The export promotion councils (EPCs) found falling short of the export targets could face closure or undergo restructuring. The government will soon begin a performance-based evaluation of over two dozen export promotion councils in the country as a follow-up to the Prime Minister’s Office’s direction that it should ascertain ways to boost exports, according to a senior official. The export promotion councils (EPCs) found falling short of the export targets could face closure or undergo restructuring. The official cited earlier told ET that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had some time ago suggested a check to see if any of the EPCs need support in order to boost exports. “The Niti Aayog then decided to rank these councils and a few meetings have been held. This is work in progress,” the official said. Another official ET spoke with said the governance and technical capabilities of EPCs are now being subjected to evaluation based on increasing the share of Indian exports in the product markets covered by these EPCs. “Those EPCs unable to achieve mutually agreed upon targets for increasing market share could be closed down or restructured,” the official said. Niti Aayog, the government’s premier think tank, in collaboration with the commerce ministry, is evaluating the export promotion councils, following which it will rank them as part of its ongoing policy of developing indices and ranking on real-time basis. At present, there are 14 EPCs under the department of commerce and 11 under the textiles ministry. Besides promoting and developing Indian exports, these councils are also the registering authorities for exporters. Each council is responsible for promotion of a particular group of products or projects or services. The government funds EPCs under the Market Access Initiative (MAI) and Marketing Development Assistance scheme to help them promote exports. In 2018-19, the government spent Rs 270 crore on MAI and has earmarked Rs 300 crore for the current fiscal. Some of the parameters being considered for evaluation include the increase in export share of these councils, the extent of penetration into existing markets, and efforts to explore and enter new markets. India exported $331.02 billion worth of merchandise in FY19, surpassing the earlier peak of $314.4 billion achieved in 2013-14, the commerce ministry had said earlier this month, attributing the lower exports in the intervening years to global slowdown.
Source: Economic Times
A top U.S.-based group that advocates for strong business relations with India recently revealed that about 200 U.S. companies have contacted them about the possibility of setting up an alternative manufacturing base in India to replace their current assembly lines in China. In an April 27 interview with Press Trust of India, India’s largest news agency, Mukesh Aghi, president and CEO of the Washington-based U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, said that in the past several months, he has received an increased number of inquiries from roughly 200 U.S. companies. To increase India’s competitiveness, Aghi suggested that India and the United States draft a free trade agreement, especially “if India is concerned about cheap goods coming from China” that could take business away from domestic companies. The trade dispute between the United States and China—with U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made goods—has already prompted many manufacturers with production bases in China to move their factories out of the country to prevent losses. In December 2018, news emerged that Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer known for making Apple products, would begin assembling its top-end iPhones in India. Several other Apple suppliers also announced that they would either build new manufacturing factories or boost production capacity in India. An April 23 Los Angeles Times commentary postulated why the Trump administration was insistent on imposing tariffs: “they [the Trump White House] and others in Washington see Beijing as a serious threat to American interests and want to encourage U.S. firms to shift supply chains away from China, preferably to the United States or a third-party country.” But long before the U.S.–China trade war started in spring 2018, many top brands such as Samsung, Intel, LG, Nokia, Nike, and Adidas already had begun moving their manufacturing bases from China to other countries due to rising production costs, such as increased wages and more expensive rent and utilities.
China Faces Hot Competition
Growing production costs in China and the unclear future of China’s tariff war with the United States has opened opportunities for Asian countries to attract more foreign investments. Aghi said he hoped the next Indian government would accelerate economic reforms and make the decision-making process more transparent, so as to attract more foreign companies to invest in India. India, with a 900 million electorate, is currently holding elections in seven phases from April 11 to May 19 to vote on members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament. The result of the votes will be declared on May 23. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party led by current Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its main opposition party Indian National Congress have expressed that they would welcome increased foreign investment. According to the Mizuho Research Institute in Japan, Vietnam is Asia’s biggest beneficiary from the U.S.–China trade war, with foreign direct investment in Vietnam reaching $19.1 billion in 2018, 9.1 percent higher than the value in 2017. Capitalizing on companies’ interests in exiting China, countries such as Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, and Taiwan have in recent years pushed policies to attract foreign direct investments, such as lowering tariff rates. For example, Vietnam, Mexico, and Malaysia signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership with Australia, Canada, Japan, and five other countries in 2018, which stipulates that goods traded between member countries are tariff-free. Vietnam has also negotiated the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU–Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement with the European Union, which will reduce tariff rates on goods traded between the EU and Vietnam. The agreements are awaiting signatures from the EU.
Source: Epoch Times
In an FTA, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate duties on most of the goods traded between them besides relaxing norms and rules to promote trade in services and increase bilateral investments. India and Peru will hold their next round of negotiations for proposed free-trade agreement (FTA), aimed at boosting two-way commerce and investments, here in August, an official said. “Chief negotiators from both the countries will hold the fifth round of negotiations for the agreement in August,” the official said. In an FTA, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate duties on most of the goods traded between them besides relaxing norms and rules to promote trade in services and increase bilateral investments. In the fourth round of talks, senior officials of both the sides deliberated upon issues such as customs procedures, trade facilitation, market access for goods and movement of professionals. The fourth round was held between March 11 and 15 this year in Lima, Peru. The main chapters of the agreement include trade in services, movement of professionals, investments, dispute settlement, technical barriers to trade, trade remedies, rules of origin of goods, customs procedures and trade facilitation. With growing uncertainties in its traditional markets, including the US and Europe, India is looking to enhance engagements with other regions such as Africa, South America and Central Asia. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said Peru holds enormous opportunities for domestic exports. “South America has huge trade potential. The agreement would help boost exports between the two countries,” FIEO President Ganesh Kumar Gupta said. Peru ranked third among export destinations for India in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. The bilateral trade between the nations increased to USD 3.13 billion in 2017-18 from USD 1.77 billion in the previous fiscal. Among the top-10 commodities that India exports to Peru are motor vehicles, cars, auto components, tyres, dyes, products of iron and steel, cotton yarn and fabrics. While the imports include bulk minerals and ores, gold, fertilisers, aluminium, coffee, crude oil and zinc.
Source: Financial Express
India is likely to wait and see if the US government comes up with the ‘Presidential proclamation’ or executive order for withdrawal of the generalised system of preference (GSP) scheme that would put an end to zero duty benefits for about 3,500 goods from the country before it imposes retaliatory duties on 29 goods imported from the US. A new notification further pushing the date of implementation of the retaliatory duties by 14 days to May 15 is expected to be notified by the Finance Ministry soon, an official said. “In case the US comes up with the proclamation to withdraw the GSP scheme for India early May, as it decided two months back, New Delhi, too, would impose the retaliatory duties on American goods,” the official added. New Delhi had first announced its intention to impose retaliatory duties on 29 American imports in June 2018 as a tit-for-tat for the American action of raising import duties on steel and aluminium imported from India unilaterally on grounds of national security. It, however, has been postponing the imposition of duties in the hope that it could arrive at a suitable trade package with the US which would also sort out the issue of the penal duties of 10 per cent and 25 per cent on Indian aluminium and steel respectively. “The bigger issue for India now is the continuation of the GSP scheme for Indian exporters as its withdrawal will lead to a loss of competitiveness and business in the American market for sectors such as leather and garments,” the official added. In March, the US Trade Representative’s office notified to the US Congress and to the governments of India and Turkey the decision to terminate their beneficiary country status as they no longer complied with the statutory eligibility criteria. As per the USTR, the changes could take effect in about 60 days after the notifications and would be enacted by a Presidential proclamation. The US decided to withdraw the GSP scheme for India after its dairy and medical equipment industry complained about market access problem in India due to regulations. “While the 60-day period since the notifications were made by the USTR would elapse in the beginning of May, we don’t know when the decision would actually be implemented by a Presidential proclamation. An extension of our retaliatory tariffs deadline by 14 days will give us some time to see what the US has in mind,” the official said. In case, the Presidential proclamation announcing GSP withdrawal comes early, India may not wait till May 15 for imposing the retaliatory duties but may come up with a separate notification for immediate implementation, the official added. The retaliatory duties to be imposed on American goods such as walnuts, chickpeas, boric acid, Bengal gram and lentils adding up to more than $200 million. According to the USTR, the total US imports under GSP in 2017 was $21.2 billion, of which India was the biggest beneficiary with $5.6 billion, followed by Thailand at $4.2 billion and Brazil at $2.5 billion. India’s exports under the scheme were more than 10 per cent of its total exports worth $49 billion to the US in 2017.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Businesses that have accumulated Integrated GST (IGST) credit in their books can settle it against central and state tax dues in any proportion, the revenue department has said. Importers typically pay IGST on goods they bring into the country. Also IGST is paid on inter-state movement of goods. This tax is supposed to be set-off against the actual GST paid, or may be claimed as refund in certain cases. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in March had allowed utilisation of input tax credit (ITC) of IGST towards the payment of Central GST and State GST, in any order subject to the condition that the entire IGST liability has been first discharged using the accumulated credit. However, there were confusion among taxpayers regarding the quantum of utilisation of IGST credit in paying CGST and SGST dues. The CBIC has now clarified that the IGST credit can be used in payment of CGST or SGST in any order or proportion. Under Goods and Services Tax (GST), the tax levied on consumption of goods or rendering of service is split 50:50 between the centre (CGST) and the state (SGST). On inter-state movement of goods as well as imports, an IGST is levied, which accrues to the centre. Ideally, there should be 'nil' balance in the IGST pool at the end of a fiscal since the amount should be used for payment of CGST and SGST. As some businesses are ineligible to claim the benefits of input tax credit (ITC), the balance gets accumulated in the IGST pool. AMRG and Associates Partner Rajat Mohan said, "This clarification from government would help businesses and taxpayers to swim out of the gap created between legal framework and GST network, now taxpayers can continue to work according to the functionality of GSTN without worrying for any legal consequences." EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said, "This was a much needed clarification as this should help bring to rest the varied interpretation apprehended by industry on the utilisation of IGST credit".
Source: Economic Times
The GST Council has taken a number of measures, such as the introduction of electronic way (e-way) bills, to clamp down on tax evasion. In what could radically transform the indirect tax administration system and the way business is conducted, India is looking at the possibility of introducing electronic invoicing under goods and services tax. If the country adopts the system, businesses will likely have to issue invoices, or bills, directly via the GST Network, and the data will be available to the authorities right away. The GST Council has set up a committee to look into the feasibility of e-invoicing. It will also study the systems in place in other countries, such as South Korea and some from Latin America. The move comes as the new single tax regime, which took effect on July 1, 2017, has seen a rise in incidents of evasion. The GST Council has taken a number of measures, such as introduction of electronic way bills (e-way), to clamp down on tax evasion. Tax experts say e-invoicing can be effective in tackling evasion. “E-invoicing as a concept looks like a good mechanism to check tax evasion and also ease the compliance burden on businesses,” said Pratik Jain, national leader, indirect taxes, PwC. Since the invoices will be issued via GSTN, there will not be a separate need to update information. Evasion, however, primarily takes place in the B2C segment and one will need to find ways to incentivise customers to insist on invoices, particularly in case of services where the possibility of tax evasion is more, Jain said. Technological and infrastructural aspects would become very important, Jain said, adding that the timing and phasing in of this initiative was extremely critical given that GST was now somewhat stabilising. The panel that will consider this filing includes GSTN chief executive Prakash Kumar, GST officials from state and central governments as members, and GST Council special secretary Rajeev Ranjan as the convenor.
Source: Economic Times
Expressing customs rules and codes in simple prose will go a long way in making foreign trade transactions less cumbersome. Here are 10 suggestions to improve Customs’ functioning. Implementing these will have a significant impact. After all, every year, merchandise of value $840 billion (2018 figure) equal to about 30 per cent of the GDP passes through Indian Customs before it could be exported or imported. The first four suggestions relate to improving information flow. The remaining six are about making Customs processes more efficient. Here we go:
Simplifying the language
One — Use simple language in Notifications — Notifying import duty is a crucial task of Customs. Yet, finding correct Customs duty for a product is a pain. You need an expert to wade through the maze of hundreds of Customs notifications issued every year. The notifications are not self-contained and amend part of an earlier notification issued years ago. An example: Notification No. 07/2019 published on March 15, 2019. “the Central Government, .. makes the following further amendments in the notification of the .. No.152/2009-Customs, dated the December 31, 2009, .. namely: In the said notification, in the TABLE, against serial number 384, for the entry in column (2), the entry, “480920, 480990”, shall be substituted”. The above notification simply could have said that duty on the photocopier paper etc. would be 10.94 per cent. But it neither mentions product name nor the duty rate. Ninety per cent of notifications suffer from this malaise. Further, many exemption notifications do not mention precise HS (harmonized Structure) codes. This makes expert intervention necessary in deciding the import duty. Customs duty calculator is of little help. The way out is to rescind the old notification while issuing a new notification. Or publish an updated version. Make new notification self-contained. Each notification should list effects of the notification, a practice followed by the DGFT. Also, create a searchable database of all notifications with a free text search. All duties on all products with every condition should be available on a single excel sheet. Such simple changes will eliminate plenty of go-betweens.
Standard codes
Two — Use standard codes for the Duty Drawback scheme — the government has adopted the eight-digit ITC (HS) Codes for exports-imports. But, the drawback scheme, the largest indirect tax refund scheme, uses only the first four digits of the ITC (HS) Codes. For the next digits, it uses its own product codes and description. This forces exporters to use two different codes for the same product and creates confusion. Three — Demystify products identified as ‘Others’ — a Mobile phone is India’s top electronic import item. Yet, it is covered under the description ‘Others’ in ITC(HS) schedule. The schedule covers over 2,300 entries that together cover over 25 per cent of India’s imports as ‘Others.’ Customs must identify major items traded under the ‘Others’ categories. This will give a clear picture of the trade profile and check any misuse. Four — Make past Tribunal decisions available online — Importers and exporters can appeal to the tribunals against the decisions of the Customs on issues like valuation, classification or penalties. Though tribunal orders are the public documents, these are not available in an online searchable database. Availability of earlier decisions through a searchable database would allow trade to get transparent and uniform understanding of precedence and help them in making informed decisions. Further, it would also potentially ensure that tribunals themselves adhere to existing precedence to a greater degree and thereby reduce the time for decision making. Five — Minimise customs processing at the port — All consignments which are given the green signal by Customs Risk Management System (RMS) should be allowed Direct Port Delivery or DPD facility if customs duty is paid within 24 hours of container arriving in the terminal. Today less than 50 per cent of containers use DPD facility. This means extra cost of shifting and housing of container at the Container Freight Stations (CFS). Six — Allow Direct Port Entry (DPE) to all consignments — All firms with self-sealing permission by Customs are currently allowed DPE facility. For the remaining firms, Customs could consider developing on-site inspection and e-sealing facilities in all major ICDs, transport clusters and ‘transport nagars.’ The GST officials could support the on-site sealing exercise. RFID seal is tamper proof and no further Customs checking at the port would be needed. When goods arrive at a port, customs officers would already have the required information and the Let Export Order (LEO) can be generated online. This action will bring down customs processing time at a port to near zero levels. Seven — Make RMS effective — Customs uses a sophisticated Risk Management System or RMS. But many times, Customs officers have reasons to reject RMS recommendations and go for inspection of the goods. The basis of decision making must be entered into the system, and available under RTI with adequate anonymisation of individual shipments and their consignees, along with figures indicating to what extent in percentage terms the over-ride led to an actual finding of non-compliance. Customs may use this data for developing analytics tools that will further reduce RMS over-ride by establishing guidelines for officers for making such decisions. Eight — Make inspections transparent — All physical inspection must happen under CCTV recording in designated inspection zones. And the record must be retained for adequate time and be made accessible to the consignee/consignor and their agent. All terminal operators/ICDs/CFS must be mandated to develop facilities sufficient to support this. Nine — Seek information, not documents — Custom's eSanchit system allows traders to upload scanned copies of documents. But a large number of uploads make the system slow. Also, information contained in the documents cannot be used by the system. Replace upload of documents with a digital entry of the required information. This will allow RMS based processing. Scanned copies of the documents can only be asked when RMS recommends. This step will also facilitate more straightforward implementation of AI-based automated processing. Ten — Improve valuation — Cases of under-invoicing of consumer and intermediate goods, especially those imported from Middle-East, East and South-East Asia is a concern. Setting a reference price for a festival and similar imports may be a good starting point. Finally — the above suggested changes can be implemented with minimal investments. The resulting enhanced transparency would reduce cost and time of doing business and improve India’s export performance. Possibly, the Customs reform agenda for the new government. The writer is from the Indian Trade Service.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
The supply shortage and rising costs of chemicals imported from China has led to an increase in the cost of reactive dyes – a raw material widely used by textile processors for dyeing and printing fabrics. Consequently, textile processing units are also struggling with rising input costs, which are cutting into their revenues. “The prices of colour chemicals have gone up anywhere between 35%-50% depending on the type of dyes. This has led to an increase in our cost of production significantly,” said Naresh Sharma, owner of a textile processing unit in Narol. Gujarat is home to more than 650 textile processing houses, most of which do job work outsourced by apparel manufacturers as well as merchant exporters. Rising prices of reactive dyes are also denting the revenues of processors. “Thanks to elections and an overall slow pace of economic activity, we cannot pass on the additional costs onto clients, else we will lose business,” said Nitin Thaker, president, Ahmedabad Textile Processors’ Association (ATPA).
Source: Times of India
The starting point of most Indian textile crafts is white fabric that has inspired textile curator Sayali Goyal to create an art installation 'Safed'. On view here, it features 30 fabrics from across India, which are white in essence but are a blank canvas for the country's diverse textiles. 'Safed' is part of a larger Craft Project by cultural publication Cocoa and Jasmine, intended to celebrate diversity in culture through objects, folk arts, crafts, and design, and documents stories from makers, designers, curators, retailers and brands. "While travelling to different textile regions in India, I was always fascinated with the workshops and homes of dyers, embroiders and weavers. "Some of these workshops had loose white fabric hung for natural bleaching, and this experience evoked almost a spiritual feeling in me. I wish to translate this experience for the viewer," Goyal said of the installation. "Even if you take away the colour of the fabric, the basic texture is there. Everyone at the exhibition was able to feel the different textures of the fabrics on display, and enjoy the diveristy of Indian textile crafts," Goyal told IANS. The installation reminds viewers that although Indians may be diverse in their faith, language, region and other identity markers -- at root, the common denominator of being Indian remains. This is metaphorical to textile crafts that differ in colours, techniques, and motifs, but have the blank white fabric at its root. 'Safed' concluded for its first public viewing at the Indira Gandhi National Centre of the Arts (IGNCA) on Monday. It will travel internationally and in other Indian cities starting August, Goyal added.
Source: Business Standard
India has a clear advantage at this time, feel leading industry representatives owing to our strength in handmade craftsmanship which isn’t known to be China’s USP. In a bid to give a fillip to its slowing economy, China is moving out of labour intensive segments and inching more towards machine led, high-tech sectors that can aid its revival. Indian exporters are making the most of this shift to make inroads in a segment where their expertise is highly sought after: handmade craft. Even though China, as per official estimates that came through last year, grew at 6.6%, yet it was the slowest growth ever that the economy had experienced since 1990. Reasons aplenty have been attributed to this slowdown that has enveloped one of the largest consumer economies of the world. The China-US trade war, soaring costs and more cost-effective trade possibilities in neighbouring countries is making China face the brunt of the economic woes that it currently finds itself submerged in. As per the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) World Economic Outlook 2019, China’s economy slowed in 2018, primarily due to financial regulatory tightening to rein in shadow banking activity and off-budget local government investment, and due to the widening trade tussle with the United States, which escalated the slowdown toward the end of the year. Further deceleration is projected for 2019. So what does it really imply for India and exports? Affirming the findings, Ajay Sahai, Director General and CEO, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) says that the Chinese economy has already exited from certain sectors such as carpets, spinning and leather is expected to be the next one. “China is short of manpower. They are moving to high and medium technology sector and the services sector. To some extent, this is an opportunity for India. Once China slows down, they may not be catering to their own domestic market which will open up the field for Indian entrepreneurs as well.” But it is not as easy as it may appear on the surface. Experts advise caution in assumingtoo much optimism early on. Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Care Ratings is of the view that whether India can take advantage or not is dependent on certain key aspects. “Firstly we need to be wary of goods being dumped as China may do so in a bid to spruce up their economy. Secondly, a key question is that can we take over their other export markets – at the margin probably yes, but generally no as they would continue to be aggressive in markets in Europe, Latin America and Africa (where we have limited presence),” highlights Sabnavis. In fact, he adds, there could be a tendency for a rush to other markets by all countries and competition to heighten, with the USA, which is probably in the slower mode as indicated by the Fed.
The sweatshop tag
However, makeovers may just be inevitable in the time going forward for the Chinese economy. Infamous for its sweatshop tag, China’s migrant workers make up majority of the workforce who earn paltry sums of money for their livelihood. They often work round the clock, lending China the status that it is well identified with -factory of the world. Does the shift to more machine intensive domains herald a shift within its labour practices as well? Industry veterans feel this is not something that can be immediately said considering how the economy is currently in a state of flux. Also China is now moving more towards neighbouring economies such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. “China, I think, very consciously is moving to neighbouring countries where they are looking at the labour arbitrage and now they are putting their investment in those countries. In years to come, such countries will be major competitors for India,” adds Sahai. Incidentally, it was predicted even earlier that the economies of Malaysia, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, colloquially referred to as the Mighty Five or MITI-V would typify a ‘New China.’ Buoyed by low labour costs, better infrastructure and overall economic growth, these economies were predicted to be the next top hubs in low cost manufacturing.
Advantage India
India has a clear advantage at this time, feel leading industry representatives owing to our strength in handmade craftsmanship which isn’t known to be China’s USP. Mahavir Pratap Sharma, Chairman, Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) highlights how India is moving from single dimensional to multidimensional carpets to capitalise on this strength. “China imports from India in this segment and it is steadily growing. A lot of innovation and improvisation is happening in India where we are using multiple raw materials to create pieces of skilled quality, uniqueness and value,” he says. In fact, if one looks at it, data released by the government from January this year showed similar insights with exports increasing by 3.74% to reach $26.3 billion in the month. Labour-centric sectors such as carpet, handicraft, leather, gems and jewellery, yarn and pharmaceuticals contributed to the growth of outward shipments from India. India cut its trade deficit with China by the most in more than a decade,with exports increasing 31 percent year-on-year to $17 billion in the financial year ended March 31, 2019. In the process, India cut the bilateral trade deficit by $10 billion to $53 billion. O P Prahladka, Chairman of Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), an apex body of handicraft exporters, says that they are seeing increased participation by Chinese buyers in the fairs. “We had an FDI investment desk that we had put up in our recent exhibition. Moreover, even US importers are looking at options now because of the trade war. If we take the right steps forward, we surely can increase our market share globally.” US and China have been in a trade tussle since the time President Donald Trump levied tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items in March last year. As a counter move, China had also slapped tariffs on a range of American imports. India has been expected to be a beneficiary in the trade war with the US looking at alternatives to find a market which offers them as much variety and resources. However, in order to really take advantage of the current dynamics, experts say that it will be necessary to understand the challenges posed to producers at this time. “Yes, the opportunity is there, but we are non-competitive due to supply side issues. We need to understand what we have to build within our industry to build demand competitively,” says Arun Maira, former member of The Planning Commission. Adding to this chain of thought, Sharma of CEPC suggests that for all textile sectors, India should enter into a bilateral agreement with China. “India cannot bridge the gap in the garments' space. Countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia are faring quite well. A bilateral arrangement with China may greatly help. Tariff and non tariff policies, inland transport issues, warehouses in China, language hassles - all these are areas where joint work needs to be done so that trade can be enhanced,” he says.
Source: Economic Times
India’s apparel industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of 13.8 per cent from ₹1,924 billion in fiscal 2009-10 to ₹5,408 billion in 2017-18, says a report by CARE Ratings. CARE expects short-term economic uncertainties to be volatile and growth to revive only after the elections as the new government would be in a better position to take decisions. With the industry now stabilizing post the demonetization and the implementation of the goods and service tax (GST) regime, the demand from both domestic and international markets, has picked up in the last few months, says the report. Further, demand drivers like growing private final consumption expenditure, growing population and changing fashion trends still make a compelling case for the healthy economic scenario in the future, subject to policy implementation and good governance by the government. The new government can take policy stands that would attract higher investment and fuel the rise in income levels and consequential consumption levels, a press release from CARE said citing the report. CARE expects the domestic apparel market to grow by 10-12 per cent driven by the growth in the Indian economy leading to the rise in disposable income and increased usage of plastic money. This is expected drive the market size of the Indian apparel industry. CARE estimates Indian apparel exports to remain subdued, growing marginally in rupee terms, and declining in US dollar terms. Earlier, the export market grew at a CAGR of 9.8 per cent from ₹508 billion in fiscal 2009-10 to the 2017-18 figure of ₹1,076 billion, which was lower compared to the figure in 2016-17. India continues to experience headwinds in the form of intense competitive pressures from nations having a cost advantage over India, which seem to be constraining the overall momentum of the apparel export sector of India, said the report. Notwithstanding a depreciation in the rupee vis-a-vis the US dollar (which could increase rupee realizations), apparel exports would increase marginally in rupee terms and decline by 4-5 per cent in US dollar terms in 2018-19 and increase marginally in 2019-20. Furthermore, given the fact that cotton and synthetic apparel exports comprise over 75 per cent of apparel exports from India, CARE expects cotton (a crop where India is quite cost competitive) and synthetic apparels to continue to drive the growth in apparel exports. Additionally given the issues in the neighbouring countries coupled with abundant raw material availability, a well-integrated textile industry and good designing skills, if leveraged appropriately, could help India consolidate and grow its position in the global apparel market. India needs to diversify its fibre base, currently dominated by cotton in line with the global apparel consumption, which is well diversified within the cotton and man-made fibre (MMF)-based apparel. To remain competitive and grow, India needs to increase its production of MMF-based apparel.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
The Interaction concluded with a round of bilateral meetings with the Ambassador and Dr Thanh and networking Dinner. A report will soon be released highlighting the outcome of the event. H.E. (Mr.) Pham Sanh Chau, the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to India, on Thursday, had a fruitful interaction with Indian Industry at the diplomatic mission in New Delhi. The interaction was organised by The Policy Times (https://thepolicytimes.com) and The Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, New Delhi with support from Centre for Vietnam Studies, New Delhi and Indian Importers Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IICCI). The Interaction was a brainchild of the Ambassador Chau and his willingness to reach out and partner with Indian industry to further bilateral relations. The interaction broadly touched upon six important sectors – textiles, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, wind & solar energy, infrastructure, and aviation. How India Inc. can leverage the ‘Viet Nam: A Rising Star in Asia’ was the focus of discussion. In his special address, the Chief Guest of the evening, Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, an outstanding economist from Viet Nam, Chair-Vietnamese Committee for The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and senior expert, The Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), Viet Nam said, “strategic and geographical location in a dynamic Asia-Pacific region, close to global manufacturing value chain, young population of which 60% are 35 years old, low labor cost, growing domestic market with growing middle class, China + 1 investment strategy by foreign investors, and strong commitment for macroeconomic stability and further reforms make Viet Nam a perfect destination for Indian investors.” H.E. (Mr.) Pham Sanh Chau, in his ‘Welcome and Keynote Speech’, stated that politically, India and Viet Nam enjoy strong relationship. There are 14 mechanism to strengthen bilateral relations. Culturally, Buddhism links and binds India and Viet Nam closely since time immemorial. Connectivity wise, Indigo will start direct flights between India and Viet Nam. His Excellency said, “While we have $11.5 billion bilateral trade, investment is about $1 billion which can be increased further.” In his remarks, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Ha, Chairman, Tam Viet Investment Advisory, highlighted the potential investment opportunities in hospitality, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors that Indian investors can explore. While moderating the interaction, Mr. Akram Hoque, founder editor, The Policy Times, emphasized that purpose of the interaction should lead to some cross-border investment projects. Hoque said, “While there is a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in place, Viet Nam’s membership to many mega-regional, regional trading blocs such as Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP-TPP), ASEAN, etc. make it a gateway for Indian investors to explore world’s leading markets.”
Source: The Policy Times
Amid the hullabaloo over the trade war between India and United States, bilateral exchange of goods and services between the two nations has risen 12.6 per cent to $142.1 billion in 2018 from $126.2 billion in 2017. According to United States Trade Representative (USTR), exports of goods and services from US to India were valued at $58.9 billion whereas imports were worth $83.2 billion in 2018. The data belies the simmering trade conflict between the two countries. Only last month, US had announced it was scrapping concessions to India under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The GSP scheme, launched in 1974, was aimed to assist developing countries in increasing their exports by facilitating duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries. US goods and services trade deficit with India was $24.2 billion in 2018 against $27.3 billion in 2017. While goods worth $87.5 billion were traded between the two countries in the last calendar year, the exchange of services totaled $54.6 billion during the period. “India is currently our ninth largest goods trading partner with $87.5 billion in total (two-way) goods trade during 2018. Goods exports totaled $33.1 billion; goods imports totaled $54.4 billion. The US goods trade deficit with India was $21.3 billion in 2018”, USTR said in its website. Trade in services with India (exports and imports) was $54.6 billion in 2018. Services worth $25.8 billion were exported by USA to India, services imports from India were valued at $28.8 billion. The US services trade deficit with India was $3 billion in 2018. While India was the US’s 13th largest goods export market in 2018, the latter exported $33.1 billion in 2018 to India, up 28.9 per cent ($7.4 billion) from 2017. US exports to India accounted for two per cent of country’s overall exports in 2018. The top export categories were precious metal and stone (diamonds) valued at $7.9 billion, mineral fuels ($6.2 billion), aircraft ($3.0 billion), machinery ($2.2 billion) and optical & medical instruments ($1.6 billion). In the services bracket, US exports were valued at $25.8 billion in 2018, about 8.6per cent more than the previous year. India was the 13th largest goods export market for US in 2018. Imports of goods and services from India to US has recorded a growth of 11.9 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively in 2018 than 2017 levels. US goods imports from India totaled $54.4 billion in 2018.The top import categories during the last calendar year were precious metal and stone (diamonds) ($11 billion), pharmaceuticals ($6.3 billion), machinery ($3.3 billion), mineral fuels ($3.2 billion), and vehicles ($2.8 billion). Similarly, services worth $28.8 billion were imported from India. “Leading services imports from India to the US were in the telecommunications, computer, and information services, research and development, and travel sectors”, USTR said. The US goods trade deficit with India was $21.3 billion in 2018, a 7.1 per cent decrease ($1.6 billion) over 2017 and a services trade deficit of $3 billion with India in 2018, a 32.5 per cent from 2017.
Source: Business Standard
These reforms include introduction of a single window for all import and export transactions, integration of all stakeholders such as port and terminal operators at a common platform and fast tracking clearances of consignments at ports. The government's initiatives such as relaxed norms for company incorporation, and removing requirement of a bank account for GST registration will help India further improve its ease of doing business ranking of the World Bank this year, a senior official has said. "Several steps have been initiated by the government this year on all the ten parameters. It will significantly help improve India's ranking this year," the official said. In its annual 'Doing Business' report, the World Bank ranks nations based on 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country. These parameters include ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. The next report is expected to be released in October 2019. India improved its ranking by 23 places to the 77th position in the 2018 report. Other steps, which the government has taken, include clubbing of several forms into one; elimination of fee for incorporation of companies where authorised capital is up to Rs 15 lakh; removal of company seal or rubber stamp; and combined registration for EPFO and ESIC. The government official added that several reforms have been implemented to improve the trade experience of companies. These reforms include introduction of a single window for all import and export transactions, integration of all stakeholders such as port and terminal operators at a common platform and fast tracking clearances of consignments at ports. The government has launched 'PCS1x', an upgraded version of the e-commerce portal for Port Community System (PCS), which intends to integrate 27 maritime stakeholders at a common platform. Further, India has reduced the time and cost of exports and imports through various initiatives, including the implementation of electronic sealing of containers, upgrading of port infrastructure and allowing electronic submission of supporting documents with digital signatures. India is aiming to improve its ranking within top 50th in the coming years. Improving ranking helps a country to provide a better investment climate for investors.
Source: Economic Times
South Asia is covered by three major undertakings—the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), the Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including Nepal-China cross-border railway, as well as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). India’s decision to skip the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) may have led to the exclusion of the Bangladesh- China- India- Myanmar (BCIM) Economic corridor from the list of projects covered by the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella. In an annex tagged with the Joint Communiqué of the Leaders' Roundtable of the BRF, which concluded in Beijing on Saturday, the Chinese foreign ministry website has not listed the BCIM as a project covered by the BRI—the giant connectivity initiative speared by China to revive the ancient Silk Road across Eurasia and Africa. Instead, South Asia is covered by three major undertakings—the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), the Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including Nepal-China cross-border railway, as well as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Citing “sovereignty” concerns, India, for the second time, has not officially participated in the BRF, as CPEC—a flagship of the BRI—passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The 2800 km BCIM corridor proposes to link Kunming in China’s Yunnan province with Kolkata, passing though nodes such as Mandalay in Myanmar and Dhaka in Bangladesh before heading to Kolkata. Significantly, a report titled, “The Belt and Road Initiative Progress, Contributions and Prospects,” released by the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on April 22 does list the BCIM as a BRI project. “Over the past five years or so, the four countries [of the BCIM] have worked together to build this corridor in the framework of joint working groups, and have planned a number of major projects in institutional development, infrastructure connectivity, cooperation in trade and industrial parks, cooperation and opening up in the financial market, cultural exchange, and cooperation in enhancing people's wellbeing,” says the report. Last September, the BRI had got a high octane boost when Myanmar — facing the heat from the West because of the Rohingya refugee crisis — inked an agreement with Beijing to establish the CMEC. The 1,700-km corridor provides China yet another node to access the Indian Ocean. The CMEC will run from Yunnan Province of China to Mandalay in Central Myanmar. From there it will head towards Yangon, before terminating at the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on the Bay of Bengal. Last August, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) opened a new center in Yangon, which could help fund some of the CMEC driven projects, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency had reported. The CMEC will also reduce Beijing’s trade and energy reliance on the Malacca straits — the narrow passage that links the Indian Ocean with the Pacific. Chinese planners worry that the military domination over the Malacca straits of the United States — a country with which it is already engaged in a trade war — can threaten one of China’s major economic lifeline. Earlier, speaking to The Hindu, Long Xingchun, Associate Professor of China’s West Normal University, had said that, “The CMEC was proposed during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Myanmar in November 2017, because India has not been acting on the BCIM sub regional cooperation proposal. So it is better for China to go for bilateral cooperation with Myanmar and simultaneously wait for India’s participation.” At a press conference ahead of the BRF, which was formally inaugurated on Saturday, Mr. Wang, the state councilor and foreign minister, was emphatic that ties between India and China were insulated from their differences on the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). He had also stressed that China-India ties had a “bright future” and the two countries were preparing for a summit between their leaders as a follow-up to last year’s two-day across-the board Wuhan informal summit between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan connectivity network listed by the annex starts from Chengdu, from where it is linked to Tibet by the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, or the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. It is proposed that the railway from Tibet will be further extended to Kathmandu, via Ya’an, Qamdo, Lhasa and Shigatse. Chinese planners visualise that that railway will be eventually connected with the Indian railway network, linking China and India across the Himalayas.
Source: The Hindu
A one-day technical seminar was organized by Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation on Use of Technical Textiles in Water Resources Works in New Delhi on Monday. Technical Textiles have provided innovative engineering solutions for several applications in civil and geotechnical engineering, for infrastructure water resources projects. Even while Technical Textiles have been extensively used in developed as well as many developing countries, India has yet to capitalise the technical, economic and environmental benefits on large scale. Various parts of India are subjected to floods and environmental degradation. In some of the terrains, the flood management and control can rely on Technical Textiles tubes, containers and bags. Technical Textiles have been found to perform better than concrete as water protection component because of permeability, flexibility and ease of underwater placement. The Seminar highlighted various application areas, best practices and mechanisms for encouraging larger usage of Technical Textile in Water Resources Sector and created a platform for all the concerned stakeholders for brain-storming and creating a roadmap to take the Technical Textiles uses to the next level. The speakers from various fields discussed issues of Standards, Benchmarking & Testing, Technical-textiles for Water Resources Conservation, Advanced methods in use of Technical Textiles, Contractual Matters related to Technical Textiles etc. in detail. The event was organized by Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation with participation from high level Officials from Central Departments, State Governments, Engineering Departments of States working in Water Resources, Institutions, Colleges, Universities, Manufacturers, Associations, Trade Associations, Consultants and Contractors.
Source: SME Times
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1288.28 |
USD/Ton |
-0.91% |
4/29/2019 |
|
VSF |
1861.83 |
USD/Ton |
-0.16% |
4/29/2019 |
|
ASF |
2497.80 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Polyester POY |
1251.87 |
USD/Ton |
-2.60% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2823.21 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
40D Spandex |
4695.44 |
USD/Ton |
-0.32% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Nylon POY |
2674.62 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1411.61 |
USD/Ton |
-3.06% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Polyester FDY |
3120.39 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Nylon DTY |
5616.70 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1493.33 |
USD/Ton |
-1.47% |
4/29/2019 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2674.62 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2570.61 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
2013.39 |
USD/Ton |
-0.37% |
4/29/2019 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2890.08 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2422.02 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2169.41 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2540.89 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2838.07 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.37 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.82 |
USD/Meter |
-0.72% |
4/29/2019 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
1.08 |
USD/Meter |
-1.22% |
4/29/2019 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.64 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.70 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
4/29/2019 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14859 USD dtd. 29/04/2019). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that trade tensions and sluggish productivity growth can slow the decline in relative prices of machinery and equipment, which may hold back investment growth worldwide. More broadly, the empirical analysis shows that for average emerging markets and developing economies, about one-third increase in real investment rate in machinery and equipment over the past three decades can be attributed to the cheapening of capital goods relative to consumption. Stronger macroeconomic policies and other factors contributed the rest. However, prices of machinery and equipment have been falling relative to overall prices for decades, largely due to rising trade and sweeping technological improvements that led to the more efficient production of capital goods. This has helped countries around the world raise real investment and improve living standard, said economists at IMF's Research Department Weicheng Lian, Natalija Novta and Petia Topalova. "But this important driver of the investment may be under threat. Trade tensions and sluggish productivity growth could slow the decline in the relative price of machinery and equipment, which would hold back investment growth worldwide," they said in a joint analysis. Since 1990, the price of machinery and equipment relative to the price of consumption fell about 60 per cent in advanced economies and about 40 per cent in emerging market and developing economies. Supporting innovation in the capital goods producing sector in both advanced and emerging market and developing economies is crucial. Policies that encourage research and development, entrepreneurship, technology transfer as well as continued investment in education and public infrastructure can also help. "But policymakers must also be mindful of the difficulties some workers and industries may face as the relative prices of machinery and equipment fall. The decline in the relative price of investment has eroded the share of income that goes to workers in economies where many jobs can be easily automated," said the IMF economists. Policies should be designed to help workers cope with potential job disruptions, including sufficiently broad social safety nets, as well as programmes to support retraining, skill building, and occupational and geographic mobility. The most striking was fall in the relative price of computing equipment, which declined about 90 per cent since 1990. These were dramatic declines when compared with relative prices of other types of capital assets such as housing and commercial structures, which more closely tracked the price level of consumption. Trade integration has been the biggest factor behind falling prices of machinery and equipment relative to the price of consumption, based on analysis using detailed price data across more than 30 sectors in 40 economies, said the IMF economists.
Source: Business Standard
As Pakistan and China are going to sign the second phase of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Beijing on Sunday (today) the Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has welcomed the government efforts to convince China for extending duty-free access to Pakistan on 313 items. The agreement will help boost the exports of the country, besides increasing foreign exchange, said PIAF former chairman Irfan Iqbal Sheikh. He said that under the new list of 313 items, included in the second phase of China-Pakistan free trade agreement, the country's export earnings could increase by at least $500 million within one and a half year, which is good news for country's economy. He said the new list is not limited to textile specific products but also includes textile goods, leather, engineering, chemicals, furniture, auto parts, plastic, rubber, paper board, ceramic, glass, surgical instruments, footwear, wood, articles of stones, sea food, meat, tractors and home appliances. Irfan Iqbal appreciated the Prime Minister Imran Khan's five suggestions for progress in his address to the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing and said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is moving towards its next phase. The Belt and Road Forum helped Pakistan to reduce its power crisis and Gwadar is turning into a commercial hub, he said. Pakistan is the first partner of China in this mega project, and thanked Beijing for its unconditional support to Islamabad, he added. Referring to the first phase of Pak-China FTA, which came into effect in 2007, he said that it lacked proper safeguard measures, and now on our request, the Chinese authorities have incorporated those measures in the second phase. The Federal Cabinet at its meeting during the week had approved the second phase of FTA, which will become operational after the Chinese government completes due diligence. He said real challenge is on both ends - import and export and the biggest problem is how to reduce imports. Referring to the $15b trade deficit between Pakistan and China, he said that steps should be taken to bring down imports from Beijing and government has reduced import by $3.5b as compared to previous fiscal year. PIAF chairman, Mian Nauman Kabir showed disappointment with the export figures for March but was hopeful that these would improve in April. It is not difficult to generate long-term investment interest in Pakistan, and under the FTA, market access is available while companies are also interested.
Source: Business Recorder
China has agreed to provide assistance to Cambodia if the European Union implements trade sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation over human rights violations and rule of law issues, Cambodia's prime minister said Monday Hun Sen announced the assurance on his Facebook page as he was returning from Beijing, where he attended a forum about China's multibillion-dollar "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative. He said China made the pledge during his talks with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Prime Minister Li Keqiang, but he did not say what form the assistance would take. The EU in February announced it was launching action that could suspend Cambodia's preferential access to its market because of "severe deficiencies when it comes to human rights and labor rights." The EU grants duty-free and quota-free access for items other than weapons to Cambodia and other developing countries. Cambodia's Foreign Affairs Ministry at that time called the decision an "extreme injustice" that ignored steps the government has taken to improve civil and political rights. It said it "is committed to continue enhancing the democratic space, human rights (and) labor rights" and that the European move "takes the risk of negating 20 years' worth of development efforts" that had helped pull millions of Cambodians out of poverty. Hun Sen also said Monday that China — Cambodia's closest ally — pledged a 600 million yuan ($89 million) military assistance grant. Hun Sen described current ties between the two countries "as firm as steel" and amounting to a strategic partnership in all sectors. He said during his stay in Beijing since last Thursday he met several Chinese businessmen, and many more Chinese investors agreed to invest in Cambodia soon. In January, Hun Sen made a four-day official visit to China and announced that Beijing had agreed to provide nearly $600 million in grant aid as part of a three-year assistance fund, and that the two countries also agreed to increase their bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2023.
Source: Herald Standard
China has extended duty-free access to Pakistan on 313 items under the new free trade agreement (FTA) to be signed during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Beijing, adviser on commerce Abdul Razak Dawood told the National Assembly recently. China has agreed to provide Pakistan market access on the pattern of Association of South East Asian Nations. Dawood expressed confidence that the second phase of the FTA with China will prove to be beneficial for the country. The government has enhanced regulatory duty on finished products to cut imports, because of which imports reduced by $3.5 billion over the last nine to ten months, Pakistani media reports quoted Dawood as saying. A textile policy is being formulated to enhance exports and inputs are being collected from over a hundred textile institutes, associations and chambers of commerce and industry, he said. Garment cities at Faisalabad and Lahore are being extended, he added.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
President Dr Arif Alvi has said that the government is formulating a Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) for the next five years with focus on reducing cost of production and encouraging investment into export-oriented sectors. Talking to a delegation of APTPMA, the president said that to fully utilize the potential of textile value chain, the government is also drafting Textile Policy for the period 2019-24. He highlighted that Pakistan is currently engaged with China for the second phase of FTA, whereas Investment and transfer of technology is part of the broader collaboration under CPEC. The President stated that being aware of problems faced by trade and industry, the government is undertaking every possible measure to provide level playing field to the business community. He highlighted that the tough economic conditions of the country call for difficult decisions, but Government is committed to improve the economy. He emphasized that the Government is endeavouring to reduce the trade deficit by curbing import of non-essential and luxury items and by reducing the cost of doing business. To that end, he said that government has rationalized the prices of gas, RLNG and electricity for zero-rated export-oriented sectors i.e. textile, leather, carpets, surgical and sports goods and introduced sales tax zero-rating regime for the same. The President emphasized that business community needs to play their active role in encouraging businessmen to pay all their taxes so that budget deficit could be reduced and more funds could be allocated for development work. He expressed his confidence that the combined wisdom of Public and Private sectors will pave way for prosperous Pakistan.
Source: The Nation
Sintex, a textile group in Gujarat, India, has set-up a greenfield processing project for processing cotton and linen, both in yarn and fibre, with a capacity of 30 tons/day in Amreli district. Sintex has entrusted a significant responsibility to German textile machinery firm, A.T.E., for this new project. The project is currently under execution. A.T.E. is a single window solution provider for all textile processing machinery needs in India, and has unparalleled domain expertise in the field. A.T.E. represents some of the world leaders in the processing equipment segment and offers innovative technology solutions and world class after sales services. The project includes machines supplied by some of A.T.E.’s principals, namely Fong’s, China; Stalam, Italy; and Color Service, Italy. Fong’s, the market leader in package dyeing machines, has supplied 47 bulk production machines and 15 lab scale package dyeing machines. Stalam, well known for its RF driers, has supplied seven machines for drying yarn and fibre. The project also includes a fully automatic dyes and chemicals dispensing solution from Color Service, Italy, a leader in the field of dispensing systems, according to a press release by A.T.E. This is one of the largest package dyeing projects executed by A.T.E. The project is now under commissioning and the initial trials have shown encouraging results, with the commercial production set to commence soon. A.T.E. and Sintex have long business relationship since decades. A.T.E. recently worked with Sintex in executing several huge spinning projects, and this new yarn dyeing project is set to be the next milestone in A.T.E.’s long association with Sintex.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
Vietnam maintained a trade surplus of US$711 million in the first four months of this year, much lower than US$3.7 billion recorded in the same period in 2018. According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, total import and export turnover in the first four months of 2019 was estimated at US$156.8 billion, of which exports reached US$78.8 billion, up 5.8% over the same period last year, and imports were at US$78 billion, up 10.4%. Export turnover increased by 5.8% compared to the same period in 2018, of which the domestic economic sector gained US$23.33 billion, up 10.5% and accounting for 29.6% of the total, while the foreign invested sector (including crude oil) reached US$55.43 billion, up 4% and accounting for 70.4% (the proportion decreased by 1.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year). In the last four months, 16 export items earned value of more than US$1 billion, accounting for 81.2% of total export turnover. Of which, several items increased their export value over the same period last year, including electronics, computers and components reaching US$9.6 billion, up 12.6%, textiles and garments reaching US$9.4 billion, up 9.8%, footwear US$5.3 billion, up 13.4%, machinery, equipment and spare parts at US$5.3 billion, up 4.1%, and wood and wood products reaching US$3.1 billion, up 17.8. Although phones and components enjoyed the largest export value, reaching US$16 billion and accounting for 20.4% of the total exports, the items decreased by 0.2% compared to the same period last year. Seafood exports were also down 1.3%, reaching US$2.4 billion. The United States continues to be Vietnam's largest export market with a turnover of US$17.8 billion, up 28.4% over the same period last year, of which phones and components rose 104.9%, footwear increased by 9.4%, and textiles and garments were up by 8.5%. The EU ranked second with US$13.7 billion, followed by China at US$10.4 billion, down 5.8%, and ASEAN with US$8.4 billion, up 7.3%. Regarding the imported goods market, China is still the largest import market of Vietnam with a value at US$22.3 billion, up 18.8% compared to the same period last year, followed by the Republic of Korea with US$15.5 billion and ASEAN with US$10.8 billion.
Source: Nhan Dhan Online
The Coalition of Textiles Workers, an active body in the fight for the implementation of the textile tax stamp is unhappy with government’s lateness in helping bring sanity into the textile industry. According to the Coalition of Textiles Workers then local textile industry is suffering from a lot of factors including unfair competition from pirated textiles. They mentioned that the situation calls for a rapid response from the government. Speaking in an interview, John Ackon, Spokesperson for Coalition of Textiles Workers (CTW), noted that although the sector Minister, Alan Kyerematen, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and other stakeholders involved in the issue are working to get to the bottom of the matter, a lot more is expected of the minister to fast-track the process. “We know the sector minister is doing his best but the delay is actually too much…if we leave everything like this, if we are not careful things will go wrong.” We think that what must be done need to be done and must be done fast. The industry is still suffering and needs a rapid response.” “We expect that the contract of the tax stamp needs to be signed so that the tax stamp will be printed for us to start using.” John Ackon also revealed that nothing has been done about the zero rated VAT promised the industry although it was expected to take off on 1st January 2019. He stated that for the Ghanaian textile industry to survive certain key initiatives like the tax stamp must be implemented to ensure its success. He concluded by saying that election year is fast approaching and the government needs to speed up the process of this policy to prevent the industry from suffering the negative impact. Background The Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen announced in that 2018 that effective September 1st there will be restriction on importation of textiles into the country by way of tax stamp and an empowered task force. Local textile producers will affix tax stamps issued by the Finance Ministry to their products to help clamp down importation of substandard textile.
Source: Ghanaweb
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Government of Tianjin and the General Authority of the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal to develop the second phase of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) industrial zone, Mohab Mamish, head of Suez Canal Authority and the Suez Canal Economic Zone stated during a press statement on the sidelines of the forum. According to the memorandum, an area of six square kilometers will be developed to establish advanced industrial sectors within the geographical scope of the canal’s economic zone. In his statement, Mamish said that the Belt and Road Forum would serve as an example for those who wish to participate in the economic renaissance that has been achieved over the past years. He pointed out that this deal is expected to provide at least 25,000 jobs through the launch of nine industrial sectors in the TEDA zone. The company will immediately start to attract the target companies in the fields of textile, petrochemicals and plastic industries, with a total of US$5 billion, which will contribute to the providing jobs and increase investment, Mamish concluded.
Source: Egypt Independent
