. They were also wary about what we were trying to do. A lot of time was invested in talking and convincing them that this was a step towards sustainability. Once we had one weaver on board, it was just word of mouth that brought the others," said Bharathi. In a bid to address sustainability, all the weavers are paid on a daily basis, irrespective of orders. This has been a huge incentive for weavers. "I have been weaving for the past 43 years. I used to work with the government looms earlier and there you get paid only if they have contracts. None of my children wanted to take up the profession as they knew it was dying. Now, with Five P Ventures, I get paid regularly and don’t have to depend on my children," said Maheshwari, a weaver. The model of the enterprise is a foundation for a secure future for the community and the craft. "Direct weaver initiatives are difficult to implement but tackling it at the grass-root level has long-term impact," said Banita Leong, a consultant and former creative director at Five P Ventures.
Source: The Times of India
The artisan from all over India of the Orissa Art and Craft Samiti have come to Indore first time to exhibit their ethnic weaves and traditional pure silk & cotton products in order to start of the wedding & summer season, with the theme, " Silk Vastra – The Wedding Collection". The first day of the event saw city based women thronging the exhibition with friends and families to make their best traditional pick for the on-going wedding season. More than 100 designers and weavers are part of this year’s exhibition which includes gorgeous Uppadas, Banaras silks, Gadwals, Dharmavaram, Jamdanis, Jamawars and Sambalpuris. From saris, dress materials, items of silk & cotton saree, suit dress material, fashion jewelry, home furnishing designer clothes from each region of the country, the exhibition provided shoppers with a kaleidoscope of India’s color, diversity and talent. Artisans from 14 handloom weaving States including Assam, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and many designers from metros working in collaboration with the weavers are displaying more than 1,50,000 variety of their work here. The artisan from all over India of the Orissa Art and Craft Samiti have come to Indore first time to exhibit their ethnic weaves and traditional pure silk & cotton products in order to start of the wedding & summer season, with the theme, " Silk Vastra – The Wedding Collection".More than 100 designers and weavers are part of this year’s exhibition which includes gorgeous Uppadas, Banaras silks, Gadwals, Dharmavaram, Jamdanis, Jamawars and Sambalpuris. From saris, dress materials, items of silk & cotton saree, suit dress material, fashion jewelry, home furnishing designer clothes from each region of the country, the exhibition provided shoppers with a kaleidoscope of India’s color, diversity and talent. Artisans from 14 handloom weaving States including Assam, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and many designers from metros working in collaboration with the weavers are displaying more than 1,50,000 variety of their work here. The first day of the event saw city based women thronging the exhibition with friends and families to make their best traditional pick for the on-going wedding season.
Source: NYOOOZ
A formal submission has been made by 38 World Trade Organisation members including India, the EU, China, Russia, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam to the Dispute Settlement Body seeking a decision on launching of a selection process to fill the three vacancies in the seven-member Appellate Body pending for long. “Most WTO members, including New Delhi, feel that the US has been allowed to block the process of filling up vacancies in the Appellate Body for too long and the DSB should intervene. Any further delay could severely hit the dispute settlement mechanism and the credibility of the WTO,” a government official told BL. The DSB will consider the proposal in its meeting on February 28. It remains to be seen if the DSB can rule in favour of starting the selection process without seeking the approval of all members such as the US. “The DSB has to ultimately take all members on board. However, it is good that so many members have raised the issue at the DSB as it puts on record the concern felt by so many about the delay in appointments,” said Biswajit Dhar, Professor, JNU. The Trump administration blocked the appointment process of judges on the ground that the functioning of the Appellate Body needs to be improved including bringing about amendments to a rule (Rule 15) which allows judges to continue working on cases they were assigned to before their terms ended. Members, opposing the blockade, have argued that the issue could be settled separately and the appointment procedure should be allowed to go on. The 38-member group has proposed that the DSB should establish a Selection Committee, consistent with established procedures, composed of the Director-General and the Chairpersons of the General Council, the Goods Council, the Services Council, the TRIPS Council and the DSB, to be Chaired by the DSB Chair. “The Selection Committee should be requested to carry out its work in order to make recommendations to the DSB within 60 days after the deadline for submitting nominations of candidates, so that the DSB can take a decision to appoint three new Appellate Body members as soon as possible,” the communication stated. The US blocked the appointment of the judges also because of some judgements went against it and Washington alleged that the Appellate Body had over-reached and created law through legal rulings. “There is just no reason for the US to question the Appellate Body’s functioning as it has so far functioned in a fair and balanced way. India has recently lost two disputes with the US — one on poultry imports and the other on local sourcing in the solar energy sector — but it doesn’t mean we will cry foul,” the official said.
Source: Business Line
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau on Monday paid a visit to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and interacted with students and academicians at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A). At the management institute, the Prime Minister underlined the potential of bilateral trade between India and Canada to grow from $8 billion in goods and $2 billion in services currently. Canada was open to immigration and trade, he said. Trudeau was accompanied by his wife Shophie and three children Xavier, Hadrien and Ella-Grace Margaret as they paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Gandhi Ashram here. Impressed and inspired by the place, the Canadian Prime Minister expressed the need peace, humanity and truth in the today’s world. “A beautiful place of peace, humanity and truth, that is as needed today as ever,” Trudeau wrote in the visitor’s book at the Ashram. The family visited Akshardham Temple in State capital Gandhinagar before the Canadian Prime Minister addressed a townhall at IIM-A. “When you think of natural connections between India and Canada, especially in the field of agriculture or pulses, where we have slight challenges. There are potential of growth,” he said in his nearly an hour-long address.
Immigration
On the issue of immigration as the global leaders are pulling up the barriers to protect local interests, Trudeau stated that Canada believed that the new reality for 21st century is going to be heterogenous societies. “..and the biggest challenge we are going to have as species is doing something that India and Canada have done fairly well — that is to understand how differences can become a source of strength and not weakness...As you get more pluralistic, language, religion, ethnicity, ideology should be anchored in shared values, that society subscribes to,” he said. Trudeau shared his government’s vision and policy to open its borders to refugees and pointed towards “investing significant amounts in integration, language acquisition and healthcare for them which is contributing to the country's economy”. Taking inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, he said, “The idea of trusting in others, trusting in truth of others, and standing incredibly strongly in principles and fundamental beliefs is something as necessary, if not more necessary, now than it was 50 or 100 years ago,” he said. The Canadian Prime Minister expressed the “frustrating” nature of the media at times, but he also underlined the importance of media to bring out the aspects where the governments go wrong.
Source: Business Line
Japan has reported a trade deficit for January, its first in eight months, mainly due to seasonal factors.A man leaves a tailor in Tokyo's Nihombashi shopping and business district, Monday, Feb. 19, 2018. Japan has reported a trade deficit for January, its first in eight months, mainly due to seasonal factors. Japan's trade sector started out the year on a strong note though it slipped into deficit for the first time in eight months due to higher oil prices and seasonal factors. Customs data released Monday showed imports rose 8 percent from a year earlier to 7.03 trillion yen ($66 billion). Exports jumped 12 percent to 6.09 trillion yen ($57.1 billion), leaving a deficit of 943.4 billion yen ($8.8 billion). Exports to China jumped 30 percent from a year earlier. Oil prices have gained over the past year, rising from about $55 per barrel in January 2017 to more than $70 per barrel for part of last month. As a resource-scarce nation, Japan imports nearly all of its non-renewable energy needs. Imports of oil, gas and coal jumped nearly 10 percent in January from a year earlier, to almost 1.6 trillion yen ($15 billion). Japan's trade surplus with the U.S. fell 12 percent as exports edged higher to 1.07 trillion yen ($1 billion). Surging shipments of liquefied petroleum gas, soybeans and machinery helped push imports up 9 percent year-on-year to 717 billion yen ($6.7 billion). Harumi Taguchi, an economist for HIS Markit, said the timing of new year and lunar new year holidays likely pushed the balance into deficit. But she added that "the overall trend for exports is likely to remain solid thanks to sustained brisk machinery orders from overseas, which will contribute to maintaining Japan's trade surplus over the near term." The yen has recently gained in value, which could stunt exports in coming months, though for now it is mostly reducing costs for imports and exports since more than half of all of Japan's exports and imports are contracted in dollars, Taguchi said.
Source: Financial Express
LAHORE: Large scale manufacturing sector is crucial for the economy but the main providers of jobs in Pakistan are the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that need a boost to move from being local suppliers to global suppliers. The share of the manufacturing sector in the job market is only 14 percent that is very low because 80 percent of the manufacturing investments in large scale industries provide less than 20 percent of the manufacturing jobs. The rest over 80 percent jobs are provided by the SMEs. The size of workforce in Pakistan is 63 million out of which only 9.13 million jobs are provided by the manufacturing sector. The workforce in around 300 operating spinning and weaving mills is around 180,000 at an average of 600 workers per mill. The SMEs of textile sector employ a workforce of over 3.3 million. These include textile subsectors like garments, knitwear and towels. The investment in these value-added sectors is 20 times less than the spinning and weaving sectors. Realising this, even the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association has advised the government to facilitate around a thousand new garment and knitwear units in the country. Most of the bank credit in textiles is availed by the spinning and weaving sectors while the SMEs of this sector have nominal exposure to credit. The default rate of textile SMEs is nominal compared with the defaults of basic textile units. The garment and knitwear units have to accept foreign orders in accordance with their capacities, the rest they refuse because they do not have the finances to enhance capacities as it is extremely difficult for them to get bank credit. These SMEs grow at 7-10 percent per annum on their own investment and are regularly increasing exports. A look at the car manufacturing sector would reveal that the three main car manufacturers hardly employ 5,000 workers. The investment in the manufacturing plant is heavy and they cumulatively produce around 300,000 cars per year. The SMEs that supply auto-components to these manufacturers operate with a workforce of over 150,000. These auto part makers manufacture precision auto parts of global standards. Each component they produce is approved by the Japan-based principle offices of these car manufacturers. The quality of these parts is so good that whenever the principle offices face part shortages in Japan they ask the Pakistani auto parts producers for supplies. But the Pakistani suppliers lack capacities to execute these orders. They need investment to scale up but banks are mostly not interested to hold their hands. Indian auto part makers have enhanced capacities and their exports are almost equivalent to our total exports. The investment in 23 cement units of the country is probably the same as that of the entire textile sector. The number of workers in these units is hardly 23,000. Similarly, sugar mills also fall under large scale manufacturing. These mills cumulatively employ hardly 63,000 workers. The investment is very high. As a matter of fact automation has been very high in large scale manufacturing industries while the role of workers is still protected in most SMEs. The large scale industries provide mostly the basic materials needed for growth. This is the reason that large scale manufacturing industries are still flourishing in most developed economies where the wages are very high. Barring basic textile, most of the LSM sectors like automobiles, cement, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and paints are operating successfully in developed economies. However these economies have outsourced the labour intensive industries. This is the reason that the garments, knitwear and auto parts are manufactured in developing economies for the developed economies. To ensure a sustainable export-led growth, the government has to shift its focus from LSM to SMEs. These SMEs should be the suppliers of every low and high value product for the global economies. The light engineering industry could fetch more foreign exchange through thousand suppliers from Pakistan than our entire exports. Even the export of low value-added steel pipes has substantial scope of exports from SMEs. The auto parts and value-added textiles have 100 times more potential than our current exports from these sectors.
Source: The News International
Kenya – The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industry is seeking to bridge the trade deficit between Kenya and Morocco and grow trade between the two countries. Currently, total trade between Kenya and Morocco stands at Sh40.1 billion, where trade is in favour of Morocco at Sh39.8 billion in imports against Sh415.1 million worth of Kenya’s exports into the country. KNCCI CEO Angela Ndambuki says the Chamber is committed to promoting commercial exchanges that will encourage the supply of market information and facilitate business networking opportunities for both parties. Kenya’s exports to Morocco include tea, mate, fruits, nuts, vegetable textiles and telecommunication equipment among others. On the other hand, Kenya’s imports include fertilizers, petroleum oils, synthetic fibres, textiles, medicaments and television receivers among others. “Kenya needs to tap into Morocco’s market and export more of tea and coffee as they are the best products in the world,” Ndambuki said. She was speaking during a visit to the Kingdom of Morocco for a business delegation. The delegation was in Morocco to scout for business opportunities and partnerships specifically in the agricultural sector. It is also expected to create more employment opportunities and boost the economy of both countries.
Source : Capital Business
Uzbekistan has offered Hungary to create joint ventures in the two countries for production of finished textile products and their export to the European Union (EU). The Association of Textile and Clothing and Textile Industries Enterprises in Uzbekistan (Uztekstilprom)recently discussed this issue with Hungarian ambassador to Uzbekistan Peter Santo. The ambassador agreed to consider the proposal, including a visit by a business delegation of Hungarian entrepreneurs to Uzbekistan in September this year. This meeting, organised on Hungary’s initiative, discussed issues of further expansion of cooperation in the textile and sewing & knitting industry by supplying products of Uzbek producers to the Hungarian market, according to an Uztekstilprom press release. The Uzbek association is interested in attracting Hungarian technological expertise in joint ventures apart from expanding trade and economic cooperation, according to a report in a Azeri news portal. The export of Uzbek textiles to Hungary was worth merely $33,800 last year. (DS)
Source : Fibre2fashion
The government is set to frame a policy to bring in discipline and ensure accountability among the buying houses in the export-oriented apparel industry. The commerce ministry has already prepared a draft that seeks to get buying houses registered with the Export Promotion Bureau. Without registration with the EPB, no buying house will be able to hand over letters of credit on behalf of buyers to manufacturers, according to the draft, which was sent to stakeholders for vetting last month. “This is an initial draft. Our spirit is to expand our export market by creating a good reputation of our sector,” said Md Abdur Rahim Khan, deputy chief at the commerce ministry's textile cell. The move comes after some incidents of fraudulence by some buying houses. Last year, 26 Bangladeshi garment exporters became victims after two local garment buying houses, Vanguard and ASM Apparels, placed work orders on behalf of the “importer” Y&X, saying that the latter is owned by a Bangladeshi-born British citizen named Manjur Billah. The duo offered higher prices on the condition that the raw materials have to be bought from select textile factories in China. The deception came to light after the first batch of consignments was left unclaimed for over one month at a UK port. Until now, there has been no policy on buying houses and there is no controlling authority for them, Khan said. “We have been demanding a policy for the last 10 years to bring in discipline in the sector,” said Kazi Iftaquer Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Garment Buying House Association, which represents 400 buying houses. Apart from BGBA members, there are many buying houses operating in the country, the total of which would come to 1,500, he said. A policy would be instrumental in resolving problems or disputes that occur among buyers, buying houses and exporters. As per the draft policy, buying houses and apparel manufacturers will have to carry out business based on contracts and send the copies of contracts to their respective organisations. Buying houses will have to maintain transparency in determining prices between buyers and exporters, according to the draft. After handing over the letters of credits to exporters on behalf of buyers, buying houses will have to continue to carry out responsibilities until exporters get payment, it said. The draft policy said buying houses or buying agents will have to send statements of order placement to the BGBA every three months. And the BGBA will send the attested copies of statements to the EPB and the Bangladesh Bank. If any dispute arises between the export-oriented firm and the buying house, they can apply to the arbitration committee of representative organisations, who would then settle the matter within four weeks, said the draft policy. The draft policy seeks to form a panel to monitor the activities of buying houses. The panel will inform the commerce ministry and recommend actions if it finds involvement of any buying house in export by violating rules. Khan said the draft policy will get a shape in one or two months.
Source: The Daily Star
Research has shown some staff in the garment sector can now earn up to $480 each month as unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia congratulated workers for taking home the new minimum monthly wage of $170 for the first time. Staff in the garment and footwear sector received their first pay packet at the higher rate on February 10. According to research by The National of Trade Unions Coalition, which involved more than 30 factories, ordinary staff can now earn between $238 and $260 per month, including benefits. NTUC president Far Saly said the wage hike would benefit the lives of workers and their families. “Workers who are paid according to the quantity of products, they can earn between $280 and $480 per month including benefits, while workers on probation can earn $182 to $210 per month,” he said. GMAC deputy secretary-general Kaing Monika said NTUC’s research on wages reflected what member factories were paying out. “While we congratulate workers on their new wage levels, we would also like to express our concern over the competitiveness of our industry,” he said. Two weeks ago, GMAC issued an appeal to buyers to continue to support Cambodia and place sufficient orders at fair prices for factories, in line with rising wages for workers. “To workers and unions: please participate in the effort of the factory management to improve productivity, strengthen the quality of goods and reduce wastage in production and in the factory as a whole. Practice proper work attitude, respect working times and be highly responsible for assigned work and duties,” the statement said. The GMAC statement also said factory leaders must strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of management systems, while it asked the government to make trade easier by improving public infrastructure and minimising fees and bureaucracy.
Source: Khmer Times
The Ministry of Labour yesterday said that factory owners who abandon their businesses without paying workers their final dues will face court cases in the wake of complaints from unions. Speaking to reporters after a United Nations unemployment event in Phnom Penh, ministry spokesman Heng Sour said there has been strong criticism from unions and workers that too many garment factory owners are fleeing the country after going bankrupt without paying workers their dues. “Employers cannot escape and think that they do not have any obligations to workers,” he said. “I would like to confirm that those employers who escape from Cambodia will face lawsuits in court over their debts.” Mr Sour also floated the idea of ordering owners to pay workers their wages bi-weekly rather than monthly to mitigate the risks of missing wages if employers went bankrupt. “When the workers get paid their wages twice per month, at least this can reduce some risks when their employers escape,” he said. Most recently, the owner of three factories – Yu Fa Garment Industry, Yu Da Garment Industry and S.R.E Garment Company – escaped the country without paying wages to about 1,000 workers in Phnom Penh’s Por Senchey district. Last Friday, more than 700 of the workers from two of the factories – Yu Da Garment and S.R.E Garment – received 65 percent of their missing wages after some machinery from the factories was sold for $155,000. Tun Sophorn, national project coordinator for the International Labour Organisation, said when some factories go bankrupt, owners do not inform relevant authorities and flee without notice. “If the owners would announce their bankruptcy to the Labour Ministry, they would then be held accountable to pay workers their wages,” he said. “This is the problem. The ministry must make sure they do not flee without notice.”
Source: Khmer Times
The ASEAN region’s screen, digital and textile printing and signage communities will gather at FESPA Asia 2018, in Bangkok from February 22 to 24, 2018. The exhibition will provide print service providers and sign-makers an invaluable opportunity to discover the latest products and technological innovations that the specialty print industry has to offer. Among the 160 brands at the show, FESPA Asia 2018 will welcome many first-time exhibitors, such as Stahls, Inkcups, Chemica, INktech and Monti Antonio. The Bangkok location also means this will be an important event for Thai companies, which include Fujifilm (Thailand), Epson Thailand, TAO Bangkok Corp, and Thai Techno Plate. Roz Guarnori, FESPA divisional director, said, “Our seminars will cover a wide variety of topics, providing visitors direct access to industry thought-leaders and granting valuable insight into current and emerging trends affecting wide format and its tangential sectors.” The FESPA Asia 2018 conference will comprise 23 sessions in both Thai and English. The session will focus on topics like the 3rd e-commerce revolution in the textile industry, Heat Transfers in the Garment Manufacturing Market, Hybrid Printing for interior decoration, Strategic Direction of Textile Printing, and Trends of on demand packaging for online shopping and online food delivery in Thailand. Making its triumphant return to FESPA Asia will be the World Wrap Masters competition, showcasing the skill and creativity of international vehicle wrappers and demonstrating the creative ways in which vehicle decoration can prove to be an eye-catching promotional tool. The 2018 edition will see 16 competitors - half of which hail from Thailand and the rest from Japan and Russia - take part in four competing rounds. The wrappers will be tasked with wrapping cars and other items using vinyl from World Wrap Masters Sponsor Hexis. The winner of the Bangkok competition will automatically qualify to enter the final series competition to take place at the FESPA Global Print Expo 2018 in Berlin, Germany.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Around 430 exhibitors from more than 10 countries and regions including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam will display their products at the Yarn Expo Spring during March 14-16 in Shanghai, providing trade buyers, around 22,000 are expected at the fair, with a diverse range of yarns and fibres. The fair will depict current industry trends: the rise of innovative synthetic and specialty yarns and increasing demand for eco-friendly products. The Birla Planet pavilion this year will include six exhibitors showcasing Birla Viscose, a heavy-metal-free fibre that is well suited to blending with other fibres. According to Peter Dong, marketing director of Aditya Birla Group, “there will be fierce competition in the industry in 2018 due to total production increasing by 15-20 per cent,” but the eco-friendly nature of their products, he believes, will maintain demand for them, especially in China. Sateri Pavilion will also be there at this year’s fair. Sateri is a well-known brand in China. Specialising in viscose rayon, they are the largest producer of viscose fibre in the countrywith three mills and an annual capacity of 550,000 tonnes. Following the success of their debut pavilion at the previous Yarn Expo, they return again with their members who will showcase skin-friendly hygiene products made from viscose fibre. Another interesting exhibitor will be Yibin Grace, whose most popular product is Gracell fibre made from 100 per cent pure wood pulp making it completely degradable. With high fibre strength and softness, it can be used in knitted products, woven wool fabrics, home textiles, nonwoven facial masks, and high-grade woven fabrics for jeans, trousers and shirts. In previous editions of Yarn Expo, “many buyers were asking us if we have environmentally friendly products,” Qian Min, director of Jiangsu Guowang High-Technique Fiber’s Marketing Department reported. As such, Jiangsu Guowang will showcase new products this edition including low-temperature dyed fibres and heavy-metal-free fibres. Together with Yarn Expo Spring 2018, four other textile trade fairs are held concurrently during March 14-16: Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Spring Edition, PH Value and the China International Fashion Fair (CHIC). Yarn Expo Spring is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) and the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
