Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Thailand from November 2-4 during which he will attend the ASEAN-India, East Asia and RCEP summits, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday. Modi will be visiting Bangkok at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Secretary East Vijay Thakur Singh said at a media briefing. He will attend the 16th ASEAN-India summit, 14th East Asia Summit and 3rd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) summit and related events, she said. Negotiations for resolving outstanding issues on RCEP are going on in Bangkok, she said, adding the leaders will review the state of negotiations at the summit. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) bloc comprises 10 ASEAN group members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners - India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
Source: Economic Times
It’s never a good idea to stay away from any global or regional economic arrangement but when it comes to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), there’s every reason to raise red flags because, in effect, this will be a free trade agreement with China. India already has an FTA with ASEAN, the largest grouping within the RCEP, which essentially means signing up to deal with China, Australia and New Zealand. The assumption is that more Chinese goods will make their way through ASEAN countries and so, safeguards will be absolutely vital given India’s $53 billion trade deficit with China. But that’s not the only number to worry about. Let’s look at the Indian experience with ASEAN. India’s utilisation ratio of its current FTA with ASEAN is just about 6%, going by the recent review carried out by an interministerial group. In contrast, ASEAN countries have a 36.3% utilisation. Also, unlike with Japan and Korea, the investment component is also not quite large. So, there are serious capacity issues that have gone unaddressed on the ASEAN front. To hope that these will somehow work themselves out dramatically on RCEP through structural adjustment policies is being optimistic. Moreover, unlike with ASEAN, India’s ability to use political clout with China is also limited. For all the opposition from the Congress party on RCEP at this point, the fact is that it was the UPA which had agreed in a joint statement in January 2008 to commence discussions on a “mutually beneficial and high-quality regional trading arrangement” with China. It also negotiated the ASEAN FTA around the same time, which as the numbers show, have not quite worked according to expectations. The truth is that the way the pendulum has swung thus far on RCEP is an indicator of how uncertainty has come to dominate India’s approach on trade. What’s telling is that India’s best performing FTA, by far, has been with Sri Lanka, where Indian exports have registered some growth. Besides the big China factor, it’s important to realise that the ASEAN economy is essentially part of the big global supply chain. So, the other question to ask is what kind of FTA deal should India strike with essentially competitor countries? Then, of course, there’s the political question around exposing Indian agriculture and dairy to big state-owned enterprises of China and the likes of Fonterra in New Zealand. It’s important to note that many of the RCEP countries are very protectionist in granting market access. This is not to say India should stay away but neither can it walk into it blind. It must negotiate, knowing well there are red flags. India has placed proposals on the table on strengthening rules of origin, putting in place a trigger mechanism that will set off if goods entering India cross a certain threshold but there are also doubts if these would be enough. This is undoubtedly a tough call to make, but let there be no doubt that this is a call on the terms of doing business with China first, then ASEAN, not the other way round.
Source: Economic Times
India is playing hardball to protect its interests in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement ahead of the meeting of trade ministers of the 16 member countries on November 2-3 in Bangkok to see if an announcement on concluding the proposed deal could be made at the Leaders’ Summit on November 4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take the political call on India joining RCEP as part of the country’s growing economic footprints in the Indo-Pacific region. Some prospective RCEP member states including G-20 economies from South East Asia and East Asia are keen on India's presence in RCEP amid apprehensions that its absence will enable China to dominate the trade bloc. India is seen as a balancing power in the bloc. Officials said that though negotiations are almost complete for all chapters, they are awaiting a political decision as India tries to balance its ties with Japan and China along with domestic interests. Negotiations for resolving outstanding issues on RCEP are going on in Bangkok, secretary (east) at the ministry of external affairs (MEA) Vijay Thakur Singh said, adding the leaders will review the state of negotiations. “India will wait for the outcome of the negotiations on RCEP. Some critical issues are outstanding. We will only participate in a fair and transparent trading environment," he said. Indian trade officials will meet in Bangkok on November 1, ahead of the ASEAN summit. Indian officials have concluded negotiations on most of the 25 chapters, and the rest would be concluded before November 4, when Modi joins the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc and five other countries for the summit. Negotiators are "narrowing the gaps" including putting in adequate protection against cheap Chinese imports which are feared to flood the Indian market, once RCEP is concluded. Differences over some areas, like rules of origin, e-commerce, auto-trigger mechanism and trade remedies, are being discussed by Indian officials ahead of the summit.
Key concerns
New Delhi is pushing to be able to use an auto-trigger mechanism that will allow it to check sudden import surges from China, more than once and also wants to change the base duties besides putting in place strict origin norms to ensure that only imported goods get duty concessions. “India is playing hardball to secure its interests. We have made conservative offers,” said one official. India is said to have made conservative offers for the ten-day work plan of 14 issues that was compiled by the member countries in order to speed up the resolution of the pending issues, it wants to change the base year to eliminate tariffs on around 1,000 products from China to 2019 from 2014. “Strong or weak rules of origin are immaterial because once the deal is done, there would be no circumvention as everything would come from China legally and directly,” said another official. Separately, New Delhi is also opposed to taking commitments on investment policy decisions at municipal and panchayat levels.
Source: Economic Times
High export growth rate is crucial for India’s goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2025. To achieve this objective, the economy will have to grow at an average rate of 8% during the next four years. India’s exports will have to grow at an even higher rate. The current slowdown has made the objective more challenging, with India’s exports having shrunk 6.57% in September. Moreover, GoI has to take a call on whether to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the free trade grouping of 10 Asean members and their six allies. The group continues to pressure India on finalising the deal by November 4, even though several industry and trade organisations have increased the pitch of their opposition to the agreement.
Free Up Trade Agreements
In view of the stakes involved, the report of the high-level advisory group (HLAG) set up by the ministry of commerce could not have come at a more opportune time. The report presents a roadmap to double India’s exports to $1 trillion by 2025 from about $500 billion at present. To achieve this, it suggests a slew of measures, some of which have been much talked about in the past. These include reducing the cost of capital by further lowering repo rates. However, the main focus is on raising competitiveness of Indian exports. Moreover, it makes bold recommendations on several issues traditionally considered to be risky economically and sensitive politically, such as free trade deals. In principle, by promoting exports, free trade agreements (FTAs) can help the country move up the value chain. That, in turn, can provide India an edge vis-à-vis non-member countries. However, the fact remains that we have not gained from existing FTAs. The main culprits are the non-tariff barriers and administrative hurdles faced by Indian exporters such as difficulty in quality and specification certificates, and time-consuming custom clearances, just to name a couple. They have prevented Indian exporters from exploiting markets of trading partners. Unsurprisingly, the partner countries have gained more. Moreover, due to corruption and lax quality control, several cheap but poor quality goods, especially from China, have flooded the market. These are bad for India’s health, environment and balance of trade. The FTAs, in themselves, do not address these problems. For Indian exports, the logistical bottlenecks are other stumbling blocks. The turnaround time at the best of Indian ports like Kochi is two-three time longer than for Chinese ports. We come a cropper even compared to our Asian competitors like Vietnam and Bangladesh. Shipping of garments from point of origin to the nearest port can take as much as seven times longer in India than in Bangladesh, and as much as 20 times than in Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, India falls well below its potential in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), crucial for raising exports. To a large extent, China’s spectacular performance on the export front is on account of FDI, whose share is estimated to be over 50% in China’s manufactured exports.
Export Hard, Bargain Harder
Reportedly, many companies are considering moving out of China, since the start of the US-China trade war. However, not many are keen to relocate to India. To overcome this hurdle, the HLAG report proposes a centralised authority for issuing licences, and to empower it to grant incentives for companies meeting pre-defined criteria. While the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has helped fix part of the mess from the past, contract enforcement in India still leaves much to be desired. Judicial delays, coupled with the lack of appreciation of the economic consequences of delayed decisions, call for a clear and consistent legal and regulatory framework to guide judicial decision-making. Moreover, GoI would need to negotiate hard on non-tariff barriers that restrict Indian companies from accessing markets of trading partners, such as the requirement of local experience by China. Addressing these issues, and having a staggered timeline, can reduce the risks of entering into an FTA. The proposal to fund infrastructure using long-term bond market, though spot on, will work only if the regulatory framework for grading of projects is in place beforehand. Several other measures will help. Consider the issue of land. GoI owns large tracts of unused land. The ministries of railways and defence have upward of 43,000 and 33,000 hectares of idle land respectively. The case is similar for major airports, power plants and other public sector utilities (PSUs), a large part of which is in prime areas or near cities, such as the 31,886 hectares of idle land owned by special economic zones (SEZs). This land should be utilised for omnipresent infrastructural demands, investment projects and multi-model logistics hubs. Creation of big data-driven prediction systems for Indian exports will help in identifying priority areas. In fact, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) also have the potential to serve as a source of new exports to the developed world. Councils along the lines of goods and services tax (GST) councils may be a good idea for developing logistical hubs and value added exports of agricultural products. The pathway to $1trillion exports is bumpy. But the recommendations, backed by the above policy actions, will go a long way in promoting exports and increasing share of manufacturing in the GDP and total employment.
Source: Economic Times
The State government has brought out a new textile and garment policy 2019-24, with the aim to attract investment of ₹10,000 crore and generate five lakh jobs during the five-year period. With the goal to boost local economy and create a holistic textile and apparel ecosystem in the State, the new policy has identified five thrust sectors — spinning, weaving, integrated units, processing, and technical textiles. The State Cabinet on Thursday approved the policy that would provide a stimulus to the textile industry to project Karnataka as the garment capital of India and achieve higher and sustainable growth in the textile value chain. A centre of excellence for textile and technical textiles would be established at a cost of ₹10 crore during the policy period. The budget outlay required for execution of the policy is estimated at ₹1,582.17 crore during the next five years. The amount would be utilised to provide capital subsidy, interest subsidy, power subsidy, wage subsidy, skill development support, stamp duty reimbursement, ESI and EPF subsidy, and infrastructure development.
Special focus
For boosting conversion of cotton production into yarn preparation, special focus would be given to units investing in spinning mill manufacturing higher count and compact yarn. North Karnataka produces nearly 40 lakh bales of cotton a year. However, spinning mills consume only 10% of the cotton grown and rest is sold to spinning mills of neighbouring States. The new policy envisages capital subsidy to modernise the spinning mills with latest spindle technologies to achieve lower energy production; encourage units to use non-conventional sources of power by providing concessional rates; and skill development support to develop need-based skills for spinning.
Handloom intervention
The new policy sets out specific interventions for the handloom sector such as developing an extensive strategy to increase the share of handloom exports to distinct international markets. There are 1.2 lakh looms engaged in weaving of silk and cotton. The policy will also give importance to units investing in rapier loom, air jet looms, and electronic jacquard. The policy envisages credit-linked capital subsidy for MSME enterprises. The policy has created four zones — Hyderabad-Karnataka region (zone 1); all areas other than municipal corporations, district headquarters in non H-K region (zone-2), all municipal corporations, district headquarters in non H-K region (zone-3), and Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts.
Source: The Hindu
The report said there is a need to correct the perception that Regional Trade Agreements (or FTAs) have not benefitted India and trade partners have grown at India's cost. A High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) headed by economist Surjit S. Bhalla, has favoured India signing free trade agreements (FTA) with trade partners. It called for a sustained medium-term advocacy programme to spread awareness about potential FTAs and opportunities for utilisation of FTAs among medium and small scale industries of the country. The report will strengthen the Narendra Modi government's resolve to go ahead with negotiations for the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). HLAG, which submitted its report to the ministry of Commerce and Industry on October 30, was assigned the task of assessing the global environment and make recommendations for boosting India's share and importance in global merchandise and services trade; managing pressing bilateral trade relations, and mainstreaming new age policymaking. The report said there is a need to correct the perception that Regional Trade Agreements (or FTAs) have not benefitted India and trade partners have grown at India's cost. "This needs to be tackled urgently. There is no doubt that in the short-run trade partners such as Korea and Japan have gained more than us. However, that speaks only half the truth", the report said. According to HLAG, the role of FTAs has become crucial in foreign trade policy due to the stalemate in the multilateral trading system. "The role of global value chains in the economic development of a country, criticality of technology and investments in a developing economy and imperative of seeking market access by negotiating multi-layered regulatory environment in partner countries" have become very important it said. The report listed out several actions to pursue gains from FTAs. "In order to expand markets, selection of appropriate trade partners is of critical value. Long term economic interest should drive the selection of a trade partner. Principle of complementarity is the bedrock for partner selection. India should launch a five-year program for negotiations of FTAs based on complementarity and long-term sustainability. Relevant segments of Industry must be associated with the process of negotiations", it said. Emphasising the need for market access negotiations to go deeper than simple tariff negotiations, the report said aspiration to board regional value chains should determine the development of rest of the eco-systems between trade partners. "The negotiating architecture requires review to ensure availability of best knowledge and informed capacities for negotiations; this review process may be kick-started by identifying and resolving non-tariff barrier issues faced with India's major FTA partners", it said. "A comprehensive yet selective and inclusive approach aiming India's interest in the long-term is required. Every FTA must be conceived with a view of achieving national objectives and not driven by narrow considerations, sometimes even driven by political expediency. While negotiating market access for goods in FTAs, India should focus on both tariffs and non-tariff barriers in partner countries. In services, India should go beyond Mode 4 (movement of persons), and also focus on Mode 3 (commercial presence), as Indian investors have an interest in investing in the FTA partner country", it said. The report called for the establishment of an institutional mechanism for seeking inputs from stakeholders prior to finalising an FTA, as well as informing industry well in time about any steps that they would like to take during the period of transition with the aim of minimising their adjustment costs. It also wanted the Government to undertake comprehensive outreach programs for explaining the opportunities for exports, particularly to MSMEs, in the markets of FTA countries. The HLAG held 12 meetings during October 2018 and April 2019 and sat through detailed presentations by members, as well as by the industry and several departments of the Government of India. The report says while deliberations of HLAG focused on examining challenges and opportunities in different sectors and proposing policy and institutional changes to address them, "the Group recognised the primacy of the interplay between international and domestic developments in these domains".The HLAG also looked at some sectors like pharmaceuticals, electronics, textiles etc., in detail to derive horizontal and sector-specific recommendations.
Source: Business Today
The government has firmed up a policy, being steered by the transport ministry, for scrapping old vehicles and will circulate it for public comments in two weeks, the finance ministry said on Thursday. This follows guidelines issued by the transport ministry for setting up vehicle scrapping centres. “A scrappage policy has been formulated and circulated for comments of stakeholders/general public by November 15,” the finance ministry said. The policy is expected to spell out disincentives for older vehicles, including manifold increase in re-registration fee. A draft notification from the transport ministry proposed that re-registration of internal combustion engine cars be increased to Rs 15,000.
Source: Economic Times
During the last decade or more, the government has forgotten that exports can play a very significant role and also that we have the potential to get back on track. My compliments for your editorial “No real plan for exports” (October 31) pointedly commenting on the futility of the government’s approach towards our exports. In fact, the current economic slowdown makes this issue infinitely more important. Augmenting exports can, to a large extent, set right our growth trajectory and possibly put us back on track. Unfortunately, we have always treated exports as an adjunct to overall economic activity and not as an essential component that merits as much attention as the domestic business and industry. During the last decade or more, the government has forgotten that exports can play a very significant role and also that we have the potential to get back on track. For example, in the case of textiles and apparels, if we have lost out to Bangladesh and other South Asian countries, it is because we are not globally competitive like our neighbours. Indeed, it’s mere lack of judgement and, more importantly, lack of political will. We need to urgently give a huge push to the factors mentioned above as well as fine-tune our logistics' turnaround time. We need to get our own house in order first.
Source: Business Standard
A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruled on Thursday that Indian export subsidies are prohibited and should be removed, upholding a complaint brought by the United States. The panel largely agreed with US claims challenging export subsidies granted in the form of exemptions from customs duties and a national tax, while rejecting some US arguments. It called on India to withdraw the export-contingent subsidies within periods varying from 90 to 180 days. The US Trade Representative's Office, in a statement, said that the panel had agreed that India provides prohibited subsidies to Indian exporters worth more than $7 billion annually, including to producers of steel products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, IT products and textiles.
Source: Live Mint
Tiruveedula Gantayya, a 46-year-old craftsman, bought 50 abandoned handlooms in the past three years from the weavers of Pedana and surrounding villages only to dismantle them to make interior decorative items. He is one of the four handloom craftsmen engaged in making handlooms with an expensive teak wood in the textile belt of Pedana in Krishna district. “Being a craftsman, I never expected that I would purchase handlooms, which I made earlier, to dismantle them. I could not resist myself from buying the abandoned handlooms as the weavers started selling them to be used for fixing bathroom doors which I cannot digest,” says Mr. Gantayya. In the past five years, hundreds of handlooms were sold by weavers to dismantle them for various purposes in and around Pedana town, with the advent of a screen printing method in the textile art of Kalamkari that attracted weavers with an offering of lucrative daily earning. The technology has tempted hundreds of families to quit the traditional profession of weaving, and later pushed them to a state of unemployment as it began struggling to gain acceptance in the market. There are only four handloom craftsmen who make the handlooms in and around Pedana town -- Gantayya, Veenam Venkanna, B. Shyamala Rao (Kappaladoddi) and Rahmatullah Khan. “The least price at which I had bought each handloom is ₹1000, and this stands testimony to the declining art of weaving and the desperation of the weaver. I am using the teak wood of the dismantled loom for making chairs and tables. Much of the wood is used for making cots,” says Mr. Gantayya. Now, the new handloom costs between ₹10,000 and ₹12,000. Veenam Prasad, an assistant to craftsman Venkanna, has told The Hindu: “We have bought dozens of handlooms which are used to make windows, cots, and interior material. However, the stock is sold by September-end.”
Stony silence
When asked, the families that had disposed of their handlooms in Pedana, Veerabhadrapuram and Brahmapuram areas declined to speak on it. On a condition of anonymity, some elders belonging to the weaving families have observed: “In our society, selling the handloom is considered a shame. No family wants to speak on it. In the past, the abandoned handlooms were either sold to the needy weavers or preserved.” The ‘wooden beam’, a part of the handloom set, is being used as a ‘wrapper’ in the chemical printing units. The State government’s financial assistance of ₹24,000 per year for the family that works on the handloom makes weavers to stop selling handlooms as of now.
Source: The Hindu
Production of seven sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, cement, steel, and electricity contracted in September. Output of core infrastructure industries shrank by 5.2 per cent in September 2019 as seven of eight sectors witnessed negative growth, according to official data released on October 31. The eight core sectors had expanded by 4.3 per cent in September 2018. Production of seven sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, cement, steel, and electricity contracted in September. Fertilizers production increased by 5.4 per cent in September 2019 over the year-ago month. During the April-September period, the growth of core industries fell to 1.3 per cent against 5.5 per cent in the year-ago period.
Source: Money Control
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
990.7718 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
VSF |
1509.8824 |
USD/Ton |
-0.19% |
10/31/2019 |
|
ASF |
2173.4658 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Polyester POY |
985.1062 |
USD/Ton |
0.80% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2266.24 |
USD/Ton |
-0.93% |
10/31/2019 |
|
40D Spandex |
4079.232 |
USD/Ton |
-0.35% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Nylon POY |
1111.874 |
USD/Ton |
-0.63% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
2514.11 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Polyester FDY |
5353.992 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Nylon DTY |
1232.268 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
2152.928 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2308.732 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2117.518 |
USD/Ton |
-0.33% |
10/31/2019 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1607.614 |
USD/Ton |
-0.44% |
10/31/2019 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2422.044 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
1784.664 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
2280.404 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
2379.552 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
1968.796 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.2520976 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.6897868 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.9617356 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.559478 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.6642916 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
10/31/2019 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14164 USD dtd. 31/10/2019). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
The Bangladesh Government is offering to collaborating with the Nigerian Government to develop the Nigerian textile industry. This was made known by the High Commissioner of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to Nigeria, Shameem Ahsan while speaking during a business interactive session and with journalists in Abuja. According to him, Bangladesh was in a valid position to partner with Nigeria and could help share knowledge on the industry because of the wealth of experience it has, being the second-largest garment industry in the world after China. Ahsan also said that since Bangladesh has at least 5 million people working in the industry with 80% of the millions of textile workers being women, it could help Nigeria close gender parity gap in the workplace. Apart from the textile industry, Ahsan said his country would also work with the Nigerian government on achieving its target as regards to power. He said that the power sector had risen in recent times to 22, 000 megawatts from 5, 000 megawatts in 2009 in Bangladesh. What you should know: This offer by Bangladesh is coming after the recent talks about the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) investing N100 billion in the textile industry. The CBN said that developing the local industries such as the textile/garment industries and other Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the country was needed as it would bring about growth of the country and her citizens, create employments and boost the foreign reserve of the nation. According to the Director of Corporate Communication Department, Isaac Okoroafor , the country cannot continue to rely solely on oil and gas revenue as it is not organic due to the lack of technological know-how and expertise that bring about the revenue hence the need to concentrate more on another sector which is the local industries/manufacturing sector.
Source: Nairametrics
China-Uzbekistan relations have entered the fast lane of development and future prospects for bilateral ties remain gratifying. China-Uzbekistan relations have been marked by a high level of mutual trust, Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jiang Yan told Xinhua in an interview ahead of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to the central Asian country scheduled for early November at the invitation of Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov. The leaders of the two countries have met several times, reached a number of important agreements and set the course for the future direction of bilateral relations, Jiang said. China is Uzbekistan's largest trading partner, largest source of imports and largest destination of exports. Last year, China-Uzbekistan trade surged 48.4 percent year-on-year, reaching 6.26 billion U.S. dollars. According to data published by the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Statistics, around 1,500 Chinese enterprises are operating in Uzbekistan. Bilateral cooperation has surged in such areas as oil and gas exploration, pipeline transportation, infrastructure, telecommunications, textile, chemical industry, logistics and agriculture. Breakthroughs have been made in cross-border railways and highways, which have greatly improved the efficiency of cross-border transportation. The China-Europe Railway Express links many major Chinese cities with Tashkent, while the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China transport corridor has met the need of short-distance cross-border cargo transportation. Uzbek agricultural products such as cherries and mung beans entered the Chinese market last year and are favored by Chinese consumers. Uzbekistan will participate in the second China International Import Expo in November as a guest country of honor, during which 12 Uzbek enterprises will exhibit their agricultural products. The two countries have also witnessed closer people-to-people and cultural exchanges. More Uzbek students are studying at the Confucius Institutes in Tashkent and Samarkand, and more are coming to China to study Mandarin. Furthermore, Shanghai University established a center for Uzbek culture studies, while other Chinese universities started to offer Uzbek language courses. In 2012, a joint international archaeological expedition of Chinese and Uzbek scientists began excavating the ancient settlement of Mingtepa, a "living fossil" of the Silk Road dating back 2,000 years in Uzbekistan's Andijan region. Last year, Uzbekistan launched its e-tourism visa system and introduced five-day visa-free entry for Chinese tourists, resulting in an uptick in visitors. In September, the country issued a decree to allow Chinese nationals to visit the country for seven days visa-free starting from 2020, becoming the first Central Asian country to grant a visa exemption to Chinese citizens. China has also introduced multiple measures to simplify visa procedures for Uzbek tourists. During Aripov's visit to China in August, the two sides formally signed an agreement to provide certain business people from both countries with multiple entry visas for up to six months. "With joint efforts, China-Uzbekistan cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative will achieve more results, and our bilateral relations will rise to a new level," said Jiang.
Source: Xinhua
Vietnam exported more than $ 217 billion from January to October and hopes to close the year with 263 billion, which would mark an unprecedented level in that section. As indicated by the General Department of Statistics, during that period foreign sales marked a year-on-year increase of 7.42 percent, which allowed the trade balance to remain positive. Until May, Vietnamese foreign trade fitted a deficit of more than 500 million dollars, but a rebound in the following five months not only managed to erase it, but also generated a surplus that at this point of the year amounts to seven billion dollars. Achieving it was not easy because the expected income of some key products such as coffee and rice fit sensitive drops due to the drop in their prices in the international market. Sales of seafood and some agricultural products that were very dependent on purchases by China were also lower because it hardened import standards. The props of the recovery were five groups of products that in each case made shipments for more than 10 billion: cell phones and parts; electronics, computers and spare parts; clothing and textiles; footwear and leather goods; and machinery, equipment and spare parts. An excellent sign about the health of the national economy was that in these 10 months foreign sales of companies backed only by national capitals (both state and private and cooperative) increased at a higher rate than those that use capital foreign. Until October the exports of domestic entities grew 16.2 percent, by 3.9 percent companies operating under the foreign investment regime, and already contribute 30.7 percent of the income for that concept. In that period, the United States established itself as the first major buyer of Vietnamese products when making invoices for almost 50 billion dollars, an inter-annual increase of 26.6 percent and much more than a fifth of the total. It was followed by far, the European Union, the neighboring members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan and South Korea. In 2018, Vietnamese foreign trade reached an unprecedented level of 483 thousand 230 million dollars and left a surplus, also a record, of six thousand 800 million that already exceeded at this point of the year.
Source: plenglish
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) has cut interest rates for the third time this year to ensure the economy comes safely through the trade war without sliding into a recession. While lowering the policy rate by 25 basis points to the 1.50-1.75 per cent target, its statement dropped an earlier reference that it ‘will act as appropriate’ to sustain the economic expansion. The statement’s language implied there may be no further policy cuts this year. Latest statistics show the US economy slowed in the third quarter this year. The Fed cut rates in July and again in September. The Fed said it will "monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook as it assesses the appropriate path" of its target interest rate. Stating that business investment and exports remain ‘weak’, the Fed described the US labour markets as ‘strong’ and economic activity as ‘rising at a moderate rate’. As in its previous policy statement, the central bank said it took the action to reduce borrowing costs "in light of the implications of global developments for the economic outlook as well as muted inflation pressures".Unemployment is near a 50-year low, inflation is moderate and gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.9 per cent in the third quarter, a slowdown from the first half of the year.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
A four-year action plan to strengthen China’s manufacturing design capabilities was released recently by its government. Prime targets for the 2019-2022 period include developing an open design platform for equipment manufacturing and enhancing the design of special-purpose or special-environment equipment and key parts of high-end equipment. The focus is on a shift from the ‘Made in China’ model to ‘Created in China’. According to the plan unveiled by the ministry of industry and information technology and 12 other departments, the country also aims to improve the design capabilities of industries with competitive advantages including textiles, automobiles and heavy machinery to facilitate industrial upgrading. China aims to achieve breakthroughs in original design in fields including high-grade numerical control machine tools, industrial robots and artificial intelligence within the period. It will form industries and national standards of system design, artificial intelligence design and ecology design. It will also develop a number of productive and professional design tools, according to a news agency report. Around 10 demonstration cities will be named to serve as examples of manufacturing design services, while over 200 state-level industrial design centres and about 100 manufacturing design training bases will be established or further developed, according to the plan. A national research institute of industrial design will also be built to enhance basic research in the sector. The plan outlines supportive policies to boost manufacturing design. The country will encourage private capital-based design industry funds to be established, qualified design enterprises to go public for financing, and banks and other financial institutions to provide tailored services to design firms.
Source: Fibre2Fashion
