The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 23 JAN, 2020

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INTERNATIONAL

India joins WEF reskilling initiative as founding member

India on Wednesday joined as a founding government member the World Economic Forum's Reskilling Revolution, an initiative to provide one billion people with better education, skills and jobs by 2030. The scheme aims to future-proof workers from technological change and help economies by providing new skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the WEF said. Founding governments include Brazil, France, India, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, UAE and the US. Business partners include PwC, Salesforce, ManpowerGroup, Infosys, LinkedIn, Coursera Inc. and The Adecco Group. "The best way to foster a more cohesive and inclusive society is to provide everybody with a decent job and income. Here in Davos, we are creating a public-private platform to give one billion people the skills they need in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. "The scale and urgency of this transformation calls for nothing short of a reskilling revolution," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum (WEF). To date, over 415 private sector companies have pledged more than 14.5 million career enhancement opportunities for American workers over the next five years. Initiatives like these show that these combined public-private efforts can and will achieve the one billion goal, the WEF said. LinkedIn will be a data partner for the Reskilling Revolution initiative. The WEF also released on Wednesday a report titled 'Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy'. It worked with LinkedIn, Coursera Inc and Burning Glass Technologies to map seven emerging professional clusters and 96 fastest-growing jobs within them. About the initiative, Ivanka Trump, assistant and advisor to US President Donald Trump, said the United States is a leading example of when the public and private sectors come together to prioritise workers and ensure them, their families and respective economies are prepared for the changing nature of work and the workplace. One billion lives will be changed by 2030 through this Reskilling Revolution and the Trump administration, through its Pledge to America's Workers, is excited to continue to serve as a catalyst for private-sector engagement worldwide, she said. Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said, "We are excited to partner with the World Economic Forum through the Reskilling Revolution initiative. "As availability of digital talent continues to be one of the greatest barriers for enterprises to transform, organizations need to nurture a culture that enables talent - across disciplines and skills - to benefit from a continuum of lifelong learning that prepares them for the future of work. We are keen to help drive the transformation," he said.

Source: Economic Times

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Govt yet to take call on RCEP meeting invitation

India has received the invitation to attend the meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade bloc on February 3-4 in Bali, about two months after the country opted out from the trade deal. The ASEAN Secretariat has invited India to attend the meeting to sort out its issues related to the proposed free trade deal. “India has received the invitation for the meeting. No decision has been taken on the issue,” said an official. In November last year, India opted out of the RCEP after negotiating the pact with 15 other Asia-Pacific countries for seven years due to lack of reciprocity on its key demands on services market access, safeguards for import surge and circumvention of origin rules because of tariff differentials. New Delhi was also not satisfied with the proposals to counter its burgeoning trade deficit with China, which was feared to rise after the pact came into effect. Officials said the commerce and industry ministry is yet to take a call on attending the meeting and has asked external affairs ministry to decide if New Delhi should participate. External affairs minister S Jaishankar had last week said at the Raisina Dialogue that India had not closed its doors on the RCEP and would carry out a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate its merit. He said New Delhi would evaluate the RCEP on the basis of economic and trade merits. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that RCEP had become nothing but an India-China FTA, which nobody wants. To opt out of it was a “bold decision as for the first time it reflected the resolve of the government that diplomacy will not prevail over trade”. Japan had reached out to New Delhi immediately after India‟s exit to help address its concerns including those on trade deficit.

Source: Economic Times

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Need to have fairer, more equitable terms in trade relations: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said India is working on ways to have fairer and more equitable terms in its trade relationships with various countries. Speaking here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020, the commerce and industry minister also called for greater cooperation among various nations to realise the huge growth prospects in the Indian Ocean region and also for tackling the important issue of climate change. Goyal said the RCEP in its present form was clearly an unworkable agreement. "Any pact needs to take into account several factors. India is grappling with a huge trade deficit, particularly with China and many other nations in the region," he said. For the first time, India demonstrated that trade cannot be dictated by diplomacy, Goyal said, referring to India's decision to pull out of the RCEP. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has had to factor in several diversities among partners, but India has serious concerns about climate change and is seeking greater cooperation on fair terms, he asserted. Goyal was speaking at a Strategic Outlook session on 'The Indian Ocean Rim'. "We are like a pivot for the Indian Ocean and we believe this region has huge potential. At the same time, India is very much concerned about the issue of climate change. "Going forward, the entire grouping around the Indian Ocean will play a very important role, while keeping in mind fair and equitable distribution. India also expects greater cooperation among various nations on climate change," he said. Goyal further said, "We in India are also working on how to put in place more equitable terms in our trade relations with various countries." The Indian Ocean Rim sees two-thirds of the world's oil shipments pass through its waters and is home to half of the world's container ships that support 2.7 billion people. The panellists discussed what are the strategic priorities for the Indian Ocean Rim in 2020, including advancing regional cooperation, strengthening the blue economy and mitigating climate change. The panellists included Samir Saran, President, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer DP World Limited; Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance; Leader of the Government in the Senate of Australia; and Njoki Njehu, Director, Daughters of Mumbi Global Resource Center, Kenya.

Source: Economic Times

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Maintaining database: National Business Register on anvil

India will come out with a National Statistical Business Register that will have data on all business enterprises in the country collated based on the results of the ongoing seventh economic census, officials familiar with the development said. The register will have a district-wise list of all business enterprises and establishments engaged in production or distribution of goods or services, and it will be updated regularly using data from Goods and Services Tax Network, databases of Employees‘ State Insurance Corporation, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, and those with the corporate affairs ministry, they said. ―The census will provide a framework for dynamic register which can be updated using the data from other departments including GSTN, said anofficial in the know of the development. The data collected is expected to help improve the quality of national accounts and provide input for the proposed annual survey of services. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) wants to put in place such a register to strengthen the assessment of economic activity by digitising enterprises‘ data. The register will have details such as the name of an enterprise, its location, activities, type of ownership, number of workers and PAN/TAN. The ministry had earlier reached out to the finance ministry to share GST data such as quarterly tax collections and information on tax paying units in order to make the national accounts robust.

ROBUST SERVICES DATA

The government also expects the data to help it with the proposed Annual Survey of Services for a more elaborate coverage of the services sector. As per India‘s first chief statistician Pronab Sen, the proposed services survey will draw from two sources—data from GSTN and a business register. All businesses with an annual turnover of over Rs 40 lakh have to register under GSTN. For North East and Jammu and Kashmir, the threshold is lower at Rs 20 lakh. ―This is because unlike the Annual Survey of Industries, services have a dynamic frame, Sen said. ―These two datasets will then feed into the GDP estimates. He said data on name, address and type of business from GSTN can be used in the planned survey. Many states have begun the process of preparing their own business register. For instance, Rajasthan has been successful in developing business register with unique Business Registration Number (BRN), thereby integrating business establishments in that state. As per Sen, the government‘s idea to conduct the economic census every three years is not wise because it is costly and requires deployment of a huge number of people. ―With school teachers not permitted to conduct the survey, all state government functionaries are being involved and that is a challenge, he said.

Source: Economic Times

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Despite recovery in exports to US, India's textile exports decline 8%

Delay in policy support blocks working capital, promoters increase stake in companies on revival hopes. Despite recovery in shipments to the US, the country‟s textile and apparel exports fell by 8 per cent in the first eight months (April-November) of the current fiscal year, with contractions in those to the European Union (EU) and West Asia. On the other hand, textile and apparel imports in the period jumped 15 per cent, compared to the previous year. Data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Insustry showed India‟s exports at $21.7 billion (Rs 1.54 trillion) for the period, down over 8 per cent from $23.6 billion in the corresponding period last year. The imports stood at $5.5 billion this year versus $4.6 billion last year. “India‟s export of textiles and clothing were severely affected by global situations like the trade conflict of the US with China, the EU‟s struggle with Brexit, growing geopolitical tensions in Middle East (West Asia) and removal of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits to India by the US,” said K V Srinivasan, chairman, Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (Texprocil). Under the GSP, developed countries grant import duty concessions, in addition to prioritising purchase of textile and apparel products from some countries. India‟s apparel export to the US rose 6 per cent to $2.7 billion in April-November, compared to $2.6 billion in the same period last year. Rahul Mehta, chief mentor of the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India, said: “The delay in announcement of the new scheme, Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products, is set to result in a further 3-4 per cent contraction in apparel exports. Many textile players signed export contracts on expectations of continuation in the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), and Remission of State Levies scheme. The delay in announcement has blocked working capital of exporters.” Srinivasan said: “Cotton yarn bears the same incidence of state and central levies, similar to made-ups and garments. Therefore, cotton yarn should be covered under the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies Scheme and MEIS schemes, and also under the 3 per cent Interest Equalisation scheme.” With investor sentiment weak in the entire textile sector, promoters have started increasing stakes in their companies, to take advantage of the cheaper valuations. Arvind and AYM Syntex are recent examples. The former's promoters increased their holding by 1.67 percentage points to 44.75 per cent in the December quarter, from the June quarter. AYM Syntex's promoters increased their holding by 2.5 percentage points to 72.5 per cent in the December quarter, from end-June. Also, the promoters of Filatex India increased their stake in the company by 2.01 percentage points over two quarters to 59.73 per cent now.

Source: Business Standard

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Too small for own code, 'others' 20% of imports

When policymakers look for items where there is an import surge, they often overlook products such as some of the power adapters used in mobile phones or China glass protector used for mobile accessories. While these may not be top of mind items when electronics, steel or chemicals are seen to be entering India in large quantities, the little talked about items don‘t even show up easily on the import charts as they are classified in the ―others category. For instance, the import of several types of antenna used by the telecom sector, which are part of the ―others‖ segment, jumped 30% to $5.3 billion in 2018-19. Similarly, there was a 37% rise in the other type of paper, including unsorted waste and scrap, which together added up to $1.3 bill. There is a section which believes the data is not alarming. Until recently, even mobile phones were part of ―others‖, an officer pointed out. But if you add up others‘categories across product segments, they together top the $100 billion mark, almost 20% of India‘s imports during 2018-19.

DGFT threatens licensing of ‘other item’ imports

Collectively others are over a quarter of the non-oil imports. A bulk of the items relates to chemicals, steel and machinery segments, but there are those which are related to telecom and IT as well, which the government is now threatening to block, unless the importers get specific product codes so that they can be tracked better. ―If one-third or one-fourth of the products are categorised as others, as a nation we can ‘t plan without having data on what is being imported, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told TOI. Last week, Goyal had cautioned that like Germany, the government may restrict the import of any product which goes in the others category. Following up on the minister ‘s announcement, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a public notice a few days ago warning importers that the government may shift ―other items into the licensed category instead of the free list that they are currently on. ―If members of trade and industry are of the view that the existing HS codes are not sufficient to cover the goods that they are importing, they should immediately suggest appropriate HS codes. the agency said. Officials said that issuing the codes is not going to take time.

Source: Times of India

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Govt staggers GSTR filing deadline to ease system load

However, experts said that while excess load is a problem on the last day of filing, when the system shows that it‘s busy preventing return-filing, is only a part of the problem. After taxpayers complained of technical glitch in filing the monthly summary GST returns (GSTR3B), the government on Wednesday said it would allow staggered filing on the basis of turnover and location to ease the load on the system which is witnessed closer to the filing deadline on 20th of every month. For about 8 lakh taxpayers with turnover over Rs 5 crore, the last date of filing would remain the same. For those below the turnover threshold, they have been further divided into two groups of 46 and 49 lakh taxpayers belonging to two sets of states and UTs whose deadline will now be 22nd and 24th of every month, respectively. However, experts said that while excess load is a problem on the last day of filing, when the system shows that it‘s busy preventing return-filing, is only a part of the problem. There are other structural issues as pointed out by a CAG report tabled in Parliament earlier this year. ―These design problems include time lag in payments to appear, multiple OTPs are sent for a single filing, data takes time to reflect, preview of returns show wrong numbers, data uploaded using ASP/GSP takes additional time to reflect, system frequently log out the user, Rajat Mohan, senior partner at AMRG & Associates, said. The CAG report had said: ―Inadequacies in the system show that there was a failure in not just system design, but its testing by GSTN and acceptance by the tax departments before a pan-India rollout. As such, the executive who has endorsed the system as developed is equally accountable for the problems being faced. The first category of 46 lakh taxpayers would be from J&K, Ladakh, Himachal, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. The second set of 49 lakh assessees would be from Chhattisgarh, MP, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. For further improving the performance of GSTN filing portal on a permanent basis, several measures are being worked out with Infosys and will be in place by April this year,‖ the government said in a statement.

Source: Financial Express

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BRICS countries need to deepen innovation ties: Report

Cooperation on developing high-end technologies shall become an important point of the agenda for BRICS countries during Russia‟s presidency, says a report of Zyfra Company, a digital solutions vendor in the growing market of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). “BRICS countries need to promote networking between chambers of commerce and industry, business councils, professional associations and unions, intensify collaboration between business entities through joint projects, trade fairs and exhibitions in the hi-tech sector,” said Igor Bogachev, CEO of Zyfra. According to the report, the countries shall consider the opportunities to jointly implement digital solutions for mining industry, machinery, oil and gas and metallurgy, as well as share their best practices, such as implementation of robotic mining equipment and realtime machine monitoring and manufacturing data collection systems. “We have not yet learned how to create the prerequisites for medium-sized companies and small business to learn about each other. This is a task that we need to resolve together. Digitalization is not a dialogue between major companies, but rather a dialogue between major companies and medium-sized and small ones. What small companies are creating in terms of IIoT and AI has not yet been created by big ones – it has not been created by anyone, for that matter,” added Bogachev. On January 1, Moscow took over the one-year chairmanship of the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Russia plans to carry out about 150 activities at various levels during its chairmanship, which will culminate in July, when St. Petersburg will host the next BRICS summit. The five countries‟ leaders will hold another meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in November. “Alongside, innovation companies from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa shall consider the meeting on the sidelines of the Business Twenty (B20), which is the official G20 dialogue with the business community,” he said. According to procedure, each BRICS member takes over the group‟s chairmanship for a year. Russia last chaired BRICS in 2015, when a summit took place in Ufa. Russia also presided over the group back in 2009, before BRIC turned into BRICS following South Africa‟s accession. The Zyfra Report has analyzed scientific projects and commercial rollouts in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning conducted by research organizations and companies from 27 countries. The largest number of publications are in the USA (32%), China (12%) and Germany (10%). India has also made it to the top 10 countries (5%). Typically, Machine Learning techniques have been used in discrete manufacturing (44%), in the process industry (22%) and in the electric power industry (11%). A further 23% of projects belong to the industries where AI applications are at early stages of development. “The main barrier for commercial projects in BRICS countries is a lack or absence of data which correctly describes undergoing process. Successful results are mainly achieved by interdisciplinary groups consisting of data scientists, IT specialists and industry experts,” said Igor Bogachev. BRICS countries have been also called upon to organize hackathons to solve problems linked to the AI applications, as well as to build bridges with universities and the academic community in general to solve more fundamental problems in the area of Artificial Intelligence and bring the subsequent results into commercial use. “We believe that there is a huge opportunity for significant breakthroughs in the IIoT and AI market for the companies from BRICS countries. There is still no obvious leader in that market, the market is just forming. Therefore, young companies in this area have a chance to take a prominent place,” he added.

Source: Economic Times

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Trade Implications of the US-China trade deal on India

The deal is another blow to already weakening multilateral trading system under the WTO. With bilateral quid-pro-quo deals, US President Donald Trump is sinking the WTO dispute settlement mechanism further. These trends should be worrying for New Delhi. For almost two years, the global economic system has been under stress due to trade tensions between China and the United States. Out of about $20 trillion world merchandise trade in 2018, these two giants contributed about $9 trillion. As per the US Department of Commerce, total goods and services trade only between US and China was about $740 billion in 2018. So, confrontation between them created serious uncertainties for the global trade regime as well as for the global economy. Now any truce between them, even if limited, is a relief for the markets. After many months of negotiations, a 96-page document with eight chapters as „phase 1‟ of the agreement has been signed. It is agreed that compared to 2017 figures, China will buy an additional $200 billion of US goods and services over the next two years: $80 billion manufacturing goods (including aircraft, vehicles, iron and steel, pharmaceuticals and, optical and medical instruments); about $50 billion energy products ( LNG, coal and crude oil); about $40 billion services (financial services and insurance, tourism); and about $30 billion agricultural goods (oilseeds, meat, cereals, cotton, seafood etc). Different chapters of the agreement also deal with intellectual property, technology transfer, financial services, macroeconomic policies and exchange rate matters. Some of these commitments were already made at the G20 and WTO summits. In exchange, the US will also reduce tariffs for $120 billion-worth of Chinese products from 15 per cent to 7.5 per cent. This is obviously a limited deal than what both were trying to achieve. There are still issues concerning Chinese industrial subsidies to its State-owned companies; Huewei‟s 5G services as well as enforcement and interpretation. Still, there are remaining high tariffs on many items from both sides. Overall, however, the deal provides an assurance to markets that at least things will not become worse in the coming months. The US-China truce along improved Brexit certainty will provide some stability to global markets. The agreement, however, is another blow to already weakening multilateral trading system under the WTO. With bilateral quid-pro-quo deals, President Donald Trump is sinking the WTO dispute settlement mechanism further. These trends should be worrying for New Delhi as India trades with its major partners viz China, the EU and the US through WTO rules. Last year, out of a total $840 billion Indian goods trade; China, the EU and the US accounted for about $300 billion. The FTA negotiations with the EU are struck since 2013. The RCEP seems history. Any major FTA with the US is also unlikely to happen any time soon. The limited deal also shows that with sustained efforts, some concessions can be gained from China. As India also has a huge trade deficit of more than $50 billion with China, it has to get its acts together for negotiating a similar deal with Beijing. A high-level economic and trade dialogue mechanism was established during the informal meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chennai last year. So far little is known about progress made by this mechanism. Similarly, India is also negotiating with the US. Some of our products have already lost the GSP advantage. It is becoming clear that these deals are dependent not only on simple trade dynamics but also on strategic positions taken by India on Indo-Pacific and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Free from a China deal, Trump may now target India to „fix‟ another trade issue. Already reports indicate that some US-India „mini trade deal‟ focusing on key interests from both sides is possible during Trump‟s India visit in the coming weeks. Both the US and China are India‟s key trade partners. We need to study the list of items agreed between the US and China carefully. Some of the products which China has promised to buy more from the US viz. meat, fish, cotton, iron and steel etc. might affect our own exports to China. At this stage, problems for India Inc. are complex. It is not just resolving the issue of external demand. There are also serious supply side constraints related to capital, technology, infrastructure and global value chains. With slowing economy and cautious approach to global integration, competitive scaling of production of many products may become a serious issue. As India was somewhat insulated from the consequences of US-China trade war, it will also have limited capacity to take advantage from the fall in trade tensions and possible increase in global growth. Gulshan Sachdeva is Jean Monnet Chair and Chairperson, Centre for European Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Source: Money Control

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India Ratings pegs FY21 GDP at 5.5%, warns of downside risks

Ratings agency India Ratings and Research has pegged India ‘s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 2020-21 at 5.5%, above the 5% growth that India‘s statistics office expects for 2019-20. ―India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expects gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 5.5% year-on-year in FY21, however, the downside risks persist, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday. The slowdown, in the agency ‘s view, is a combination of several factors. These are an abrupt and significant fall in lending by non-banking financial companies close on the heels of a slowdown in bank lending, reduced income growth of households coupled with a fall in savings and higher leverage, and inability of the dispute resolution/judicial systems to quickly unlock the stuck capital.

―Although some improvement in FY21 is expected, these risks are going to persist, As a result, the Indian economy is stuck in a phase of low consumption as well as low investment demand. It expects the shortfall in the tax plus non-tax revenue to result in the fiscal deficit slipping to 3.6% of GDP (budgeted 3.3%) in FY20, even after accounting for the surplus transferred by the RBI. Ind-Ra believes a strong policy push coupled with some heavy lifting (even if this requires using the escape clause as suggested by the FRBM Review Committee headed by N K Singh) by the government is required to revive the domestic demand cycle and catapult the economy back into a high growth phase. The agency expects retail and wholesale inflation to average 3.9% and 1.3%, respectively, in FY21 (FY20: 4.4% and 1.4%). Food and crude oil prices are the key drivers of inflation in India. External environment continues to be challenging for exports due to the trade friction and protectionist policy pursued by many developed economies. ―As a result, India‘s exports of goods and services are likely to witness negative growth of 2% in FY20, India Ratings said.

Source: Economic Times

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Budget we need: Business as usual has led to current economic slump. Try pro-business and pro-reform instead

Our ministers like to underline how India is the world‘s ―fastest growing economy – the more fastidious among them might qualify that as the world‘s ―fastest growing major economy – perhaps long after even the latter ceased to be true. IMF has made a novel observation that should put things in perspective – India is a drag on the global economy. A year ago, IMF expected India to grow at 7.5% in 2019; now the forecast has been cut to 4.8%. The same trend holds for 2020 and 2021. This is the backdrop in which finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her second Budget in a few days. Clearly, complacency isn‘t warranted and business as usual won‘t do. The time for incremental reforms is over – India is in dire need of a bold new economic vision. For sure, following Sitharaman‘s first, lacklustre Budget the government did respond to the ongoing economic slump with a few measures, notably by offering companies an opportunity to voluntarily shift to a cleaner tax architecture of lower rates and no exemptions. However many more such steps are needed, relating to the long pending tasks of structural reform. The tangible changes which can be folded into the Budget pertain to taxation. The first step to a corporate tax regime that is comparable with peers in emerging markets has just been taken. This has to be extended by similar reforms in personal taxation. The government has the benefit of a detailed blueprint on comprehensive tax reforms prepared by experts, and it should be actualised through a cogent package. The reform should necessarily encompass tax administration, which has currently acquired an unsavoury reputation for heavy handedness. On the indirect tax side, import tariffs need reforms. Over the last three years India has reversed its policy of unilateral tariff reductions to one favouring protectionism. Make in India has been firmly nudged in the direction of the discredited import substitution model. Even the recent move to reduce the quota under duty free purchase of liquor is a petty form of protectionism for domestic manufacturers. It is instructive to note that India‘s notable alcohol exports depend on some imported ingredients – this pattern holds across all goods and services. The return of protectionism will undermine export competitiveness. It needs to be reversed immediately as there are incipient signs of a more benign environment for global trade. Government must seize the opportunity.

Source: Times of India

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To build strong ecosystem, govt sets up National Startup Advisory Council

The Council will suggest measures to foster a culture of innovation among students and others, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement. The government on Tuesday said it has set up a National Startup Advisory Council to advise the Centre on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the country. The Council will suggest measures to foster a culture of innovation among students and others, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement. It will also suggest measures to facilitate public organisations to assimilate innovation, promote creation, protection and commercialisation of intellectual property rights, make it easier to start, operate, grow and exit businesses by reducing regulatory compliances and costs, it said. Further, the ministry said the Council will suggest ways to promote ease of access to capital for start-ups, incentivise domestic capital for investments, mobilise global capital for investments, and keep control of start-ups with original promoters. The Council, which will be chaired by the commerce minister, will consist of non-official members to be nominated by the Centre, founders of successful start-ups, veterans who have grown and scaled companies in India, persons capable to represent interests of investors into start-ups. Besides, it will have persons capable of representing interests of incubators and accelerators and representatives of associations of stakeholders of start-ups and representatives of industry associations. The term of the non-official members will be for a period of two years. The ministry added that the nominees of the ministries, departments and organisations concerned not below the rank of joint secretary will be ex-officio members. "The government has notified the structure of the Council to advise the government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the country to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large-scale employment opportunities," it said. The individual names will be notified later.

Source: Business Standard

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Compression garments, a potential product for Tiruppur garment manufacturers

The AIC-NIFT TEA Incubation Centre for Textiles and Apparels is ready to support entrepreneurs making compression garments and socks using sustainable material. Garment manufacturers in Tiruppur who make socks, may start looking at making compression garments, which are sports and medical textile products. The AIC-NIFT TEA Incubation Centre for Textiles and Apparels, set up with support from the Union Government to promote innovation, is ready to support entrepreneurs in making compression garments and socks, using sustainable materials. S. Periasamy, chief executive officer for the Centre, said a plant to produce compression socks can be set up with an investment of ₹1.5 crore. The market is huge, as compression socks are used by patients who have undergone surgeries and those suffering from varicose veins. Sport compressive garments are much in demand too. “We want to create awareness about this product and introduce it in the Tiruppur cluster. If an entrepreneur comes forward we can try to arrange for seed funds also,” he said. On Tuesday, the Centre organised an awareness meeting regarding compression garments. The Incubation Centre has 24 incubatees, and one of them is working on banana fibres. The fibre from banana plant waste can be blended with cotton to make a sustainable fibre. The yarn from this can be used to make the compression garments without compromising on the properties of the product. The Centre will work on it, he said. At present, a substantial volume of compression garments are imported into the country. The prices are high and the sizes cannot be customised according to Indian needs. If the products are made by domestic manufacturers, there is scope for customisation and it will boost demand. “We need to create awareness among the industries and support them to start making the products,” Mr. Periasamy said. One of the aims of the AIC- NIFT TEA Incubation Centre is introducing new products in the Tiruppur cluster and creating larger market opportunities for the industry in Tiruppur. Compression garments are one such product that the cluster can focus on, he said.

Source: The Hindu

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View: What's the biggest likely risk to Modi's $5 trillion GDP goal?

In fiscal 2020, India‘s economy grew 5% in real terms – the slowest in 11 years. In nominal terms, the size of the GDP is almost $3 trillion – or $2 trillion short of the touted goal. For perspective, it took us nearly a decade to go from about $1 trillion to $3 trillion. This time, the window is less than four fiscals. That means India will have to more than double its current growth rate in these years, to about 10% per year in real terms, with some inflation and stable exchange rate. Monetary and fiscal policies can only bring about a short-term revival in the economy through a demand boost. But to increase the ‗trend‘ or ‗potential‘ growth rate, would require a much bigger reforms push and an improvement in global trade. Fiscal pressures have intensified already, limiting the government‘s ability to stimulate growth. And continuing financial sector woes is delaying a pick-up. If that weren‘t enough, the ongoing global slowdown is also a material constraint. There is little the Union Budget for fiscal 2020-21 can do to address the latter two. On the fiscal side, though, anything can be on the table. So far, monetary policy has almost single-handedly attempted to revive growth but with moderate success as transmission of interest rate cuts to the real economy remains weak. This has put the onus on fiscal policy to trigger short-term growth. As things stand, there appears neither room to spend extravagantly nor the possibility of drastically reducing tax rates. Government borrowings have already surged in recent years keeping bond yields high. Because these yields act as a benchmark, other interest rates in the economy, too, have risen or stayed high despite the recent monetary easing. Any further rise in borrowings will, therefore, put more pressure on yields and crowd out private sector borrowing. Yet, if the goal is to kick-start growth, then breaching the fiscal deficit temporarily to spur consumption is an option. But such moves in the past have been unsustainable and raised domestic macro vulnerability. To avoid a repeat, the government should use additional fiscal space, if any, to push capex or spend in sectors where the income multipliers are higher. But this will not immediately yield a growth surge. The government in the budget will need to spur consumption by augmenting incomes in the rural areas where the propensity to spend is higher. The stepping up of NREGA and rural construction works is one way to do so. Also, improving the effectiveness of ongoing schemes and spends under the PM Kisan scheme to enhance its reach is the other option available to the Budget when the fiscal hands are tied. Problem is, this may push the $5 trillion goal further. As for the financial sector, stress has spread from banks to non-banks, and credit growth has declined sharply. This is due to weak credit demand, shortage of liquidity with some lenders, and risk aversion. Banks, for instance, are parking a larger proportion of their loanable funds in government securities which are risk free and are also giving higher yields. The slowdown in credit growth, therefore, reflects both macroeconomic challenges (which have constrained loan demand) and tighter loan supply by banks. The stress among non-banks is also hurting credit growth. Given the high penetration of non-banks in certain household-consumption segments, the stress is constraining demand further. The Budget can do little to address this. To be sure, the financial sector clean-up bodes well for the long term. But in the short-term, the stress feeds into real sector and slows growth. There‘s some way to go before things improve materially. The kind of clean-up initiated in the financial system has not been attempted in India earlier, and entails radical improvement in transparency (through restructuring of bad loans) and focus on improving credit culture. The short-term cost of such a clean-up is slower growth. The global economy is confronting many uncertainties and risks – trade and geopolitical tensions being the biggest. This has weighed on consumption and investment demand globally, too, causing growth to slip. Though the US-China trade tensions have not directly hurt India, indirect consequences have been significant. Typically, in periods of high global economic and trade growth, India has benefited through its exports sector. During the mid-2000s, when global growth was ~5% and trade growth ~7% per year, India‘s exports grew about 24-26% on average. After the global financial crisis, when many countries stimulated demand, economies and trade grew rapidly, lifting India‘s boat, too. Global growth has slowed to 3% in calendar 2019, the slowest since the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. Ditto trade growth. Importantly, prospects for next five years look no better than the last five, with growth set to average 3.5%. So the flank of exports is unlikely to deliver unless India improves its competitiveness drastically. The upshot? The path to $5 trillion will be gradual, and three things have to happen: growth momentum picks up and sustains; there is a material revival in consumption; and, private sector investment cycle kickstarts, backed by reforms. A blockbuster Budget and daring follow-throughs can be the perfect start for this.

Source: Economic Times

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Rising global trade of artificial staple fibres

The global trade value of the artificial staple fibres has shown a sharp growth in the recent years. Total trade has moved up by 8.85 per cent in 2018 over the previous year, according to the data from TexPro. The global trade of artificial staple fibres which was $55.37 million in 2017, triggered to $60.28 million in the very next year. The total trade of artificial staple fibres is anticipated to boost to $70.66 million in 2021 with a CAGR of 5.44 per cent from 2018, according to Fibre2Fashion's market analysis tool TexPro. The global export of artificial staple fibres was $27.91 million in 2016, which was increased by 18.49 per cent to $33.07 million in 2018. Total exports increased by 13.19 per cent in 2018 over the previous year and is expected to reach $42.65 million in 2021 with a CAGR of 8.85 per cent from 2018. The global import of artificial staple fibres was $26.69 million in 2016, which was climbed up by 1.94 per cent to $27.21 million in 2018. Total imports moved up by 4.01 per cent in 2018 over the previous year and is expected to upswing by 2.93 per cent to $28.01 million in 2021 from 2018. China ($8.73 million), Germany ($6.16 million), Austria ($4.38 million), France ($3.77 million) and Italy ($3.47 million) were the key exporters of artificial staple fibres across the globe in 2018, together comprising 80.18 per cent of total export. These were followed by Spain ($2.55 million), Turkey ($1.70 million), US ($0.52 million) and Japan ($0.47 million). From 2013 to 2018, the most notable rate of growth in terms of export, amongst the main exporting countries, was attained by Italy (191.18 per cent) and France (186.53 per cent). Italy ($5.57 million), Honduras ($2.65 million), Czech Republic ($2.46 million), China ($2.39 million) and Bulgaria ($1.80 million) were the key importers of artificial staple fibres across the globe in 2018, together comprising 54.62 per cent of total import. These were distantly followed by Belgium ($1.46 million), Spain ($1.24 million), South Africa ($1.09 million) and Portugal ($0.93 million). From 2013 to 2018, the most notable rate of growth in terms of import, amongst the main importing countries, was attained by the Czech Republic (133.18 per cent), Italy (89.12 per cent) and Bulgaria (145.16 per cent).

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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Spotlight: Chinese textile companies seeking U.S. market expansion

Many Chinese textiles companies attach great importance to technology and innovation in order to be more competitive on the global market. Chinese textile companies have been actively exploring and expanding into the U.S. market through more innovation, upgraded services and bigger global footprints, according to industry insiders. "We've been investing 7 percent of our annual revenue in our research and development efforts since 2015," said Jiang Nan, executive director and general manager of RomRol Outdoor, a Jiangsu Province-based company committed to developing functional fabric and clothing to serve mostly outdoor brands and brands with fashion outdoor collections. At the just-concluded China Textile and Apparel Trade Show in New York City, RomRol Outdoor presented attendees, namely retailers, designers and brands, a catwalk show highlighting its various cutting-edge technologies. Its light-absorbing fabric and temperature sensor fabric proved to be most eye-catching. RomRol Outdoor is only one of the many Chinese companies that emphasize technology and innovation in order to be more competitive on the global market. "We are still a decade behind our counterparts in countries like Germany and Japan, but that also means we have huge potential for growth," said Jiang. He explained that Chinese companies used to only eye on the already large domestic market, but as the domestic market becomes saturated and communication with international partners becomes ever closer, they are now more eager to compete on the global stage and expand their international market share. The show was held in parallel with the Home Textiles Sourcing, Apparel Sourcing USA, and the Texworld USA expos, all at the Javits Center earlier this week and bringing together more than 300 exhibitors from 17 countries and regions around the world. More than half of the exhibitors came from China, and they produce cotton, functional fabrics, knits, faux fur, embroidery, lace, and more. Headquartered in China's southeastern Xiamen city, the brand Grit & Zest established a branch in the United States in 2012. Specializing in swim, active, athleisure and casual wears, the company is one of the early ones to have presence in the United States in order to communicate with customers more smoothly and respond to their requests more quickly. Mary Chua, president of Grit & Zest's U.S. company, said that with comparative advantages of labor resources and competitive prices, it used to be easy to sell products to the U.S. market. "But not anymore," said Chua, adding that starting from 2015, the company has been offering more value-added products when doing business with its customers. The brand offers design help and expert supervision from sample cycle to production. Its services include collection development, multi-language tech-packs, textile design, print design, graphic design, fabric and trim sourcing, testing, hardware design, label or packaging design, and garment fitting checks. Chua said the company's competitive advantage lies exactly in its ability to offer the whole package. In addition, if a startup only has a design concept for its clothing line but does not know where to start, Grit & Zest can also help. "We have to adapt and transform, following the trend closely," said Chua. An increasing number of Chinese companies are also expanding their global footprints to show their U.S. customers that they are flexible and have enough capacity. Xu Yan, assistant general manager of Jiangsu Guotai Huasheng Industrial Co., Ltd., said she has established quite a few partnerships with manufacturers in southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, and already has three plants of their own in Myanmar. "It all started in the past two to three years when we realized we had to look for alternative manufacturing bases other than China," said Xu. Chinese companies turn to southeast Asian countries or even African countries to meet the needs of their customers, and to move some of their production capacity outside of China so that mid-to-high-end products can still be manufactured in China, industry insiders said. They added that now Chinese companies are truly competing on the global stage as countries like Vietnam have also entered the arena, while those that are already there for a long time such as Japan are still striving to move forward. "That's a challenge we have to face," Xu said.

Source:  Xinhua

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Textile cooperation framework under CPEC agreed

Pakistani and Chinese experts on Wednesday agreed to develop a textile cooperation framework under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to enhance readymade garments, man-made fiber and textile skill training. Qasim Raza Khan, executive director general, Board of Investment (BOI) said the CPEC had now entered into the pragmatic phase of Industrial cooperation, and it was the right time to take Pakistan forward on the path of industrialisation. ―It has been agreed that the Chinese side will continue to provide intellectual and technical support to accelerate Pakistan‘s priority sectors especially through the nine SEZs of Pakistan under CPEC wherein three SEZs have been prioritised and are now at an advanced stage of development,‖ Khan said at a one-day workshop organized by the BOI to deliberate on a diagnostic study on Pakistan‘s textile sector, conducted by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China and China International Engineering Consulting Corporation (CIECC). The textile diagnostic report provided the Chinese viewpoints on the potentials and barriers of large-scale textile mills in Pakistan. The report was also one of the deliverables of the 9th JCC held in 2019 and is a precursor to a more detailed work on the textile sector of Pakistan. Khan said he is confident that through this cooperation, many Chinese companies would reap benefits of Pakistan‘s competitive advantages. Asim Ayub, project director of the Project Management Unit (PMU) BoI said the trade potential between the two neighboring countries had to be transformed into investment potential. He specified three main areas of cooperation where Chinese could provide support to Pakistan with the objective of developing a textile cooperation framework. These areas include readymade garments, man-made fiber and textile skill training. Executive Director APTMA, Sattar Shahid was of the view that for any meaningful investment to be made, there was a need to fix the business climate i.e. effective contract enforcements. He proposed the need for an efficient and workable bankruptcy law, besides the tariff sector of Pakistan needed to be revisited. Chairman PRAGMEA, Shaikh Mohammad Shafiq was of the perspective that large scale units of Pakistan were only 20 percent of the total while SMEs comprised of nearly 80 percent. ―Majority of the concessional tariff lines involved in CPFTA-II was related to the textile sector which held a huge opportunity for Pakistan, he added―There exists a great potential for cooperation in the value-added textile section and artificial fiber area by gaining technical expertise from the Chinese side.‖ The author of the Diagnostic study, Dr. Du Zhen Li, Deputy Director General of CIECC and the focal person on Joint Working Group (JWG) – Industrial cooperation (IC) from Chinese side, joined the workshop through a Videocon and shared that the Textile sector of Pakistan is chosen for the study based on its significance as an important industry, prioritized by the government of Pakistan. Further, the Chinese Business community needed more information to understand the Textile industry of Pakistan in the backdrop of CPEC.

Source: The News

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FTA-II with China to help reduce trade imbalance: Wang Jian

Commercial and Business Counselor of the Chinese Embassy Wang Jian said that second phase of Free Trade Agreement with China will be helpful in reducing the trade imbalance between Pakistan and China. He was addressing the seminar on second phase of China Pakistan Free Trade Agreement organized by the ministry of commerce and textile in collaboration with Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. Wang said that FTA-II will open the new ways of economic collaboration between the two countries and further strengthen the economic ties between the two friendly countries. He also said that FTA-II will be beneficial for both the countries. President Lahore Chamber of Commerce Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that as a result of FTA-II, China will extend duty-free access to Pakistan on 313 items. The agreement will help boost the exports of the country besides increasing foreign exchange, he added. 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, home appliances etc. Dr Muhammad Hamid Ali, Joint Secretary Ministry of Commerce, gave a detailed presentation covering almost all relevant product areas and other aspects of the FTA. He enlightened the audience about benefits which would be accrued out of this arrangement. He answered the questions raised by the audiences to their satisfaction. Member National Tariff Commission Anjum Asad Amin while giving briefing about safeguard measures said that the government of Pakistan will monitor the data of import and export through a system.

Source: Business Recorder

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Yarn Expo Spring to display new functional yarns in market

Yarn Expo Spring trade fair will display latest functional yarns that are in constant market demand from March 11-13, 2020, at the National Exhibition and Convention centre, in Shanghai. Yarn Expo is Asia‟s comprehensive yarn and fibre business platform. The show helps overseas buyers to gain access to leading domestic suppliers in the industry. With the advancement of technology, functional yarns have been developed and used in textile production to enhance the functionality and performance of sportswear, outdoor wear and even everyday clothing. From thermo regulating, moisture absorbing and flame resistant properties to antibacterial, antistatic and more, these innovative features offered by functional yarns add value to textile products as more and more manufacturers focus on customisation according to consumers‟ needs. By integrating functionality directly into the yarns, textile products become highly durable, which increasestheir sustainability as well. Functional products help exhibitors stand out in the market and reach new clients from around the world at Yarn Expo, which saw over 28,000 buyers from 87 countries and regions last spring. This year, there will be new exhibitors from Belarus who are attracted to join Yarn Expo Spring for the first time to showcase their quality acrylic fibres, nylon yarns, polyester fibres, industrial yarns and more, according to a press release on the show. “We have observed buyers with a higher demand for quality products, especially products with certifications. This makes our product more competitive and more ready to sell to buyers. After successfully establishing real cooperation with a few buyers last time, we decided to return. We target international markets and we are glad to meet visitors from Turkey, India, Belgium and other European countries. Exhibiting at Yarn Expo is essential for our business because we can reach out to new clients here,” Guo Biao, general manager of Hai Thien from Vietnam said. Everest Textile from Taiwan will also be displaying its products at the show. Everest Textile‟s unique yarn processing technology creates moisture absorbing and quick drying stretch fibre that is supplied to renowned brands such as Adidas, Nike, Puma, Patagonia, Spyder, The North Face, and more. “We would like to take this opportunity to better explore the China market and we have continuously seen clients from China, Southeast Asia, and the US coming to our booth to enquire. The fair has impressed me a lot with its scale and organisation. The results have exceeded our expectations and we will be back next year. Yarn Expo creates a collaborative global networking place to share ideas, experience, expertise and resources,” Steven Shen, director of textured yarn department of Everest Textile said. Korean supplier HJLite will display reflective yarns for enhancing the safety and functionality of garments

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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Asean textile industry reps eye seamless export trade

Members of the Asean Federation of Textile Industries (Aftex) gathered in Vientiane for two days to hear reports and learn about the activities of each participating country, as well as discuss collaboration. The Aftex 43rd Council Meeting and 40th Plenary Session took place last week and was hosted by the Association of Lao Garment Industries. The meeting shared information about garment business operations in Asean, considered the global garment market, and discussed ways to collaborate in the export of garments worldwide. Participants also discussed products, raw materials, trade policies, adaptation, and the creation of strategies for problem solving. Laos and some other Asean countries are preparing to graduate from Least Developed Country status and to embrace the Industry 4.0 era, which means streamlining trade using electronic systems and market integration within the region and the world. The meeting also heard about the introduction of cooperation projects, trading, new technologies, new products, joint exhibitions and opportunities for new markets in China and the Republic of Korea. - Vientiane Times/Asia News Network

Source: The Star

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Sino-Pak textile cooperation to focus on readymade garments

Pakistani and Chinese experts have agreed to developing a textile cooperation framework under China Pakistan Economic Cooperation by focusing on readymade garments, man-made fiber and textile skill training. It was expressed in a one-day workshop organized by the Board of Investment (BOI) to deliberate on a diagnostic study on Pakistan's textile sector, conducted by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China and China International Engineering Consulting Corporation (CIECC),said a press release issued by BOI here on Wednesday. The textile diagnostic report provided the Chinese viewpoints on the potentials and barriers of large-scale Textile Mills in Pakistan. The report was also one of the deliverables of the 9th JCC held in 2019 and is a precursor to a more detailed work on the Textile Sector of Pakistan. The workshop was attended by Executive Director General (EDG) of BOI, Qasim Raza Khan, Project Director of the Project Management Unit (PMU) BoI, Asim Ayub, Director SEZs BOI, Abdul Samie, Executive Director APTMA,Sattar Shahid, Director Textile Industry Division, Kanwar Usman, Chairman PRAGMEA, Shaikh Mohammad Shafiq, Head of Pak-China Investment Company Ltd,Tariq Masood and representatives from line ministries, private sector and academia. EDG BOI, Qasim Raza Khan informed the participants that CPEC had now entered into the pragmatic phase of Industrial cooperation, and it was the right time to take Pakistan forward on the path of industrialization. It has been agreed that the Chinese side will continue to provide intellectual and technical support to accelerate Pakistan's priority sectors especially through the 9 SEZs of Pakistan under CPEC wherein 03 SEZs have been prioritized and are now at an advanced stage of development, he added. He was confident that through this cooperation, many Chinese companies would reap benefits of Pakistan's competitive advantages. Project Director of PMU, Asim Ayub gave a brief presentation on the Textile diagnostic report, emphasizing that the trade potential had to be transformed into investment potential. He specified three main areas of cooperation where Chinese could provide support to Pakistan with the objective of developing a textile cooperation framework. These areas include readymade garments, man-made fiber and textile skill training. Executive Director APTMA, Sattar Shahid was of the view that for any meaningful investment to be made, there was a need to fix the business climate i.e. effective contract enforcements. He proposed the need for an efficient and workable bankruptcy law, besides the tariff sector of Pakistan needed to be revisited. Director Textile Industry Division,Kanwar Usman shared his views on the CPFTA-II with respect to its impact on the Textile Sector of Pakistan and emphasized on the issue of labor productivity in Pakistan. He shared that the new Textile Policy of Pakistan was in the pipeline with special emphasis on infrastructure development and appreciated the aspect of Man-made fibers production that was included in the diagnostic report which ought to be taken in consideration by the country. Chairman PRAGMEA, Shaikh Mohammad Shafiq was of the perspective that large scale units of Pakistan were only 20% of the total while SMEs comprised of nearly 80%. Majority of the concessional tariff lines involved in CPFTA-II was related to the textile sector which held a huge opportunity for Pakistan, he added There exists a great potential for cooperation in the value-added textile section and artificial fiber area by gaining technical expertise from the Chinese side. Shafiq laid great emphasis on facilitating the SMEs in the textile sector. The author of the Diagnostic study, Dr. Du Zhen Li, Deputy Director General of CIECC and the focal person on Joint Working Group (JWG) – Industrial cooperation (IC) from Chinese side, joined the workshop through a Videocon and shared that the Textile sector of Pakistan is chosen for the study based on its significance as an important industry, prioritized by the government of Pakistan. Further, the Chinese Business community needed more information to understand the Textile industry of Pakistan in the backdrop of CPEC. Executive Director General (EDG) of BOI, Qasim Raza Khan Qasim thanked the participants for their valuable input and assured that all the concerns raised by the stakeholders within the ambit of the BOI will be duly addressed and those outside the domain of BOI would be put forward to relevant Ministries for speedy solutions. Previously, Dr. Du Zhenli the Deputy Director General of CIECC and the focal person on Joint Working Group (JWG) – Industrial cooperation (IC) from Chinese side, led a delegation of Chinese textile experts to conduct a diagnostic study of Textile sector. CIECC submitted the Textile Diagnostic report on 9th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) held on 5th November 2019. The report outlined the Textile Sector of Pakistan and areas of improvement that can lead to a positive impact on the export led growth vision to boost Textile sector of Pakistan.

Source: Business Recorder

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Zilingo helps Cambodian textile units raise efficiency

Singapore-headquartered global fashion-technology platform Zilingo recently collaborated with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and the Cambodia Garment Training Institute (CGTI) to bring a new form of digitisation to the country‟s garment factories by increasing efficiency and reducing defects through its proprietary production software. The software allows factories to use real-time production data to produce actionable performance reports that will help factories improve efficiency and productivity, according to Cambodian media reports. The software increases a factory‟s production efficiency by 10 to 12 per cent, by giving management real-time access to data on a smartphone, laptop or tablet, said Sosakol Yin, business development manager of Zilingo. He said that the software will assist in removing pen and paper from the production line as the software automatically records production data and generates actionable reports. Yin added that it also allows for quality control and production staff to identify garment defects and other faults. GMAC operations manager Ly Tek Heng said the association has invited Zilingo to share its new technology system in garment, shoe and bag factories.

Source: Fibre2Fashion

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Iran: 18% Decline in Apparel Smuggling

About $1.8 billion worth of apparel were smuggled into Iran during the last fiscal year (March 2018-19) to register an 18.2% decline compared to the previous year's $2.2 billion, the industries minister said. “Apparel production has increased by 20% during the first nine months of the current Iranian year {March 21-Dec. 21, 2019],” Reza Rahmani was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency. The minister noted that imports fell by 31% last year compared to the year before. He added that the rise in production and the continued decline in imports show the country‟s apparel industry is thriving and that it has the capacity to meet domestic demand. Hassan Nilforoushzadeh, secretary-general of Iran Textile Industry Association, told Fars News Agency last year that 98% of Iran‟s textile industry is owned by the private sector, and if it wasn‟t so, it would have been banished altogether. “Our main plight is the huge number of contraband items that enter the country. It seems that even the police can‟t stops the smuggling. Other handicaps we deal with are money transactions, foreign exchange and transportation problems caused by the reimposed US sanctions,” he said. Nilforoushzadeh noted that the textile industry has created close to 600,000 direct jobs. Iran‟s domestic apparel production is worth $5.5 billion per annum.

Source: Financial Tribune

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