In order to promote India-Africa trade and economic relations, Ministry of Commerce and Industry regularly reviews India’s trade with Africa through institutional mechanismslike Joint Commission Meetings (JCMs), Joint Trade Committees (JTCs), and Joint Working Groups(JWGs), an official release said on Wednesday. The 9th Session of the India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee was held in New Delhi on 19-20 August, 2019 under the co-chairmanship of Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal and his Kenyan counterpart Mr. Peter Munya, Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Government of the Republic of Kenya. During the meeting, wide ranging discussions were held cutting across sectors like MSME, Agriculture, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Tourism, Administration of Standards, Development of Human Resources in Higher Education, Science & Technology, Investment Promotion and Protection, Air Services, Energy, Plastics, Textile, Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas, Health, Immigration, Automobile and other engineering products. Collaboration in the field of issue of recognition of Indian Pharmacopoeia in Kenya was also discussed. The First India-Nigeria JTC was held on 19th – 20th December, 2019 in New Delhi, under the Co-chair of Commerce Secretary, Government of India and his Nigerian counterpart. During the meeting discussions were held in various sectors including oil and natural gas, market access in bovine meat, rice, recognition of pharmacopoeia, cooperation of SME sector, higher education and power. The first meeting of the India-South Africa JWG on Trade and Investment was held in January, 2019, to deliberate upon the bottlenecks including non-tariff barriers, and suggest the way forward to further deepen India’s trade with the region. The proposed India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) seeks to mutually benefit both the countries, in the area of trade in goods, and trade in services. Seven rounds of India-Mauritius CECPA negotiations have been held till now. The 7th round was held during 19-23 November, 2018 in Mauritius. On the Occasion of World Cotton Day organized by WTO in Geneva on 7th October, 2019, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India announced the launch of Phase-II of C-TAP in 11 African countries. The programme is aimed at enhancing productivity in cotton sector, improving the post-harvest and plant by-products industry in the participating countries, as well as building the capacity of the cotton-based textile sector. Department is currently working on implementation plan inconsultation with stakeholders such as foreign counterparts through IndianMissions, Ministry of External Affairs, institutes engaged in cotton researchand capacity building activitiesinIndia. In order to leverage the huge presence of Indian business community in Africa for promoting India’s exports to the region, three rounds of interactions of Minister of Commerce & Industry were organized through Indian Missions with Indian business community in Madagascar, Tanzania, Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Ghana, Botswana, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Egypt over Digital Video Conference (DVC) in May, 2019. For promoting India-Africa trade and economic relations, a regional conclave was organised by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India jointly with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in March, 2019 at New Delhi. On the sidelines of the Conclave/Regional Conclave, bilateral meetings with participating countries were also held at the Ministerial level to boost up Indian participation in project exports opportunities in African countries. The conclave was attended by Head of the States from three African countries. More than two dozen Ministers along with around 500 business delegates from Africa participated in the Conclave.
Source: SME Times
The proposed free trade agreement between India and Mauritius is nearing finalisation as both the sides have concluded the negotiations for the pact, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday. The proposed India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) seeks to mutually benefit both the countries in the area of trade in goods and services, it said in a statement. Negotiations were held across several sectors including goods, services, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, trade remedies and dispute settlement. "India-Mauritius CECPA negotiations for trade in goods and trade in services, have been completed. The agreement is near finalisation," it said. In a free trade agreement, two trading partners cut or eliminate duties on majority of goods besides liberalising norms to promote services trade and boost investments. Mauritius was the second top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in 2018- 19. India received USD 8 billion (about Rs 56,000 crore) foreign inflows from the country. The bilateral trade between the countries increased marginally to USD 1.2 billion in 2018-19 from USD 1.1 billion in 2017-18. India exports petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, cereals, cotton and electrical machinery, apparel and clothing accessories to Mauritius. The island nation's exports to New Delhi include iron and steel, pearls, precious/semi-precious stones and optical, photographic and precision instruments. It also said that in order to promote India-Africa trade and economic relations, the ministry regularly reviews trade ties through institutional mechanisms like Joint Commission Meetings, Joint Trade Committees and Joint Working Groups.
Source: Economic Times
India could look at a calibrated increase in the goods and services tax rates to shield consumers from sudden price shocks, apart from minimising exemptions, as it seeks to lift tax revenue collections. A panel of officials on revenue augmentation, comprising officials from the states and the Centre, is reviewing the current rate structure. There is a view that rate increases can be carried out in a benign manner, either through small increases in lower rates or by moving some items to a higher bracket in tranches. “There is a need to re-look at the structure. How you do it is another issue,” said a government official. “You can do it in a calibrated manner to avoid sudden shocks. This is one option.” About 150 items that are exempt from GST are likely to get a close look. There are over 260 items currently in the 5% slab. Processed items cannot be in the lowest slab or the exempt category because it also leads to problems of input tax credits for them and erodes their competitiveness, said the official. GST collections have averaged Rs 1,00,646 crore so far in the current financial year, short of about Rs1.12 lakh crore a month needed to meet the budget target. The panel’s suggestions are likely to be examined by the GST Council, the apex decision-making body for the tax, at its next meeting. The GST Council secretariat had asked the states on November 27 to suggest ways to boost revenue, including rate rationalisation and reducing exemptions. States such as Punjab suggested slabs of 10% and 20%, with a third rate of 25% for sin and luxury goods. Others such as West Bengal and Delhi do not back significant changes at the current juncture, especially pertaining to rate increases. Currently, GST has seven rate categories – exempt, 0.25%, 3%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.The officers panel is also looking at how to minimise exemptions in both goods and services and raise the revenue-neutral rate – that single rate of GST at which there is no loss of tax. This was estimated at 15.5% when GST was rolled out on July1, 2017. The panel had presented a paper at the previous meeting of the council, but was asked to look into issues in more detail and come back with a more comprehensive report. It had suggested restructuring slabs, increasing rates on some goods to correct inverted duty structures, including on mobile phones, and revisiting rates on items that had seen a reduction to 18% from 28%. Some businesses have asked to be moved from the exempt category or 5% tax bracket without input tax credit to the higher 12% rate where they can adjust tax paid on inputs against final liability. The panel had highlighted an over Rs 63,000 crore shortfall in compensation cess in the current financial year, which, with moderate revenue growth, is a key challenge. Tax experts said given the current economic scenario, large-scale changes seem difficult. “However, the government may want to explore merging the 5% and 12% slabs into a single rate of say, 8 or 9%. Alternatively, the 12% and 18% slabs may be merged into a single rate of 15% or 16%,” said Pratik Jain, indirect taxes leader at PwC. Jain said there is a need to have a long-term plan on GST rates and start working towards it, rather than changing them frequently. There is little evidence to suggest that rate increases would necessarily result in revenue augmentation, he added.
Source: Economic Times
Goods and services tax collections grew about 9% in December to Rs 1.03 lakh crore, from Rs 94,726 crore a year earlier, the government said on Wednesday. An official said this improvement had come largely because of steps taken to increase compliance and check evasion. Collections expanded 6% year-on-year in November, after falling for the previous two months. The government has undertaken several measures in the past months to improve collections. Revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey met with senior officials in December and sent out a message to maximise collections. Field officers were directed to cancel registration and block input tax credit for defaulters. “GST revenues in December 2019 from domestic transactions have shown an impressive growth of 16% over revenues collected in December 2018,” a finance ministry statement said. If Integrated GST (IGST) from imports are considered, total revenue rose 9%, it said. IGST revenue on imported goods fell 10% from a year earlier. However, this was an improvement from a drop of 13% in November and 20% in October. The total number of GST returns filed from November till December was 81.21 lakh. Among provinces, Jammu and Kashmir showed the highest year-on-year increase in collections, which rose 40% to Rs 409 crore last month. Maharashtra achieved the highest GST collection at Rs 16,530 crore, a 22% increase from December last year “The reversal in the trend of declining GST collections should continue for the remaining months of the current fiscal (year) in order to keep the fiscal deficit under control, said M S Mani, a partner at Deloitte India. From the total, collections of central GST (CGST) were Rs 19,962 crore and state GST (SGST) were Rs 26,792 crore. Collections from imports totalled Rs 21,295 crore and revenue from cess was Rs 8,331 crore in the past month. The government has settled Rs 21,814 crore to CGST and Rs 15,366 crore to SGST from IGST of Rs 48,099 crore as regular settlement, it said. This brought the total revenue earned by the central and state governments in December to Rs 41,776 crore of CGST and Rs 42,158 crore for SGST. “With the trend of improving collections and the e-invoicing, and new returns slated in the coming months, it is now expected that the GST collections would show a steady improvement, although it may still fall short of the annual targets,” Mani said.
Source: Economic Times
The four-year-old Connect2India helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) find overseas markets for products. Its online marketplace enables SMEs to directly arrange export and import orders from worldwide buyers and suppliers. “It all started majorly because of three reasons: first, my passion to combine trade and technology; second, to bring positive change on a large scale that could impact millions in a positive way. And third, my belief that innovation using technology is the key in any field,” said founder Pawan Gupta. Initially, Connect2India was launched as a trade statistics intelligence platform for SMEs to find target markets for export and import. The company later realised that the demand from MSME sector for an end-to-end solutions model for export and import was huge, as these enterprises, especially in tier II and tier III cities, seek last-mile handholding for global trade. The startup helps businesses find and qualifying global trade counterparts and arranging export and import orders from them. It offers a platform-driven approach for MSMEs for overall trade execution, enabling them to focus on their core businesses. Gupta said last week, a farm owner from Sangli in Maharashtra directly received an order of 10 containers a month from Connect2India’s marketplace. Another farm owner received Red Chillies order and the orders of multiple others for grapes, oranges and pomegranates are in progress, all these without any middleman involved, he said. Through its platform, SMEs from multiple industry sectors such as agro, apparel, textile, handicraft, polymers, FMCG, metals, etc can directly sell their products in the overseas markets. The company has also forayed into large enterprises segment this year, helping them expand their global markets. According to the startup, one such company was a Tata Group company, which came on board last year to market Tata Swach water purifiers globally.The company had started generating revenue from last quarter of 2016. Currently, it is operationally profitable and cash-flow positive.
Source: CNBCTV 18
Imports of crude oil from Iran dipped to 1.7 million tonne (mt) in the current financial year (2019-20, or FY20), down from 23.9 mt in 2018-19, after India stopped imports from the West Asian country in May. In FY19, Iran was the third largest crude exporter to India. Assuming the United States' (US') sanctions are not lifted, crude imports from Iran will be the lowest in at least 12 years, shows the available data compiled by Business Standard. On the other hand, industry players claim this to be one of the all-time low from Iran. This comes at a time of increasing ...
Source: Business Standard
The rupee kick started 2020 on a positive note with gains of 14 paise against the US currency on the first trading day of the New Year on January 1. The domestic currency settled at 71.22 against the previous close of 71.36 as positive macro data and optimism over the US-China trade deal boosted the investor sentiment. "India's rupee rises in thin holiday trading as the nation's current-account gap narrowed in the last quarter. The CAD was USD 6.3 billion in the July-September period, or 0.9 per cent of gross domestic product, lower than the median USD 7.10 billion deficit estimated and compares with the previous quarter's USD 14.2 billion, or 2 per cent of GDP," said V K Sharma, Head - PCG & Capital Market Strategy, HDFC securities. Meanwhile, Indian equity markets also started the New Year on a high note. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended the day higher by 52.28 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 41,306.02. The broader NSE Nifty closed 14.05 points, or 0.12 per cent, higher at 12,182.50. Foreign funds pulled out Rs 1,265.10 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 585.07 crore on Tuesday, provisional data showed. Traders said the rupee gained support amid positive developments on the US-China trade deal front. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that a partial new US-China trade agreement will be signed in the middle of this month, announcing that he will also then travel to China for continued talks. "I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15," Trump tweeted. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.54 per cent to 96.90. The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.2740 and for rupee/euro at 79.8830. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 93.4835 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 65.59.
Source: Money Control
In order to help entrepreneurs improve their standards to meet international competition, the district administration has identified about 20 acres of land to set up Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) technology centre in Sulur. The union ministry of MSME had sanctioned Rs 200 crore to set up the centre in the district under the scheme ‘establishment of new technology centres’. “The chosen land is fulfilling the specifications, including a non-residential area and with adequate transportation facilities, that are required to set up the centre. A team of MSME officials from New Delhi is expected to inspect the land within a week or two, ‘said R Vijayakumar, assistant director in-charge of MSME Development Institute, Coimbatore. "Once the site is approved by them, the project would move to the next stage," he added. Vijayakumar said they have been planning to procure latest equipment in all sections including textile and automobiles after holding talks with the representatives of each association. Commenting on MSME faces problems in purchasing high-cost equipment, Vijayakumar said such equipment would be procured and made available for the industries to use adding that ''this will help entrepreneurs to meet international competition and infuse confidence to budding MSMEs.''Vijayakumar, further said that we are also planning to train students, and the district being an educational hub, it would be useful to a lot of students.
Source: KNN India
|
Item |
Price |
Unit |
Fluctuation |
Date |
|
PSF |
1005.15 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
VSF |
1348.81 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
ASF |
2008.86 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Polyester POY |
1018.78 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Nylon FDY |
2166.70 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
40D Spandex |
4118.16 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Nylon POY |
5380.88 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Acrylic Top 3D |
1269.89 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Polyester FDY |
2001.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Nylon DTY |
2195.40 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Viscose Long Filament |
1162.27 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
Polyester DTY |
2381.93 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
10S OE Cotton Yarn |
1887.61 |
USD/Ton |
0.23% |
1/1/2020 |
|
32S Cotton Carded Yarn |
2914.28 |
USD/Ton |
0.49% |
1/1/2020 |
|
40S Cotton Combed Yarn |
3379.91 |
USD/Ton |
0.30% |
1/1/2020 |
|
30S Spun Rayon Yarn |
2001.69 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
32S Polyester Yarn |
1621.44 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
45S T/C Yarn |
2410.63 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
40S Rayon Yarn |
2166.70 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
T/R Yarn 65/35 32S |
1922.77 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
45S Polyester Yarn |
1764.93 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
T/C Yarn 65/35 32S |
2195.40 |
USD/Ton |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
10S Denim Fabric |
1.27 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
32S Twill Fabric |
0.69 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
40S Combed Poplin |
0.97 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
30S Rayon Fabric |
0.53 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
|
45S T/C Fabric |
0.67 |
USD/Meter |
0% |
1/1/2020 |
Source: Global Textiles
Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14349 USD dtd. 01/01/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com. SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.
Negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Thailand are in final stage, however, Pakistani exports must prepare themselves right now to penetrate deep into the South East Asian markets through Thailand with full preparedness. Addressing the members of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI), Ghulam Nabi Kamboh Former Commercial Counsellor for Pakistan in Thailand said, "Pakistani exporters are only focusing on American and European Union whereas South East Asia in our close vicinity has visible economic identity. Its 10 to 12 countries have population of 700 to 750 million," he told and added that Thailand is a favorite tourist's global destination. He further said around 140,000 tourists visit Thailand every year. Thailand has imposed 25 to 30 % duties on Pakistani textile export and despite of this burden some Pakistani exporters are making export of worth 25 to 30 million Dollars. Ghulam Nabi Kamboh who is currently working as Additional Collector Customs (Anti Smuggling) Faisalabad said that during his previous assignment, he had written letters to various chambers of commerce and industry, requesting them to explore the potentialities of this huge market. He said, "FTA is expected to be signed very soon and we must take advantage of flooding first this market before the Thai exporters sneak into our markets."He said that being a Commercial Counsellor he had arranged exhibitions in Thailand. Similarly Pakistani exporters should also participate in exhibitions so that they could establish direct contacts with Thai importers, he added.
Source: Urdu Point
A newly implemented deal between Beijing and Islamabad will eliminate tariffs on hundreds of products, a move which is expected to provide a billion-dollar boost to bilateral trade. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA)–II, which started on Wednesday, will waive or ease 75 percent of tariffs imposed by each country, over a period of 15 years. Beijing will immediately drop tariffs on more than 300 Pakistani exports, including textiles and garments, seafood and leather. In exchange, Islamabad has provided greater market access to Chinese raw materials and heavy machinery. The deal, inked in April 2019, will increase Islamabad’s exports to China by between $500 million and $600 million in the short-term, according to an official from Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry. The figure is expected to rise to $4 billion over the next five years.
Source: RT Com
Turkey has scrapped a requirement that exporters convert foreign exchange revenue into lira, according to an amended decree published on country’s Official Gazette, reports Reuters. The decree, requiring exporters to convert at least 80% of their overseas revenue into lira was published on September 4, 2018, during the height of a currency crisis which wiped some 30% off the value of the Turkish currency. The rule had been criticised by exporters because Turkey relies on raw materials from overseas for manufacturing, and imports cotton, scrap metal and chemicals priced in foreign currency. Turkish companies are still required to bring revenue from export transactions into the country within 180 days of actual date of export, according to the amended decree, which was published late on Tuesday. Turkey’s exports totalled $156.9 billion in January-November period last year, according to official statistics data. Turkey is a big exporter of textiles, clothing, machinery, steel and cars.
Source: Middle East Monitor
The apex representative body of the garment owners has urged the government to enforce the single-digit lending rate from today (Wednesday) instead of April 01 next. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in a letter, sent to Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday, made the request. The top management of private commercial banks during a meeting with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday agreed to bring down interest rates to 9.0 per cent on all loans barring that on credit cards from April 01 next. BGMEA president Dr Rubana Huq in the letter said the prime minister has instructed the authority to reduce the interest rate to a single-digit mainly to help cut operational costs, boost investments and achieve competitiveness against the competitors. The PM's instructions came following the long-cherished demand for the same from the country's all trade bodies including BGMEA, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), she added. "The textile and readymade garment (RMG) industry has been facing a 'critical situation' including an increase in its operational costs to sustain," Ms Huq observed. In such a situation, she said, implementation of the decision about the 9.0 per cent interest rate on bank loans from today (Wednesday) is a must to increase exports, boost investments and reduce business costs. On behalf of other trade bodies in the sector, the BGMEA president also requested the finance minister for taking necessary measures to instruct commercial banks in this regard.
Source: Financial Express
The Ministry of Commerce granted export rights under the preferential trading system to 78 garment, footwear and bag factories in the first 11 months of last year, its annual report stated. The ministry registered 51 such facilities from January to November last year, an increase of 24 per cent on the 41 in the same period in 2018, the report said. Twenty-seven bag factories were registered, an increase of 170 per cent year-on-year on the 10 registered in the proceeding period, while 138 exporters and other factories registered, a 21 per cent increase. Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) secretary-general Kaing Monika told The Post on Wednesday that Cambodia has seen positive effects from the US-China trade dispute, which has prompted a surge in garment and footwear registrations. “The growth of garment factories last year was boosted mainly by the trend of finding alternative sources to China, and recently by the US-China trade war. The growth in travel goods factories was strengthened by the eligibility of the products for the US’ Generalised System of Preferences,” Monika said. GMAC members operate more than 500 factories in the Kingdom and employ more than 700,000 workers. Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak has said that to boost exports to international markets, the ministry is continuing to strengthen the supply chain and diversifying the exports market through integration within the Asean Economic Community. “In order to compete within the regional and global framework, the Ministry of Commerce is striving to improve capacity and efficiency by strengthening human resources, and reforming management and administrative structures, as well as improving public services,” Sorasak said at the opening of the ministry’s annual meeting last month. Cambodia’s exports to international markets reached more than $10 billion in the first 10 months of last year, mainly from the garment, textile, footwear and travel products sectors, according to the Ministry of Commerce report. It shows that Cambodia exported more than $10.8 billion of goods, up 6.45 per cent year-on-year. According to a breakdown of the data, garment exports were worth $6.4 billion, textiles $40 million, footwear $905 million and rice $286 million, while other products accounted for more than $3.1 billion.
Source: Phnom Penh Post
Business and industrial community while expressing deep concern on the recent announced increase in power tariffs from January said that increased power tariffs and petroleum prices have brought the industry on the verge of closure. It is an irony that due to unconstructive decision of public sector, the private sector and common-man are the worst sufferers being penalised against the sins they have never committed, they voiced. They said that the hike in power tariffs and petroleum prices would further worsen the living standard of masses due to unaffordable tariffs, whereas, the industrial and business concerns are already in doldrums due to highest-ever increase in the cost of manufacturing and doing business owing to the multiplicity of taxes and levies and excessive utility tariffs. They urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take immediate notice of rise in energy and petroleum prices and unavailability of gas for industry. Chairman, Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA), Sheikh Afzal Hussain strongly condemned the proposed increase in the prices of electricity by 38 percent under quarterly adjustment formula framed by NEPRA and further increased fuel, which is termed to be another hammer on export of leather sector, which is already in declining trend and facing numerous issues for the promotion of exports of leather sector. He shared the statistics of the industry for the export made during period of July-June (2018-19) which was US$ 252 million for finished leather as compared to the corresponding period was US$ 330 million while overall leather sector exports concluded during the period of July-June (2018-19) was US$ 843 million as compared to the corresponding period was US$ 948 million, which revealed sharp decline in the export of finished leather & total leather sector of exports because of various reasons particularly non-availability of level playing field to this vital sector of the country as compared to neighbour competing countries. He articulated that such irrational decisions taken by the government of Pakistan would ultimately be a last nail on coffin of leather sector of Pakistan and rest of core export commodities of the country and it would become completely impossible for the leather industry to survive in the present business environment prevailing within the country and last unfortunate version to be the closure of the vital industry of the country completely. He urged Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan Niazi and Advisor to PM on commerce & textile, Abdul Razak Dawood to look into the significant plight of the industry for the withdrawal of such irrational/unjustified policies/tariffs on utilities of the leather sector of Pakistan and rest of export oriented industries of the country to provide level playing field otherwise there would be no doubt about that the export of leather sector of Pakistan would further be decreased drastically, which is already at bottom of line comparatively to previous years. President of Korangi Association of Trade & Industry (KATI) Sheikh Umer Rehan, has expressed concern over rise in petroleum prices and power tariff. Sheikh Umer Rehan said that rise in petroleum prices and power tariff would directly affect the cost of production and price hike for common people. He said that due to higher prices of diesel, transportation of raw material and finished goods would also become costlier and it will increase the cost of production for industry. He said that due to shortage of gas and higher prices of energy, industries were already facing great deal of trouble and many units have been out of production. Sheikh Umer Rehan mentioned that the recent rise in petrol prices and power tariff would also impact the daily life of common men drastically. He said that industry in the country was already lagging behind due to the higher cost of production and it's one of the biggest hurdle in the way of progress in exports sector. He said that conditions were already unbearable for the industry and any rise in the energy prices would prove a disaster. President of North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry (NKATI), Nasim Akhtar and Patron in Chief NKATI Capt Moiz Khan opposed the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) decision to increase power tariff for industries and refused to accept this decision. In an appeal to President of Pakistan Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Power Minister and Chairman NEPRA, they demanded that the increase in power tariff of K-Electric under the head of fuel adjustment charges should be cancelled immediately.
Source: Business Recorder
Appreciating a 33 per cent drop in the country’s trade deficit in the July-November period to $9.496 billion from $14.47 billion in the same period in the last fiscal, the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) recently urged for measures to step up industrialisation and boost exports as growth in exports has remained tepid during the period. In a recent statement, PTEA chairman Sohail Pasha said exports fell by 0.67 per cent in November over the preceding month while average rise in exports in the first five months of the current fiscal is less than 5 per cent, indicating that achieving the export target will again be toughest this year. For the first time in last 15 years, imports are decreasing but low export volumes are still the issue for the country’s economic growth. Lack of diversification of export destinations and products and high cost of doing business are among the key factors behind low exports, Pakistani media reports quoted Pasha as saying. Despite extreme crisis, the textile industry remained the most export-oriented sector of the economy in the last decade with its 60 per cent share in export revenues, he said, adding that stagnating textiles exports have been a consistent source of concern for the economy.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Bangladesh’s apparel exporters recently demanded 5 per cent tolerance in yarn count during the release of the item imported for export-oriented readymade garment (RMG) units and easing temporary bond transfer between factories in export processing zones (EPZs) and those outside. They also demanded tax waiver or reduction for importing racks for bonded warehouses. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Rubana Huq, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s acting president Mohammad Hatem and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association president Mohammad Ali Khokon and others met National Board of Revenue chairman Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan recently to discuss the issue, according to Bangladesh media reports. Exporters said that they had faced penalty and harassment during the release of imported yarn and fabric if minor deviation was found in count and composition of the items. Exporters demanded 5 per cent tolerance for cotton yarn count and 10 per cent for viscos during the examination by customs, saying minor deviation in yarn count and composition might occur due to weather and suppliers’ faults. They said approval for inter-bond transfer was required for the exporters to do sub-contract business with the EPZ factories. Getting approval for inter-bond transfer from customs bond commissionerate is a lengthy process, but exporters get limited time to export the products to the buyers, they said. Exporters demanded empowering the BGMEA to issue approval for inter-bond transfer between the factories in EPZs and outside EPZs to protect the interest of readymade garment sector. The present duty structure is high for the import of racking system and it would not be viable for the exporters to import the system with paying 58.60 per cent duty, they said. Apparel makers demanded tax waiver or reduced tax rate on import of racking system, saying that the sector could gain more export orders by introducing the system as rack-supported warehouses help preserve maximum products within the shortest spaces separately and locate them easily.
Source: Fibre2fashion
