The industry saw nearly 300,000 tonnes of new capacity across the entire value chain in the past two to three years with the central government clearing some bottlenecks, synthetic textile manufacturers are planning a cumulative 500,000 tonnes of capacity addition, at an investment of about Rs 70,000 crore, over the next two to three years. The industry saw nearly 300,000 tonnes of new capacity across the entire value chain in the past two to three years. Overall capacity of the synthetic textile value chain is now 5 million tonnes a year; China’s is 55 million tonnes. The central government in September 2018 started releasing input tax credit, a big blocker of working capital for the entire industry. Further support in terms of a uniform tax structure and high import duty would help, says the industry. “As against 73 per cent of polyester and 27 per cent of cotton blend in textiles globally, India continues to have a lower percentage of polyester use, of just 40 per cent in the overall textile sector. The capacity additions planned now, of around 0.5 million tonnes in the next two-three years, will meet domestic demand and help in higher export,” said a senior industry official. Leading synthetic yarn manufacturer Filatex India plans to raise its capacity by 300 tonnes per day to 1,050 tonnes a day with an investment of Rs 275 crore. The new capacity is coming at Dahej (Gujarat) and orders for machinery have been placed. The project is scheduled to commence commercial production in the coming financial year. “Polyester is the fibre of the future and we will continue to expand our capacity, based on the demand. The demand for polyester fibre is increasing as the demand for sports and yoga wear is increasing across the world,” said Madhu Sudhan Bhageria, chairman. The company’s capacity rose last year from an annual 237,000 tonnes to 328,000 tonnes. Export contributes to a fifth of its revenue. The current capacity expansion would mean another Rs 600 crore of revenue a year. Another manufacturer, Bhilosa Industries, plans to add 700 tonnes a day, taking its capacity to 2,300 tonnes a day. Well known Polyester has expanded over the past few years to 1,100 tonnes a day. Other manufacturers have similar plans, to meet global demand. Data compiled by the Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) showed the average of 60 per cent capacity utilisation in 2017-18 had slightly increased this year. With increased focus on polyesters or synthetic textiles, Vietnam had export of $34 billion in calendar 2018, with a target of $36 billion in 2019. Of this, $10 billion was of synthetic textiles blended with viscose or cotton. “To boost export, the government needs to make a uniform tax structure of five per cent in the synthetics sector, similar to the cotton value chain. Also, the import duty of five per cent needs to be raised to 10 per cent or even higher, to restrict import from China, Bangladesh and even Vietnam,” said the official quoted earlier. Former SRTEPC chairman Sri Narain Aggarwal said substantial growth in import inot India of manmade fibre and manmade staple fibre and textiles was not a good sign for the industry. The government needs to act with remedial and protectionist measures, he added.
Source: Business Standard
The commerce ministry has called a meeting of stakeholders including export promotion councils and other government departments to discuss ways to increase exports to China, an official said. Officials from the agriculture ministry, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), and representatives from export promotion councils would participate in the meeting. Growth in exports to China is beneficial for India as it has huge trade deficit with the neighbouring country. Trade deficit with China increased to USD 63.12 billion in 2017-18 from USD 51.11 billion in 2016-17. India is taking several steps to promote shipments to China. Recently, it has managed to export agricultural goods such as non-basmati rice to China. India is seeking greater market access for various agricultural products, animal feeds, oil seeds, milk and milk products, pharmaceuticals in light of the potential of these products/services in the Chinese market.
Source: Business Standard
India's merchandise and services export would touch USD 540-billion mark this fiscal, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said Thursday. He said exports are growing at a healthy pace and shipments of goods would reach over USD 330 billion. Similarly, services exports would touch about USD 200 billion, according to Prabhu. In total, both "merchandise and services exports put together will reach about USD 540 billion" by the end of this fiscal, the minister said here at a function. During April-February 2018-19, the goods exports grew by 8.85 per cent to USD 298.47 billion. Talking about the stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and European Union, the minister said India is keen to resume the talks. "We are really keen to have this FTA with EU. India will work to find a workable deal," he said. The negotiations for the pact, officially dubbed as the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), have been held up since May 2013 and have witnessed many hurdles. The negotiations for the pact were launched in 2007.
Source: Business Standard
The DPIIT in a public consultation meeting on March 8 had extended the deadline for stakeholder comments, after several players had sought more time. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has received comments from over 30 companies and industry trade bodies on the National Draft E-Commerce Policy so far, addressing issues from data sharing to maintaining a level playing field, people close to the development told ET. The department has already held closed door consultation meetings with numerous members of the industry, who brought forward their concerns with the draft policy and suggestions on how to accelerate the growth of e-commerce in the country. The DPIIT in a public consultation meeting on March 8 had extended the deadline for stakeholder comments, after several players had sought more time. E-commerce bigwigs Amazon and Snapdeal are known to have made their representation to the government, while Flipkart will do so before the deadline on Friday, multiple people told the newspaper. The companies also participated in consultations that various industry bodies had called for, which was done to form consensus on what different players wanted. Among the prime concerns that most companies have expressed to the DPIIT with the Draft National E-commerce Policy is the mandate for them to share anonymised, aggregate data with it that can aid startups and in the forming of public policy. People who met with DPIIT officials said there was a sort of an impasse on this point. The government is of the view that companies should not be the sole owners of such data and that it should also be used for betterment of public as it belongs to citizens as well. However, companies have argued that processed data is akin to intellectual property and is the only thing giving them an edge over their rivals. “Data is what is driving innovation in the gig economy and sharing it is akin to sharing IP. So we really need to have a governance framework on how companies share and what they share. If they (government) make it mandatory to share this data, it might not throttle innovation, it might thwart it,” said an executive at Flipkart who has worked on the company’s responses that will be submitted to the DPIIT. Other people who met the DPIIT said that the officials were more receptive to other concerns they had with the draft policy, including the mandate on sharing of any data demanded by the government, restrictions on cross-border sharing of data with group entities, the need to bring large offline retailers that collect consumer data into the fold of the policy, and the measures proposed to stop the sale of counterfeit products online.
Source: ET Tech
India has been one of the world’s fastest growing large economies, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which recently said the country has carried out several key reforms in the last five years. More reforms are needed to sustain this growth and harness the nation’s demographic dividend opportunity, its communications director Gerry Rice said. IMF will release details regarding the country’s economy in the upcoming World Economic Outlook (WEO) reportahead of the annual spring meeting with the World Bank next month, he said. This report would be the first under Indian-American economist Gita Gopinath, who is now IMF's chief economist, a news agency reported. Among the policy priorities, IMF would include accelerating the clean-up of banks and corporate balance sheets, continuation of fiscal consolidation, both at centre and state levels, broadly maintenance of the reform momentum in terms of structural reforms in factor markets, labour, land reforms, and further enhancing the business climate to achieve faster and more inclusive growth, Rice added.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
“India was the largest beneficiary of the programme in 2017 with $5.7 billion in imports to the US given duty-free status” President Donald Trump should delay his decision to terminate the preferential trade status granted to India till the general elections in the country are over, several influential United States (US) lawmakers, including Democratic presidential aspirant Tulsi Gabbard, said on Wednesday. Trump this month informed the US Congress about his intent to terminate the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country under Generalised System of Preferences(GSP) programme that facilitates duty free import of certain products from underdeveloped countries to help grow their economies. Under the US GSP programme, nearly 2,000 products including auto components and textile materials can enter the US duty-free if the beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by the Congress. India was the largest beneficiary of the programme in 2017 with $5.7 billion in imports to the US given duty-free status, according to a Congressional Research Service report in January. My hope is that we can delay, the termination of these GSP preferences until after the elections in India so that we can have a non-political conversation that is very focused on how we collectively can move forward together, Gabbard, the first Hindu US lawmaker, said at a conference on The US-India Partnership: Economic, Immigration & Strategic Issues. Speaking at the conference organised by the US-India Friendship Council, Gabbard acknowledged that bilateral relationship was facing a challenge in the field of trade. We have some trade challenges that we need to resolve as well as trade opportunities. I think that we have to make sure that cooler heads prevail as we deal with some of the differences that exist, she said. Obviously each country (is) advocating for what is in their interest, but recognising that we have great potential and opportunity in many different areas, the announcement to terminate the GSP preferences for India, I think speak to some of those differences, Gabbard said. Republican Congressman George Holding, who is Co-Chair of the Congressional India Caucus, agreed with Gabbard, saying that India has been in the generalized system of preferences for three decades and it’s just not the right time to address that. India, he said, is no longer that underdeveloped country when GSP was first granted. There has been a lot of changes in the country since then. We do probably need to revisit that. But we don’t need to revisit it right before a general election, he said. Swadesh Chatterjee, chair of US-India Friendship Council, said that Trump’s decision to terminate GSP for India would impact the country’s export of about $5.6 billion. This is more than 10 percent of the total goods and services between the US and India and this suspension of GSP will definitely create some issues between the two countries. Senator Thom Tellis from North Carolina, praised the contribution of Indian Americans in the economy and development of the United States. I developed a greater appreciation for their culture, their dedication to education and their dedication to excellence, he said. Referring to the growing defense ties between India and the US, Indian-American Congressmen Ami Bera underscored the need of the two countries to work in areas like artificial intelligence. We’d like to authorize the Department of Defense (DoD) to assist India in reducing purchases from countries that we may mutually view as adversaries and certainly that we may view as adversaries, Bera said. He said that Indo-US partnership in the area of defence is critical and the two countries have been conducting major defense and naval exercises together. We would like to require the DoD to conduct regular military engagements and dialogue with India, particularly in the Western Indian Ocean region. We recognize that India strategically has a vital role in protecting the Indian Ocean region and in keeping those lanes of commerce open, he said. We’d like to require the State Department to advance India’s membership into the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum or APEC, because we think this is an important vehicle by which India can continue to seek it’s free and open trade across the Asia, Bera said.
Source: The Hindu Businessline
A portal for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to provide them a digital profile, including an online product catalogue and e-commerce store, and access to global networking opportunities towards identifying buyers and suppliers was unveiled here on Wednesday. Telangana State GlobalLinker (ts-msme.globallinker.com), the portal, will digitise over 2.3 million MSMEs in the State, said an official release on the launch function in which Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan and representatives of various trade and industry bodies participated. Digitisation is “going to be a game changer for MSME businesses as it helps them cater to customers beyond local boundaries, allows their profit to grow twice as fast and substantially increases their contribution to GDP”, Mr. Ranjan said. Co-founder and CEO of GlobalLinker Sameer Vakil said, “We look forward to assisting over 2.3 million enterprises.” Besides the digital profile, access to global networking opportunities, the portal will provide MSMEs access to industry news, articles and discussions, the release said.
Source: The Hindu
After long deliberation, the goods and services tax (GST) was implemented in July 2017. Nearly two years have passed since, and there’s a widespread perception that GST revenue growth has not lived up to expectations. This is not a fair assessment. GST’s revenue performance must be measured against not the target set, but against the growth of nominal GDP. An assessment was made by Kapil Patidar & Arvind Subramanian in June 2018. This showed that in the first year of implementation of GST, revenues grew by 11.9% and the buoyancy was 1.20. A buoyancy ratio over 1shows progressiveness in the revenue growth and opens up the prospect of a rising tax-to-GDP ratio. This is a significant improvement over the pre-GST period when the buoyancy ratios for state value added tax (VAT) and central indirect taxes like central excise and service tax were less than 1. The revenue performance is especially creditable given the transitional difficulties during implementation and teething technical problems with the GST Network (GSTN). Some other analyses show that the tax-to-final consumption expenditure also grew from 10.3% in the year before GST (2015-16) to 11.9% (including adjustments for transitional credits) in 2017-18. However, the state-wise picture shows that some states did better than the others. The states that had a high percentage of origin-based taxes in subsumed revenues — Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha — were found to lag behind in subsequent revenue performance. The relative buoyancy of GST revenue compared to the pre-GST period is not surprising. This is a result of two factors. One, the design of GST that integrated the entire value chain from raw material to retail for the purpose of indirect taxation. This design reduced noncompliance in downstream trading, as these entities chose to register to avail of the input tax credit generated upstream. The Economic Survey 2016-17 also points out that small units even falling within the threshold exemption limit opted for GST registration to avail of the input tax credit as they buy largely from bigger units. Two, GST buoyancy was also aided by the tax incidence on services increasing from 14% pre-GST to 18% post-GST. The buoyancy in GST revenues is also reflected in the bump in the personal tax revenues on the direct tax side. Personal income-tax collections include the revenues of unincorporated enterprises that have tended to pay more direct tax revenues induced by their formalisation in the GST scheme. A further surge in GST revenue will happen once land and real estate is brought under the GST net. This will clean up the land market and the revenue gains will be more on the direct tax side as more transactions are reported under GST. Asalutary impact of GST is the greater coordination between the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). This reduces non-compliance and enhance revenues, a win-win for both departments. The I-T departments have incorporated information on GST registration and turnover in their return format. A more detailed analysis of GST revenue buoyancy is hampered by the fact that there is no data on the sectoral profile of the new registrants and of separate revenue trends for goods and services. There is a perception in many states that revenue from services has lagged behind expectations. This can be rectified by a small modification in the format of the GST annual return. This modification would require companies to indicate the HSN (Harmonised System of Nomenclature) code in eight digits in respect of goods supplied by them and accounting codes of each of the services provided. Duty payment in cash should be indicated code-wise for each of the goods and services. At the time of evolution of GST, it was visualised that the monthly and quarterly returns would be kept simple and that the annual return would capture detailed information for compliance verification and data analysis. It would be a real pity if analysis is hampered by insufficient data. Besides greater revenues, the great success has been the emergence of the GST Council as a credible institution of cooperative federalism. Its success has opened up the prospects of replicating this institutional arrangement in other sectors like power, agriculture and transportation. The GST impact goes beyond revenues and rates of duty. It has fundamentally transformed our federal polity for the good. The writer is ex officio special secretary, GoI.
Source: Economic Times
Scientists have found a way to 3D print patterns on to textiles that can harvest and store electricity, an advance that may pave the way for developing smart clothes. With a 3D printer equipped with a coaxial needle, researchers from Tsinghua University in China drew patterns, pictures, and lettering onto cloth, giving it the ability to transform movement into energy. "We used a 3D printer equipped with a home-made coaxial nozzle to directly print fibers on textiles and demonstrated that it could be used for energy-management purposes," said Yingying Zhang, a professor at Tsinghua University. "We proposed a coaxial nozzle approach because single-axial nozzles allow only one ink to be printed at a time, thus greatly restricting the compositional diversity and the function designing of printed architectures," Zhang said. Researchers made their first 3D printed E-textiles using two inks -- a carbon nanontube solution to build the conductive core of the fibres and silkworm silk for the insulating sheath. Injection syringes filled with the inks were connected to the coaxial nozzle, which was fixed on the 3D printer. These were used to draw customer-designed patterns, such as Chinese characters meaning PRINTING, the English word SILK, and a picture of a pigeon. This approach differs from other groups who are manually sewing electrical components, such as LED fibers, into fabrics, but these multi-step processes are labor intensive and time consuming. The strength of using a 3D printer is that it can build versatile features into fabrics in a single step. The approach is also cheap and easy to scale, as the nozzle is compatible with existing 3D printers, and the parts can be swapped, according to the research published in the journal Matter. However, a drawback is the resolution of what can be printed is limited to the mechanical movement accuracy of the 3D printer and size of the nozzles. "We hope this work will inspire others to build other types of 3D printer nozzles that can generate designs with rich compositional and structural diversity and even to integrate multiple co-axial nozzles that can produce multifunctional E-textiles in one-step," Zhang said. "Our long-term goal is to design flexible, wearable hybrid materials and electronics with unprecedented properties and, at the same time, develop new techniques for the practical production of smart wearable systems with integrated functions, such as sensing, actuating, communicating, and so on," he said.
Source: Business Standard
The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) on Tuesday called for trade normalisation between Pakistan and India through assessing tariff and non-tariff barriers on both sides. “For trade normalisation, the platform of SAARC and regional trade agreement SAFTA can be effectively utilised,” a report prepared by the authority noted. Despite being the largest economies of South Asia, and members of regional cooperation, bilateral trade between Pakistan and India presents a dismal picture. Pakistan’s exports account only 0.08 percent of India’s total imports. Bilateral trade was further constrained by adopting restrictive trade measures, including tariff and non-tariff barriers on both sides, in addition to trade relation’s sensitivity to security conditions across the border. Such restrictions have provided incentives for informal trade, which were many folds of the formal trade between the two. “Under current circumstances there exists substantial trade potential between Pakistan and India. Both countries can benefit from their competitive advantage through trade normalisation. Therefore, governments on both sides need to act proactively to normalise the trade relationships to benefit from each other in the long run,” the report noted. An official said the government of Pakistan needed to include value-added products in its export basket to India, as the current export basket mainly consisted of raw materials for Indian industrial production. Moreover, Pakistan needed to negotiate tariff rationalisation, as most the textiles products, and some of the identified potential export was in the Non-LDC sensitive list – facing high tariff rates. “Both countries need to discuss non-tariff barriers to reach a mutually acceptable resolution. Such resolution should at least provide concession to Pakistan on its potential export items including textile items,” the official said. According to traders, physical infrastructure needed to be upgraded for two-way trade facilitation. The only border currently in use is the Wagah-Attari, which lacks adequate customs and warehousing facilities. “Both countries should collaborate to develop a mechanism to ensure rules of origin to reduce the volume of informal trade in addition to other steps for trade normalisation. There is a need to review current restrictive visa regime to facilitate travel, and arrangements are also needed to address the encumbered process of transactions across the borders,” the report added. It may be mentioned here that trade with India came to a halt after India imposed 200 percent duty on all imports from Pakistan in February following border tension in Kashmir.
Source: The News
The 2019 Takshila Yearbook weaves in the grandeur and diversity of Indian textiles. The legendary Uzramma, who initiated the Andhra Dastkar Trust in 1990, in her introduction to the Takshila Yearbook for 2019, writes that “the word textiles originates from the Latin word texere, which means to weave. It is much later that it came to be comprised of rich subtexts such as pressing fibres together, spinning, knitting, crocheting and knotting”. Warp and weft is what the Takshila Educational Society’s Yearbook has at its centre this year. Uppada Jamdani of Andhra Pradesh, Loin Loom weaving of Nagaland, Goat work of Rajasthan, Bobbin lace work of Tamil Nadu, the Kimkhwaab, Chikankari, Ajrakh and much more, lesser-known styles — all sit easily on the many pages that feature the 365 days of this year. It is hard to imagine how one would be able to write anything in the diary at all, given the tapestry on display on each page, which makes for absorbing reading. Painstakingly designed to include very disparate areas of India, this is no simple narration of styles or a lament of handloom traditions long lost. The yearbook holds out as a symbol of the grandeur, simplicity, diversity and inclusiveness of pretty much what is India with this offering. Takshila works at village Jamaalhaata in Siwan district of Bihar, with weavers, to focus on reviving skills long constrained by the crippling poverty of this part for decades now. Indian textile traditions have for long been a threatened but valued part of the Indian experience. Before 1947, the homespun khadi was more than a piece of cloth, and was short-hand for a whole manifesto for independence from colonial rule that the national movement held for a future. Before that too, the 13th century poet-reformer Kabir, mediated verse from between his preoccupations on the loom — parts of his verse, the famous lines — jheeni jheeni been chadariya, was later the title of a moving novel by Abdul Bismillah. This Yearbook for 2019 is not for sale and is “for private circulation”. The high level of skills involved in weaving in the Medieval years led to some exotic names for muslin and other fine fabric, like evening dew, running water or sweet sherbet, but among the many anecdotes, the finest is perhaps on Mashru, from Gujarat, “a mixed style, with a silk warp and cotton weft and was used by Muslim men who were prohibited by a Hadith rule to wear pure silk fabric. As the silk yarns were on the outer side while the cotton yarns were worn close to the body, these textiles were considered derived ‘lawful and permitted by sacred law’ or masher, this Arabic word therefore came to be the name of the textile.”
Source: The Indian Express
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1307.16 |
USD/Ton |
-0.34% |
3/28/2019 |
|
VSF |
1809.80 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
ASF |
2441.82 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Polyester POY |
1338.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2899.85 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
40D Spandex |
4743.85 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Nylon POY |
5621.24 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1576.33 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2691.65 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2602.43 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1531.71 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
Polyester DTY |
3137.78 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2557.81 |
USD/Ton |
-0.29% |
3/28/2019 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2015.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2870.10 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2899.85 |
USD/Ton |
-1.52% |
3/28/2019 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2528.07 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2171.17 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2572.68 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.37 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.83 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.11 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.63 |
USD/Meter |
-0.23% |
3/28/2019 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.70 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
3/28/2019 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14871 USD dtd. 28/03/2019). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Beyond the Belt and Road infrastructure projects, thousands of entrepreneurs from China are also setting up on the continent. Wilson Wu has big plans for the free trade zone he manages in Igbesa, a scruffy town in Ogun State, some 60km from the frenzy of Lagos, Nigeria’s huge commercial capital. Casting his gaze over what is today a small cluster of industrial warehouses surrounded by mud roads and bush, Mr Wu can see an altogether brighter future. “We will have a five-star hotel, a golf club, a Walmart,” he says in a well-rehearsed pitch. “It will be like Dubai.” An electrical engineer by profession, Mr Wu’s journey to west Africa followed an assignment as a young man in Myanmar, where he worked for Power Construction Corporation of China, a state-owned group, upgrading the electricity grid. In 2011, hungry for more adventure, he packed his bags and headed for Nigeria, where, still barely 30 years old, he was tapped up to manage the Ogun State free trade zone, a private-public project in which the local government provides the land and Chinese enterprise the capital. Mr Wu is one of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens — a common estimate is about 1m — who have ventured to Africa over the past two decades to seek their fortune. Like many who have ended up there, he sees in Africa’s raw energy and ambition an echo of the forces that were unleashed by Deng Xiaoping’s reforms of 1978. “It is like the China of the 1970s and 1980s when you could open a business and maybe earn a fortune,” he enthuses. “Those kind of fortunes are not possible in China today.” People like Mr Wu have been persuaded to test their ambition in far-flung corners of the world by tougher business conditions in China, where rising labour costs, industrial overcapacity and more stringent environmental standards are taking their toll. While many entrepreneurs have looked closer to home, to countries such as Cambodia, others have struck out to Africa. It is China’s massive infrastructure projects, including dams, railways, ports and telecommunications networks, that capture most attention. Between 2000 and 2014, the stock of Chinese investment in Africa went from 2 per cent of US levels to 55 per cent. McKinsey estimates that, at the current breakneck pace, China will surpass US levels within a decade. Washington has belatedly woken up to China’s growing presence which is transforming both the physical and diplomatic landscape of Africa. In December John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, accused China of using “bribes, opaque agreements and the strategic use of debt to hold states in Africa captive to Beijing’s wishes and demands”.
China in Nigeria
Yet large companies such as Huawei, and big state-affiliated companies, such as China Bridge and Road, are not the only Chinese actors reshaping the continent. What officials in Washington may not fully understand is that thousands of hardscrabble entrepreneurs like Mr Wu, involved in everything from retail and factories to farming, are having just as big an impact. Irene Yuan Sun, an associate partner at McKinsey and author of a book on Chinese investment in Africa, says the influence is particularly strong in manufacturing. “Chinese manufacturing investment is the best hope that Africa has to industrialise in this generation,” she says. “Chinese involvement in Africa is not just about state-driven efforts. A just as large, if not larger, component is these private enterprises, which are more job-intensive, which localise quicker and which have a much larger economic and social impact.” When Mr Wu first came to Ogun, there was virtually nothing in place. The state’s free trade zone he manages is majority-owned by Guangdong New South Group, a private Chinese conglomerate with interests in everything from medicine to coal mining. Mr Wu’s team was given a 2.24 sq km patch of land and told to get on with it. Nigeria, like countries across Africa, has a huge infrastructure deficit. It lacks reliable power, water and all-weather roads. New South Group has had to build almost everything from scratch, including natural gas-powered generators and yet-to-be paved roads connecting the zone to Lagos and beyond. “It is like managing a country,” Mr Wu says of the zone, which is designed to be an enclave of efficiency and stability in Nigeria’s notoriously unpredictable business environment. “We have our own customs, our own police, our own operations. The government of Nigeria provided the land. We used all our own money to build everything else.” After seven years in operation, the free trade zone has 50 registered companies, including two ceramic manufacturers producing tiles and plates, a steel-pipe plant and factories making everything from furniture to tomato sauce. There is a printing business, a plastic recycling company and another specialising in construction materials. For Mr Wu, the next 15 to 20 years will see a massive expansion to 10,000 companies, 200 times the number today. “We will have eight different industrial sectors,” he says. “We will have different zones for electronics, for tiles, construction. In the future, we will have a university for research and development.” “Nigeria has the conditions to be a factory of the world,” says Zhou Pingjian, China’s ambassador to Nigeria. “It should become the factory of the world.” If that is Nigeria’s putative future, for now, Mr Wu and thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs in the country like him have to contend with the present. Manufacturing made up just 9 per cent of gross domestic product in 2017, according to the World Bank, and President Muhammadu Buhari — who was re-elected in February — has complained that Nigeria imports everything from toothpicks to tomato purée. Like other countries in Africa, Nigeria’s manufacturing ecosystem has withered since the 1980s, partly thanks to a poorly executed industrial policy that saw the state lavish billions on white elephant projects. An irony of Chinese entrepreneurs setting up factories in the country — and in other parts of Africa, such as Ethiopia and Rwanda — is that the import of cheap Chinese goods was another factor in destroying local production. Nigeria has also been hit by the oil exporter curse, which pushed up the exchange rate, making it cheaper to import finished goods than produce them. The country’s once thriving textile industry is today a pale shadow of itself. Because of a shortage of all but the most basic raw materials, most Chinese factories in Nigeria are limited to final assembly. They rely on imported parts and inputs, which means they need to access scarce foreign currency and coax supplies past sometimes obstructive port officials. “The currency volatility is just too high,” says Wing Liao, the founder of Winghan, a Chinese furniture brand with a factory in Ogun state. “When there is profit, a fluctuation in currency exchange rates can wipe it all out.” To get hold of foreign exchange, Chinese entrepreneurs have had to get creative. Many say they buy Nigerian raw materials, such as timber and marble, which they then export to buyers in China or Europe in exchange for Chinese renminbi. Rings of Chinese money-changers specialise in matching those needing foreign currency with willing Chinese buyers of Nigerian imports. “Once the ship leaves port and has its papers signed by the port authorities, you can collect your money,” says Ban Yushi, manager of a Beijing-based mining company. Lack of inputs and scarcity of foreign exchange are just two of the obstacles faced by Chinese entrepreneurs. Rightly or wrongly, they complain about the skill levels of Nigerian workers, the product of a state education system that has deteriorated over recent decades. “The machines are often too difficult to operate for local employees,” says Chen Donghua, a shoe factory manager at the Lee Group, a manufacturer owned by Hong Kong entrepreneurs. “But because local labour is cheap they can still package them by hand.” Mr Chen’s company provides training to employees who, he says, in practice have little above an elementary school education. Chinese businessmen also have to negotiate past Nigeria’s bureaucratic gatekeepers for permits and licences. “To visit a government official here, you best have around $6,000 to $10,000 with you,” says Mr Ban, the miner. “Otherwise, forget about getting an appointment.” There are cultural obstacles too. Across the continent, Africans accuse Chinese workers of refusing to integrate. Many of them choose to work in unmarked offices and dormitories, away from the prying eyes of authorities and potential competitors. They are accused of bringing in their own labour, though companies have quickly learnt they need to provide local employment if they want to stay in business. From the perspective of Chinese workers, thousands of miles from home in an unfamiliar environment, life can also be tough. “This place is very lonely,” says Peng Hong, who manages a medicine manufacturing company in Lagos and Kano, which employs around 350 Nigerians and 45 Chinese. Mr Peng arrived in west Africa in 2005 from landlocked Hubei province, in central China, where he says, “life is too hard”. Life has been hard in Nigeria too. “We import most of our food and cook for our Chinese employees,” he says. On the weekends, Mr Peng organises company outings for his mostly male employees to the supermarket or to Lagos’ only Chinese-style karaoke bar. Like many arrivals, Mr Peng has had to battle. “We had to clear all the trees, drill our water wells, rig our own electrical transmission lines,” he says. “When I first came here, we had to light candles after 4pm because there was no stable electricity. We could not sleep because of the heat, so we would sleep outside in the courtyard.” Chinese entrepreneurs complain too that the authorities talk big but often fail to deliver. The expansion of Ogun’s free trade zone, for example, is being held up by the state’s inability, or unwillingness, to buy up land from local chiefs, Chinese executives say. Chinese views about their host communities can be blunt. “Nigeria has the most thieves in the world,” says Thomas Liu, who runs the medicine company where Mr Peng works, using the sort of uncompromising language that grates from Accra to Kinshasa. “You have to avoid being tricked.” Yet despite their myriad complaints, they say fortunes beckon. “If I could give advice to my former self, it would be ‘move faster,’” says Kent Chan, manager of Grand Shine Construction Materials. He set up his first factory in Nigeria in 2015. “I actually wanted to come in 2014 but then Ebola broke out. If I had come that year, I think business would have been even better.” The influx is by no means limited to Nigeria. McKinsey estimates there are more than 10,000 Chinese businesses operating in Africa, 90 per cent of them privately owned. Drawing on the “flying geese” concept of Japanese economist Kaname Akamatsu, researchers at the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies argue that, as costs in China rise, manufacturing will gradually shift to regions like Africa. Between 2000 and 2015, Chinese companies registered more than 1,000 African manufacturing proposals with the commerce ministry in glass, recycled steel, ceramics, gypsum board, textiles, dying, tanneries and shoe factories to name but a few. Chinese companies, including garment makers in Tanzania and Lesotho, relocated not only because of cheaper labour costs. They were also drawn by the prospect of tariff free exports to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and to the EU under the Everything But Arms agreement. In Ethiopia, Huajian from China and New Wing from Hong Kong were attracted by the country’s high-grade leather, the researchers at SAIS found. Once companies gain a foothold in one country, many seek to expand. New South Group aims to open 10 industrial zones like the one in Ogun across Africa, starting with a 700- acre facility near the Kenyan city of Eldoret that began business in February. It plans to open in Ghana and Angola, where, as in Nigeria, reliance on oil exports has devastated local manufacturing. In Nigeria, as in much of Africa, Chinese investment provokes suspicion as well as praise, but for the most part officials welcome the attention. Jonathan Coker, Nigeria’s former ambassador to Beijing, says western warnings about Chinese investments are hypocritical. “Diplomats say we will become slaves of China. This is the propaganda of the west,” he says. Instead, he adds, Nigeria has much to learn. “China is 10 times the size of Nigeria’s population but they have developed a system that can take care of their people. These are the examples we want to adapt.” Not all Chinese entrepreneurs have a positive impact. In Madagascar, they are blamed for illegal exports of rosewood and zebu, a type of cattle. Chinese demand for African wildlife also fuels poaching from Zambia to Mozambique. Nor does Ms Sun see the arrival of Chinese entrepreneurs as a magic bullet. The author accepts that, along with the promise of factories and jobs, they may bring environmental degradation and friction with African communities. “But they are extremely entrepreneurial and they are doing profoundly important things,” she says. “Not all good, not all bad. But we have to pay attention”
Source: Financial Times
Net textile and apparel fibre imports by the US rose to a second consecutive record in calendar 2018, as consumer demand for clothing increased with the expanding economy. Total fibre product imports exceeded 20.8 billion raw-fibre-equivalent pounds in 2018, compared to 19.7 billion pounds in 2017. Textile and apparel exports reached 3.5 billion pounds. Thus, net textile and apparel fibre imports by the US in 2018 approached nearly 17.4 billion raw-fibre equivalent pounds, 7 per cent above 2017, the Economic Research Service of the US department of agriculture (USDA) said in its latest ‘Cotton and Wool Outlook’ report. In 2018, synthetic product net imports increased for the 9th consecutive year, as continued growth in athleisure wear has increased demand for synthetics. For the 5th year in a row, synthetic fibre products accounted for the largest share of total net imports—surpassing cotton in 2014. Last year, synthetic textile and apparel products contributed about 51 per cent of the total, while cotton products provided 42 per cent, and linen, wool, and silk combined for an additional 7 per cent. Although cotton’s share of total net fibre product imports has steadily declined since 2007, its share equalled 50 per cent as recently as 2011, when synthetics accounted for 44 per cent, the USDA report said. Meanwhile, the US domestic cotton consumption (mill use plus net textile imports) increased 4 per cent in calendar 2018 as consumer demand for cotton products reached its highest in 8 years. Retail consumption was estimated at nearly 8.9 billion pounds, or 18.4 million bale-equivalents for the year. Although domestic cotton consumption has increased for 2 consecutive years, the 2018 estimate remains more than 18 per cent below the calendar 2006 record of approximately 10.9 billion pounds. US cotton product imports and exports moved in opposite directions once again in 2018, as demand for synthetic products grew at a faster pace and limited cotton’s growth. Cotton product imports approached 9.0 billion pounds in calendar year 2018, 4 per cent higher than 2017 and the highest since 2010. At the same time, however, cotton product exports declined 3.5 per cent to 1.6 billion pounds in 2018. Similarly, US cotton mill use in calendar 2018 decreased to 1.5 billion pounds. Consequently, the US per capita estimate of retail cotton consumption rose nearly 1 pound in 2018 to 27 pounds; however, US cotton mill use contributed less than 5 pounds of the total as textile and apparel product manufacturing remains concentrated in low-wage-rate countries, the report said. (RKS)
Source: FIbre2fashion
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the economic and trade cooperation between China and Sri Lanka, Chinese enterprises have made leaps and bounds in their investment in Sri Lanka and signed contracts to invest in large-scale projects. The main investment projects are concentrated on infrastructure constructions which are directly under the broader framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Currently, the key investment projects in Sri Lanka include Colombo International Financial City, Colombo International Container Terminals and Hambantota Port. Also, Chinese private investments in Sri Lanka has grown rapidly. Chinese private enterprises mainly invest in hotel construction, agricultural product processing, manufacturing, warehouse logistics etc. The historical foundation of the China-Sri Lanka relations has laid exchanges on cultural, commercial and trade relations. The famous Sino-Lanka Rubber Rice Pact in 1952 officially commenced a strong bilateral economic and trade partnership, allowing to strengthen diplomatic ties among the two countries. With China’s expertise, hard and soft infrastructure construction such as roads and highways, value-added agricultural products, construction of ports and related industries, Sri Lanka could manoeuvre the potential opportunities gained through establishing mutual cooperation among the two nations. This article has identified key areas where China and Sri Lanka could mutually benefit through cooperating in areas such as: value added agriculture, infrastructure construction, developing ports and related activities, upgrading local manufacturing industries, and tourism development.
Towards value added agriculture
Under the influence of the tropical monsoon climate, Sri Lanka has abundant rainfall, fertile land, and a wealth of tropical economic crops. SriLanka has favourable conditions for the development of the agricultural sector. In addition, Sri Lanka is rich in fisheries, forestry and water resources. Sri Lanka’s arable land area accounts for 61% of the country’s land area. It has a large area of rubber plantations, tea plantations, and coconut plantations. These three types of agricultural products are the three pillars of Sri Lanka’s agricultural economic income. Export of agricultural products accounts for a section around 25% of the total export earning of the country. In recent years, Sri Lanka’s share of spices exports has gradually increased, becoming a major emerging industry in Sri Lanka’s agricultural exports. At the same time, Sri Lanka is also the world’s third largest producer of black tea and the largest exporter. In order to improve the international competitiveness, the Sri Lanka Government has highlighted increasing investment in research and development of agriculture and improving the quality of their agricultural products. Under the influence of this national policy background, China can strengthen cooperation with Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector, especially in the fields of tea, coconut and rubber. Sri Lanka is the world’s leading coconut producer, and its output is second only to India, the Philippines and Indonesia. China can strengthen cooperation with Sri Lanka in coconut production and deep processing, which can increase the added value of coconuts and related products.
Modernising infrastructure
According to Sri Lankan development goals, the Sri Lankan Government points out that, it should continue to strengthen its investments in developing infrastructure and increase the annual investment by 30% to 35%, which in return will drive the growth of the national economy.
Upgrading domestic roads
At this stage, there are three highways in Sri Lanka; the southern expressway from Colombo to Matara, the Colombo Airport Expressway, and the first phase of the Colombo Expressway. According to the Sri Lanka Government’s national highway development plan, highways currently under construction include the Colombo Outer Circular Expressway project, and the original Southern Expressway extending to Hambantota Port and Hambantota International Airport. In addition to the highways mentioned above, the highways from Kadawatha to Dambulla in the central region, and the expressways from Colombo to Ratnapura, are undergoing preliminary preparations. At present, China’s domestic highways are developing rapidly and the researches on road construction technology have matured. China’s railway construction began in the Qing Dynasty. After more than a century of expertise in railway construction and development, at the end of 2016, China’s railways had a total mileage of 124,000 kilometres, ranking second in the world. Among them, 25,000 kilometres of high-speed railways ranked first in the world. The national railway double-track rate and electrification rate reached 54.9% and 64.8% respectively. Strengthening cooperation with Sri Lanka railways on the one hand will help ease the slow development of the Sri Lankan railway freight mileage, and solve the people’s livelihood problem in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, it will help to develop advanced technology for China’s railways and to promote the Chinese railway construction standards to the world. So the cooperation between China and Sri Lanka is a win-win cooperation.
From a port to city and provincial development
The Sri Lankan Government has already taken measures to develop port construction and development of industrial parks with an intention to increase exports and improve the value addition of its export products. At present, the Sri Lankan Government manages a number of export processing zones and it is also learned that a couple of privately-owned industrial zones are also managed. They are located in the economically-developed Western and Central provinces. The port industry involves a wide range of diversified industries. In addition to the most basic loading and unloading functions of the port, there are a number of related industries, such as the maritime industry and transportation. Chinese expertise in the construction of ports and managing industrial parks is well demonstrated under the framework of ‘Shekou model’ also known as Port-Park-City (PPC) model. Followed by China’s open reforms and economic policy by the chief architect Deng Xiaoping in 1978, Shekou, a small fishing village in Shenzhen was transformed into an industrial zone in 1979. With an area of 2.14 square kilometres and a population of few thousands, Shekou Industrial Zone was constructed by the China Merchants Group and is the first export-oriented industrial zone. Today, the Shekou industrial zone has become an international coastal new city, with a population of 400,000 and a per capita GDP of more than $ 60,000. The first phase of the Shekou mode or the Port-Park-City mode is to build the port and is mainly based on developing a multi-purpose port to accommodate large vessels to receive bulk cargo. Construction of an industrial park with logistics and an export processing zone are a few components of the next phase. This development process will end up building a modern city, with facilitating technological innovations. China Merchant Holdings have used the experience of Shekou to transform the African port of Djibouti making use of its geographical advantage into an international hub for maritime cargo making. At present, the Djibouti International free trade zone with an overseas park has benefited from this model, which has made breakthroughs and is expected to promote local development into a ‘Shekou of East Africa’, which integrated functions of finance, logistics and trade. After the operations of the new port commences, Djibouti aims to build a modern business district which is fully equipped with commercial and tourism facilities. It is important to understand that mega infrastructure projects such as the construction of ports and industrial parks should not only be port-centric or park-centric. These approaches may not deliver the guaranteed results unless these become international trading hubs which will sustain in the longer run. An industrial park consisting of a special economic zone will boost inward investments and trade. On the other hand, industrial parks enable connectivity to global supply chains, which in return will add value to local exports and contribute to cargo generation. Taking the experience of Shekou and Djibouti into practice, the port of Hambantota will be built according to the PPC model. The Sri Lankan government has announced that an investment of $ 3.85 billion in the southern Hambantota refinery will start its construction. A cement plant project with an investment of $100 million was started in parallel with the refinery project. These two projects are expected to create a large number of employment opportunities and have positive implications for stimulating local economic development.
Benefitting from Chinese industrial capacity relocation
Due to lack of its resource capacity, Sri Lanka depends heavily on import of raw materials. The textile and garment industry accounts for a significant contribution to the overall industrial composition. The textile and clothing industry accounted for 45.9% of Sri Lanka’s major export commodities in 2015. Sri Lanka hopes to promote the development of the Sri Lankan secondary industry through an agreement with the China Free Trade Zone, especially the relatively weak manufacturing and equipment manufacturing in Sri Lanka. Industry is also a key area of Sri Lanka’s major industrial development goals. The establishment of the China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Zone will help to increase the manufacturing capacity of Sri Lanka and help the development of its secondary industry. With regard to the cooperation between China and Sri Lanka in the manufacturing sector, Sri Lanka’s industries with advantages in development at this stage are labour-intensive, especially in the textile field, and China can transfer some of its production capacity in related fields. Chinese companies intending to invest in Sri Lanka’s textile manufacturing industry should give priority to areas in Sri Lanka where the transportation is convenient, where the population density is relatively high, and the southern provinces, and at the same time they negotiate details with the relevant departments of Sri Lanka and have targeted investment options. Today, China occupies a leading position in the global textile industry. It is not only the country with the largest production scale but also the country with the most complete industrial chain with prominence to global value chains. Data show that in 2017, China’s chemical fibre production reached 4,915,500 tons, accounting for more than 70% of the world’s total; the total production of garments accounts for 28.78 billion which is equivalent, to 6.89 garments per person. As a traditional industry of the “Silk Road”, China’s textile industry is actively integrated into the BRI, actively establishing cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road, realising the internationalisation of productivity and supply chain through green investment, through raw materials, brands, cross-regional cooperation in resources such as channels and R&D to achieve cooperation and development with Sri Lanka.
Chinese tourism-led growth
Sri Lanka’s natural and cultural tourism resources are abundant. Before the end of the civil war, the development of the country’s inbound tourism was slow and was less-attractive to the foreign market. Soon after the end of the war, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry began to recover, becoming the most famous destination in the whole of South Asia. With the increase of the awareness of the potential merits highlighted in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Sri Lanka has made a positive response and is willing to support the initiative. In May 2016, China and Sri Lanka signed a memorandum of cooperation in tourism. It should be noted that China is the world’s largest outbound tourist market which can allow countries like Sri Lanka to gain access to the world’s largest outbound market. The Sri Lankan government could introduce more favourable reforms to improve the quality of its tourism industry to attract high-end tourists around the world. Similarly, China is the second largest tourist source market for Sri Lanka. With the concept of BRI, coastal and ocean tourism has set off a new wave in China. The long-standing friendship among China and Sri Lanka has promoted the enthusiasm of Chinese tourists to select Sri Lanka as a must-see tourist destination in South Asia. Sri Lanka has beach tourism around the sea in terms of natural tourism resources, alpine tea garden tours, gem tours, historic culture of Buddhism in cultural tourism, ancient colonial ruins, local ethnic culture, dance and musical heritage few other aspects. Each has its own characteristics and is one of the key industries in Sri Lanka. So the development and construction of new tourist attractions are also the focus of national development. Tourism is a comprehensive industry, which will promote the progress of a series of related industries. Transportation infrastructure, hotels, restaurants, communications and private services will all be driven to a certain extent. The national goal of Sri Lanka is to develop a service-oriented economy, and tourism will greatly promote the progress of a series of related industries, including the service industry. Chinese-related companies intend to invest Sri Lanka and can adapt to the trend of tourism development to invest in the development and construction of new tourist attractions. In line with the current state of aviation and transportation development in Sri Lanka, it is recommended that Chinese companies choose to travel in the east and south. In the past five years, China and Sri Lanka have made important progress in negotiating and joining hands for the Belt and Road Initiative. Sri Lanka is located in the middle of the Silk Road and has a very advantageous geographical position. The proposal of the Belt and Road strategy is a good opportunity for Sri Lanka. China’s current development is like a fast-moving train with clear goals and a bright future. The Chinese people open their hands and open their doors to welcome people from all countries, including Sri Lanka, to take advantage of China’s development to achieve common development. China welcomes to work hand in hand to jointly build a grand blueprint for the Belt and Road and jointly build a community of shared destiny among both. (Dr. Zhao Ying is the Associate Director, China-Sri Lanka Cooperation Studies Centre of the Pathfinder Foundation and a visiting scholar of Southwest University of Political Science and Law)
Source: Columnists
The government has provided Rs 42 billion to local textile industry under Prime Minister Exports Enhancement Package for enhancing the textile exports. The initiative was aimed at to bridge the gap between local exports and imports by encouraging the export oriented industry and incentivising the industrial sector for introducing the innovative, modern and cost cutting technologies, particularly in the textile industry, said a senior official in the ministry of and textile industry. Talking to APP here on Wednesday, he said so far State Bank of Pakistan has received the 2 75,000 refund claims under the package and it was processed accordingly. He said the package was introduced in 2016-17 and in first five months, the government had paid an amount of Rs 5 billion, adding that in fiscal year 2017-18 the government had cleared the refunds amounting Rs 26 billion. He said in last seven months, the government had paid Rs 11 billion in terms of outstanding claims, adding that pending liabilities of Rs. 23 billion would pay off by the government in coming few months. He said, “We are committed for the execution of PM export enhancement package for development and growth to the textiles sector for increasing country’s export.” He further said priority of the government was increasing the country’s exports and job opportunities for the people. He said textile sector was also working for modernizing to improve the skills of textiles worker through using modern technology and tools.
Source: Business Recorder
Faisalabad is a manufacturing hub of popular international textile brands, which have also been introduced in South Asia and can be taken to European markets with the collaboration of Italian experts, said Syed Zia Alumdar Hussain, President of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI). In a meeting with a six-member Italian delegation, headed by Italian designer Stella Jean, Hussain highlighted that Faisalabad was providing 55% of textile-related raw material across Pakistan while its share in total textile exports was around 45%.He pointed out that Faisalabad had state-of-the-art textile units, which were supplying branded goods to international markets. “Many local units are also using Italian textile machinery,” he said. Hussain revealed that an FCCI delegation was scheduled to visit Spain to participate in an international exhibition in Barcelona. Another delegation has been proposed for a trip to Italy in order to hold business-to-business meetings with Italian buyers. “I hope that Pakistani exporters will participate in the Milan Fashion Week, which is set to attract a huge number of buyers from all around the world,” said designer Stella Jean. The fashion week will be held in September this year. Speaking on the occasion, a representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) pointed out that 90% of Italy’s industrial sector comprised small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Former FCCI president Rizwan Ashraf urged Pakistani exporters to introduce their brands at the global level in collaboration with Italian experts. He invited Stella to visit Faisalabad Institute of Textile Fashion Design, Khaadi and other leading textile units, which produced a large variety of female wears.
Source: The Express Tribune
Twenty-seven South African firms are exploring trade and investment opportunities in Ghana from March 24 to 30 as part of an outward trade and investment mission of the trade and industry department. The mission, under the Export Marketing and Investment Assistance Scheme, comprises participation in a seminar, business meetings and site visits. This investment-led trade approach is aligned with the Integrated National Export Strategy (INES), which aims to increase South Africa's capacity for exporting diversified and value-added goods and services to various global markets, said trade and industry minister Rob Davies. The mission to Ghana will contribute significantly in strengthening trade relations between the two countries, a ministry press release quoted Davies as saying. Trade between South Africa and Ghana increased considerably from around R4 billion in 2014 to R13 billion in 2018. South Africa exported R4.4 billion worth of goods to Ghana in 2018 while imports were valued at R8.7 billion, thus registering a trade deficit of R4.3 billion with Ghana in 2019. Over 180 projects by South African companies have been recorded between January 2006 and 2017 with an investment value of over $770 billion. (DS)
Source: Fibre2fashion
With a growing textiles market in China due to 'consumption upgrade' and diversified market demand, this Autumn's Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles, to be held during August 28 - 31 will provide great opportunity for overseas home textiles brands. The show will present more quality suppliers, contract business exhibitors and finished products for visitors. Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles has long been attracting leading local and international brands to take advantage of this potential. Last August's fair gathered fabrics brand names including Enzo Degli Angiuoni Spa from Italy, JAB ANSTOETZ from Germany and Prestigious Textiles from the UK, domestic big names such as Beijing Yada and Beijing Euroart together with whole-home exhibitors like Coomo Living, Mirtos, Murray, Casaido and Lezai. This year's show will continue to showcase a wide range of home textile items to match consumers' expectations. The Contract Business concept received much recognition in the 2018 edition as around 16 per cent of visitors reported interest in contract business products. In order to facilitate buyers' sourcing process, contract business exhibitors will be highlighted this year at the fairground with clearer signage. There will also be a diverse range of events including a forum and display area that will help fairgoers to understand different contract textile products and the derived business opportunities. Being Asia's leading trade platform, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles offers a comprehensive range of home textiles and accessories. Apart from abundant decoration fabrics, finished products are receiving much attention in recent editions. As per the fair's visitor statistics, the interest towards finished home textile products has increased by around 10 per cent in the past four years. "I am impressed that more exhibitors are using diverse finished products to present an overall impression. Compared to the companies showcasing fabrics alone, these suppliers are more attractive," Liu Yuan from Shenyan Space Design said at last Autumn fair. Given this growing demand, more suppliers have decided to take advantage of the fair to showcase their finished products. Naturtex, Jaspa Herington, Silkland and Weihai HengTai Woolen Blanket are just a few of the confirmed exhibitors. Visitors can expect to source more finished products this edition, ranging from bedding products and carpets and rugs to finished curtains and more. China now boasts around 33 million middle and upper class households, according to the Chinese government, using a more narrow definition of this group than usual that takes into account disposable income relative to the cost of living. The annual household income required to be considered in this group in first-tier cities is set at around $ 44,500 and above, while for other cities it is around $ 30,000 and above. Within the 33 million households, around 10 million are considered to have the strongest purchasing power for the home textiles sector as they have combined assets of around $ 450,000 or more, usually including their own home. These well-educated consumers have different brand preferences, product expectations and consumption habits than previous generations, according to Wendy Wen, senior general manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK). "The greater emphasis on product quality, brands and a tailored experience from customers have fostered strong growth and new product offerings in the entire home decoration industry in China. With over 1,000 exhibitors and around 40,000 visitors under the same roof, Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles is the place to capitalise on this unprecedented growth of the Chinese middle and upper classes." (SV)
Source: Fibre2fashion
The latest version of the Open Apparel Registry (OAR) -- a free, open source tool mapping garment facilities worldwide -- went live today, following a beta release in 2018 and a series of improvements based on user feedback. Companies can use the tool to update their address book, find new suppliers and understand affiliations of current and prospective partners. Funded by the C&A Foundation and developed by American geospatial software firm Azavea, the tool uses Google’s geocoding to identify the locations of yarn and fabric mills, textile dye-houses and finishers as well as garment manufacturing facilities worldwide. OAR is managed by a non-profit organization with a board of directors representing the civil society, the open data sector, factories and brands. “As we launch the Open Apparel Registry today, we look forward to seeing all the ways the industry will use the tool for its work. As part of its development, we've conducted an extensive stakeholder consultation exercise, gathering input and feedback from across the industry”, said Project Director Natalie Grillon in a statement. “Based on this input, we're confident that we've built a tool that will be of practical use throughout the industry, enabling organisations to better understand their supply chains, collaborate on in-factory improvements and act as a source of truth on name and address information for global apparel facilities"
Source: Fashion United
