The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council

MARKET WATCH 03 SEPT, 2020

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

 

PM to address Leadership Summit of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver key note address to the third leadership summit of USISPF on Thursday Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver key note address to the third leadership summit of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) on Thursday, organisers announced on Tuesday. "We are honored that Prime Minister Modi has taken time to address USISPF annual event. It signifies importance of US-India relations in the current challenging environment, USISPF president Mukesh Aghi said. "It is a win-win partnership mutually dependent geo-politically, trade, culturally, diplomatically and scientifically. Aggressive and assertive China provides further opportunity for both nations to collaborate and ensure international rule of law prevails," he said after USISPF announced Modi's address to the summit. US Vice President Mike Pence had a fire side on Monday, the first day of the week-long summit titled "US-India Week: Navigating New Challenges". External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also participated in the discussion on Monday. Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal also addressed the summit on Tuesday. Being attended by top corporate leaders, government officials and leaders, the summit highlights areas of bilateral cooperation: trade and investment; strategic energy ties; India's position in global supply chains, collaboration in fintech, healthcare, and technology.

Source: Business Standard

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Prime Minister Modi's new regime for businesses looks to lighten compliance burden

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narenda Modi has identified anonymous or 'faceless' inspections, an extended validity period for licences or automatic renewals, and lower fees among others as key elements of a new regime for business that involves lightening the compliance burden. The Department for Promotion for Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is working on the agenda with the NITI Aayog after the Prime Minister said the framework needs to be drawn up urgently. The DPIIT has written to states and various ministries and departments to identify processes and permissions, especially ones that require periodic compliances and renewals. The exercise will also cover departments and agencies that provide various services to citizens. The PM has said permissions and licences should not require frequent renewals as this imposes a cost on businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. "The idea is very clear Compliance burden needs to come down," a senior government official said. Sectors such as hotels, restaurants, leather and cement have broad compliance requirements and need frequent renewal of various permissions and licences. These add to the cost of doing business and erode competitiveness. The exercise is aimed at identifying regulations that impose such onerous compliances and what can be done to simplify them. The Prime Minister's directive is that even if renewals are needed, the validity period should be increased and the process move to online from offline, the official told ET. Work has begun to assess whether inspections can be done anonymously. The government recently rolled out faceless assessment for income tax and has also launched a pilot for customs. "All departments that directly give services to citizens have been asked to identify the compliances required, remove the redundant ones and simplify the necessary requirements," said another official.

Source: Economic Times

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Govt caps MEIS benefits at just Rs 5,000 crore for December quarter

However, new export-import codes obtained on or after Tuesday will be ineligible to submit any MEIS claim for exports made with effect from September 1. The resource-strapped government has capped benefits under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) at just Rs 5,000 crore for the September-December period. According to a commerce ministry notification, benefits under the incentive scheme to each exporter will be limited to Rs 2 crore for outbound shipments made during the December quarter. However, this Rs 2-crore cap can be further revised, if required, to keep the overall MEIS outgo within the sipulated limit of Rs 5,000 crore, it said. Earlier, the revenue department had capped the outlay for the MEIS at just Rs 9,000 crore for the April-December period, which means exporters may be deprived of over twothirds of the benefits they usually get under this scheme. It was not immediately clear if the cap earlier set by the revenue department for the first three quarters of this fiscal has been revised or not. There will be no change in the coverage of MEIS and the applicable rates (up to 5% of the consignment value).   However, new export-import codes obtained on or after Tuesday will be ineligible to submit any MEIS claim for exports made with effect from September 1. According to a commerce ministry estimate, about 98% of the exporters who claim MEIS will remain unaffected by the changes and less than 2% exporters are likely to be affected as per analysis of claims in the relevant period of 2018-19. The MEIS outgo was about Rs 40,000 crore in FY19 and Rs 42,500 crore in FY20. For this fiscal, the Budgetary allocation was to the tune of Rs 27,000-30,000 crore, according to industry sources, although there is no official word on it. Fearing a shortage of funds following the revenue department’s decision, the commerce ministry had, for the time being, blocked the online module for claiming such benefits since July 23. Already, in a letter to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 21, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal had sought a review of the revenue department’s decision. Merchandise exports witnessed a record 60% crash, y-o-y, in April, although the contraction narrowed to 37% in May, 12% in June and 10% in July, as lockdown curbs were lifted from June. However, risks to exports from external headwinds still remain very strong.

Source: Financial Express

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Govt caps key export benefits to Rs 2 crore per exporter till December

It also said that the new Import Export Code (IEC) obtained on or after September 1 will be ineligible to submit any MEIS claim for exports, and the ceiling would be subject to a downward revision to ensure that the total claim doesn’t exceed the allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the period. The government on Tuesday capped the benefits under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) at Rs 2 crore per exporter on exports made between September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 without changing the coverage of the scheme and the applicable rates. It also said that the new Import Export Code (IEC) obtained on or after September 1 will be ineligible to submit any MEIS claim for exports, and the ceiling would be subject to a downward revision to ensure that the total claim doesn’t exceed the allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the period. Under MEIS, the government provides duty benefits depending on product and country. Rewards under the scheme are payable as percentage of realised free-on-board value (of 2%, 3% and 5%) and MEIS duty credit scrip can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties including the basic customs duty. “In addition, it has been notified that MEIS scheme is withdrawn with effect from January 1, 2021,” the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification. The commerce and industry ministry had proposed a fresh round of incentives under the key scheme after the finance ministry said the MEIS failed to deliver the desired result of boosting exports. India's merchandise exports have hovered around $300 billion in the last ve years, despite the scheme’s liberal application across sectors. The liability under MEIS was around Rs 45,000 crore in FY20. “98% of the exporters who claim MEIS will be unaffected by the changes and less than 2% exporters are likely to be affected as per analysis of claims in the relevant period of 2018-19,” said an official in the know. The move is aimed to protect genuine exporters and allow them to claim benefits for exports in the period besides reducing the possibility of fraud by taking new IEC to circumvent the cap while advance notice of four months of the end date of MEIS provides certainty for future pricing decisions. Unaffected exporters who have already factored in MEIS in the pricing of their products do not face any change or uncertainty since neither coverage of products nor rates of MEIS will be changed, according to the official.

Source:   Economic Times

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Exporters fear uncertainty over govt’s move to cap export incentives

NEW DELHI: Exporters have said the government's decision to cap export incentives under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) and a likely downward revision to keep the claims in check would “seriously affect” traders and cause uncertainty. They have also sought clarity on whether any change in the benefit rate would be notified for those who are not affected by the cap if the budgeted amount of Rs 5,000 crore is exhausted. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said exports that will be made during September-December 2020 are based on the orders which have already been negotiated much earlier, factoring the existing benefit under the scheme. “These benefits are part of the export competitiveness and therefore the sudden change will affect the exporters' Financially as buyers are not going to revise their prices upward,” he said. The government on Tuesday capped the benefits under the MEIS at Rs 2 crore per exporter on exports made between September 1-December 31, 2020 without changing the coverage of the scheme and the applicable rates. It also said that the new Import Export Code (IEC) obtained on or after September 1 will be ineligible to submit any MEIS claim for exports, and the ceiling would be subject to a downward revision to ensure that the total claim doesn’t exceed the allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the period. “Blockage of MEIS is also a matter of serious concern for the exporting community,” said Mahesh Desai, chairman, EEPC India, adding that the scheme was extended in March and it was on that basis that exporters had priced their products from April when suddenly on July 23, 2020, the DGFT website blocked the uploading of shipping bills and “that came as a shock”. “The sudden imposition of a cap of Rs 2 Crore per IEC, on MEIS benefit of exports made during the period is going to seriously affect exporters, whose numbers may not be very large, but their contribution to exports warrant a revisit to the imposition of cap,” Saraf said As per Bhuvnesh Seth, Vice Chairman, Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs, the decision is with immediate effect and such sudden change in trade policies should be avoided as they bring uncertainties in the decision making and pricing policies of exporters. “This would create an uncertainty as that means that scheme can be withdrawn even earlier than December 21, 2020,” Seth said, adding that this uncertainty may be removed and scheme in whatever form should be available till a particular date. Under MEIS, the government provides duty benefits depending on product and country. Rewards under the scheme are payable as percentage of realised free-on-board value (of 2%, 3% and 5%) and MEIS duty credit scrip can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties including the basic customs duty. Exporters urged the government to extend the MEIS till March 31, 2021, coterminous with the existing Foreign Trade Policy and also said that incentives under the SEIS (Service Exports from India Scheme) for the exports made during 2019-20 and this financial year are still unresolved. They also said while the committee on Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) has started work, the industry is facing challenges in providing the data due to frequent local lockdowns, non-availability of transport and Non-functioning of auditors

Source: Economic Times

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MSMEs need extension of moratorium’

The Consortium of Indian Associations (CIA) has called for extension of loan moratorium, waiver of interest on such loans and complete waiver of statutory payments till March 2021. Failure to do so would lead to 80% of its members representing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) turning defaulters in the next three months, CIA Convenor K.E. Raghunathan said in a statement. The CIA has been urging the RBI to extend the moratorium period, which ended on August 31, as most MSME units had remained inactive for the last five months. However, the central bank was yet to respond, he said. “Most of our members are experiencing severe cash flow and expressed their inability to meet salary, statutory expenses, and machine maintenance and supplier payments among other issues. It is in times like these, they require handholding to regain strength and to conduct business in a conductive manner to create more jobs,” he said. The CIA also pleaded for complete waiver of statutory payments for micro enterprises from provident fund, employees' state insurance, tax deducted at source, goods and service tax till March 2021.

Source: The Hindu

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Cabinet approves MoU between India, Japan for cooperation in technical textiles

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India’s Textiles Committee and Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre, Japan to improve quality and testing of Indian textiles and clothing for the Japanese market. “The MoU would enable Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre, Japan in assigning Textile Committee as their cooperative Testing and Inspection service providers in the Republic of India for Textiles & Apparel products including Technical Textiles,” the government said in a statement. Technical textiles are meant for non-aesthetic purposes, where function is the primary criterion. India accounts for about 4% of the global market for technical textiles. The ministry of textiles estimates the technical textile industry in India will grow to about Rs 2 lakh crore by 2020-21 from over Rs 1.16 lakh crore in 2017-18. Technical textiles account for about 12% of India’s textile market, compared with 20% in China. The MoU will facilitate Indian exporters to meet the requirements of Japanese importers as per their technical regulations, and boost Indian textiles and apparel exports including technical textiles to Japan. India exported textiles worth $300 million in FY20. As per the statement, any other products mutually agreed upon at a later date for both domestic and overseas buyers, could get included.

Source: Economic Times

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Asking banks to waive interest will adversely impact financial system: Govt

The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that banks are playing a crucial role in reviving the economy. Hence, asking them to take a hit on interest rates will adversely affect the financial system as well as economic growth, the apex court was told. Arguing on behalf of the Centre and the RBI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the three-judge Bench that waiving interest or granting a blanket moratorium on repayment of loans will be a “knee jerk reaction” and not in the best interest of the economy. The apex court said it will hear the matter again on Thursday even as a number of sectoral bodies joined hands with the original petitioner demanding waiver of interest, or waiver of interest on interest on the suspended monthly instalments during the moratorium period. These included real estate bodies from various states, hotel associations, Association of Power Producers, and bodies representing shopping centres and malls, among others. The Bench was hearing a plea, challenging levy of interest on loans during the moratorium period. The plea, filed by Agra resident Gajendra Sharma, sought a direction to declare the portion of RBI’s March 27 notification as something beyond the RBI’s legal power or authority. That is, to the extent it charges interest on the loan amount during the moratorium period. It said this creates hardship to the petitioner, being the borrower, and is a hindrance and obstruction in ‘right to life’ guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The apex court had observed in June that the question is not of waiver of complete interest for the entire moratorium period but it is limited only to interest charged on interest by banks. It had also observed that charging of interests by banks during the six-month moratorium period on term loans was ‘detrimental’. The RBI, on its part, had submitted that a waiver of interest on loans will impact the financial viability of the country’s financial sector. Also, banks could forego about Rs 2 trillion in interest income if interest is waived off for the six months of the moratorium. On Wednesday, Mehta said the banking sector in India was a multi-layered structure and passing a blanket order will not produce the desired results.

Source: Business Standard

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Kashmir industry body flags business concerns with Nirmala Sitharaman

The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) flagged concerns of the business community during an online conference with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) flagged concerns of the business community during an online conference with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Speaking during the conference, KCCI President Sheikh Ashiq told the Finance Minister that although the slowdown across the country and the globe is on the back of the coronavirus pandemic, but for the Kashmir valley it has had a severe impact over the past 13 months. He sought support from the Finance Ministry for the businesses in the region and said that sectors like horticulture can be a game changer in the valley, which need to be tapped. Ashiq also said that previous meetings with the minister raised a lot of hopes, but developments were yet to take place on the ground.  He also informed Sitharaman that the industry body has raised the concerns with the newly-appointed Jammu & Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. Earlier speaking at the virtual conference, the Finance Minister said that she recently met Sinha and assured him of support from the ministry towards the financial issues of the Union Territory.

Source: Business Standard

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Gita Gopinath confirms India's GDP most affected among G-20 countries

International Monetary Fund's chief economist Gita Gopinath on Wednesday tweeted a graph suggesting India's gross domestic product (GDP) may have shrunk the most among G-20 countries in the April-June quarter, at 25.6%, when compared with the previous quarter.

Source: Business Standard

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Rupee settles 16 paise lower at 73.03 against US dollar on Wednesday

The rupee depreciated 16 paise and settled at 73.03 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday tracking muted domestic equities and strengthening American currency. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened on a weak note at 73.10, witnessed a volatile trading session and finally closed at 73.03 against the greenback, down 16 paise over its previous close of 72.87.  During the session, the domestic unit touched an intra-day high of 72.90 and a low of 73.13 against the American currency. On Tuesday, rupee had rallied 73 paise to breach the 73-mark against the US dollar on Tuesday, supported by liquidity-boosting measures announced by the Reserve Bank of India. It had settled at 72.87. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.26 per cent to 92.58. On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 157.53 points higher at 39,058.33 and broader NSE Nifty gained 48.75 points to 11,519. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 486.09 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional exchange data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.88 per cent to USD 45.98 per barrel.

Source: Business Standard

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Onerous obligations on importers under new Customs rules

It is meant to strengthen the provisions for checking misuse of exemptions for imports under various trade agreements The finance ministry has notified the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR), with a view to strengthen the provisions for checking misuse of exemptions for imports under various trade agreements. It will come into force from September 21. India has trade pacts with many nations from whom imports are allowed at concessional or nil duty rates, subject to the condition that the goods originate in those countries. Each agreement is given effect through specific Customs exemption notification and specific Rules for Determination of ...

Source:   Business Standard

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Ease of Doing Business: A work in progress

Coupled with steadfast focus on execution and institutional reforms, the EoDB programme should catapult India into the League of Nations with a robust business ecosystem that attracts and fosters the most innovative enterprises from across the world As the debate rages on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business’s recent reports and the scepticism around Doing Business rankings of nations, it is noteworthy to consider the context, achievements and challenges in addressing one of the most important ask of the business community and raising India’s attractiveness for foreign investors. India’s billion-plus people with immense economic diversity, the sheer size of some of the states and a lack of consistency in interpretations and implementations of myriad regulations have played a complex role in quashing past efforts to revolutionise a deeply entrenched business ecosystem. The government’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) agenda, launched in 2015, was perhaps focused on addressing these systemic issues through transformative reforms in four dimensions—the Doing Business for country-level ranking, state-level reforms, reforms at the district level and the (forthcoming) measures to reduce the cost of doing business. We surely haven’t reached our destination, but over the last five years, significant progress has been made in the form of realising process efficiencies and integration of services on single window platforms. World Bank DB ranking improvement from 142 to 63, in some ways, reflects these on-ground changes. For example, person-days required for setting up a business has come down from 28 days to 18 days. The accompanying table shows improvements in several such parameters, which the World Bank index measures based on user feedback. Digitalisation and use of technology have been important levers of change. The statelevel online single window systems trigger automation of various concerned departments for providing online approvals related to labour, factories, boiler, construction permit, electric connection, fire NOC, taxation, right of way, property registration, drug manufacturing and pollution control boards. Various technology platforms of central and state governments are now talking to each other on a real-time basis and facilitating approvals. As part of Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP), most states have brought transparency in land records and automated systems to a significant level. To cite Mumbai’s example, digitisation of transaction deeds and records of rights data of multiple decades as well as complete digitisation of cadastral maps has enabled better registration-mutation database, bringing down resolution time of land disputes to less than a year. Similarly, e-filing of initial complaints has reduced average time to dispose off commercial dispute cases in Delhi to as low as 30-60 days in many courts. Launched with active support from states to cover a wide range of issues to build longterm health of the business environment, BRAP has also brought in competitive federalism and transparency. It aims to reduce the bureaucratic discretion by bringing objectivity in the regulatory processes. Now, in a big policy shift, the government has charted a roadmap to undertake business reforms at the district level to engage district and local government bodies in the governance process. If implemented right, these reforms can play a crucial role in further advancing the EoDB agenda. The government has so far been responsive to business and is making expansive efforts to improve the overall ecosystem. However, as some of the systemic issues are being dealt with, speed of execution and institutional strengthening remain unaddressed. By and large, the mind-set of people in-charge has not kept pace with the government’s vision. Shifting attitudes, both in government and in the industry, through an integrated vision, policies, systems and processes will be key to making a step change. Laws governing the investment climate need to enable business and enhance competitiveness. While the efforts to simplify numerous laws and de-criminalise some of them are positive, structuring laws toward efficient governance, productivity improvement, business continuity and less complexity while ensuring public good are critical for sustainable results. Technology can play a much greater role in ironing out system inefficiencies and integrating related services on national and states’ single window systems. Using unique ID for businesses at all regulatory touchpoints can also be considered. The next big milestone will be a reduced cost of doing business through lower regulatory burden and management of factors of production. While the National Infrastructure Pipeline is a step in the right direction to reduce logistics costs and improve infrastructure, reducing the cost of land, power, and capital can significantly ease the burden for businesses. Faster implementation of these initiatives will help India consolidate its location-product matrix and realise its potential in high value-add segment. Just as numerous reforms on the tax side such as GST, Faceless Assessment Scheme and digitalisation of the tax administration, which promise long-term benefits, have caused temporary pain, the current measures toward ease of doing business too are work in progress. Coupled with steadfast focus on execution and institutional reforms, the EoDB programme should catapult India into the League of Nations with a robust business ecosystem that attracts and fosters most innovative enterprises from across the world.

Source:  Financial Express

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Global Textile Raw Material Price 03-09-2020

Item

Price

Unit

Fluctuation

Date

PSF

791.70

USD/Ton

-0.46%

03-09-2020

VSF

1243.89

USD/Ton

0.06%

03-09-2020

ASF

1728.28

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

Polyester    POY

746.33

USD/Ton

0.39%

03-09-2020

Nylon    FDY

1968.27

USD/Ton

0.75%

03-09-2020

40D    Spandex

4097.52

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

Nylon    POY

5268.24

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

Acrylic    Top 3D

951.21

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

Polyester    FDY

1865.84

USD/Ton

0.39%

03-09-2020

Nylon    DTY

1902.42

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

Viscose    Long Filament

929.26

USD/Ton

0.79%

03-09-2020

Polyester    DTY

2239.00

USD/Ton

0.66%

03-09-2020

30S    Spun Rayon Yarn

1748.76

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

32S    Polyester Yarn

1368.28

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

45S    T/C Yarn

2202.42

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

40S    Rayon Yarn

1902.42

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

T/R    Yarn 65/35 32S

1704.86

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

45S    Polyester Yarn

1551.20

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

T/C    Yarn 65/35 32S

2078.03

USD/Ton

0%

03-09-2020

10S    Denim Fabric

1.15

USD/Meter

0%

03-09-2020

32S    Twill Fabric

0.64

USD/Meter

0%

03-09-2020

40S    Combed Poplin

0.94

USD/Meter

0%

03-09-2020

30S    Rayon Fabric

0.48

USD/Meter

0%

03-09-2020

45S    T/C Fabric

0.66

USD/Meter

0%

03-09-2020

Source: Global Textiles

Note: The above prices are Chinese Price (1 CNY = 0.14634 USD dtd. 03/09/2020). The prices given above are as quoted from Global Textiles.com.  SRTEPC is not responsible for the correctness of the same.

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US urge India to enhance its position in global supply chain

Washington: The United States has urged India to create an environment that will foster its position in the global supply chain and said that the country continues to face challenges on the market access front despite improvement in the ease of doing business. Observing that the coronavirus pandemic may give rise to self-sufficiency and self-reliance sentiments among struggling economies, Joseph Semsar, DeputyUnder Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, said that India with its “Atmanirbhar Bharat” Initiative has put forward a programme that puts a question mark on the notion of self-reliance. “Our thought is that isolationist policies can also cause a decrease in exchange between businesses and economies, less technology and best practice sharing, fewer joint research and development projects and stied innovation,” Semsar said at the third India-US Leadership Summit organised virtually by the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF). “So we urge the government of India to focus on creating an environment, fostering an environment that will enhance India's position in the global supply chain,” he said in response to a question from Anish Shah, deputy managing director and group CFO, the Mahindra group, who is also a USISPF board member. “India has improved its ease of doing business index, but challenges remain on the market access front,” he said. “There are concerning issues regarding data localisation, intellectual property rights, high tariffs, duplicative safety and security testing, price controls, and FTI restrictions in sectors like insurance,” he added. These are the challenges that India and the United States have to work together to resolve, Semsar said. Noting that the Trump administration has long recognised the need to diversify supply chains for both economic and national security of the US, he said that business leaders are finally realising that they cannot rely on unsuitable sources for their production. The coronavirus pandemic has shown how easily supply chains can weaken and in some cases, even break down entirely. “On this front, India has the potential to become a global supply chain leader in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,” Semsar said. Stating that supply chains are not easily mobile and market research and investments take a very long time, he recommended that India take a long term approach to attracting business. Semsar urged India to avoid the bait and switch tactic of attracting companies by implementing good policies only to later change course by adopting regulations that are inhibiting and costly to business. Being overly bureaucratic with firms that operate globally and know the intricacies of running a business in different countries will immediately reduce a country's chance of attracting and retaining investment. Companies are extremely sensitive to regulatory oversight and bureaucratic controls, he said, adding that they compare notes between countries and they are able to add up the cost down to the penny. The time involved in dealing with burdensome government controls is an important cost that is very easily tracked, he added. When it comes to supply chains, the industry recognises three things: diversification, resilience and reliability. Supply chain needs to be diversified, infrastructure needs to be resilient and reliable and policies in the business environment also need to be reliable, he said. Also, foreign investors look for the ability to have majority ownership and control and their business ventures to help strategically manage and deploy resources. US companies are extremely alert to market opportunities, no matter where they exist in the world. “However, in our minds, India to a certain degree can make strides and levelling the playing field by abandoning discriminatory policies, enhancing transparency and predictability and its policies and lowering the cost of doing business," he said. "Despite having an improved overall ease of doing business -- that ranking is down to 63, out of 190 economies, which is incredible progress -- India still ranks at 136 for starting a business, 154 for registering a property and 163 for enforcing contracts." "This ultimately hurts FDI in India, but has even more harmful impact on the creation of indigenous Indian firms particularly those that might be competitive, internationally,” he said.

Source : Economic Times

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Uzbek textile-garment exports rise by 112% from Jan to Jul

Uzbek garment-textile exports rose by 112 per cent to $1 billion from January to July as new markets opened up and new products were developed. During the period, the country exported textile-garment products to 57 countries and regions. The main destinations were Russia (39 per cent), China (18 per cent), Kyrgyzstan (13 per cent) and Turkey (12 per cent). In addition to traditional markets, Uzbekistan also exported to Hungary, Slovakia and Greece. With the support of the Uzbek embassy in Kuwait, it exported to that country for the first time this year. Uzbekistan optimised the export commodity structure of its industry by increasing the proportion of value-added finished products such as knitwear and readymade garments to 51 per cent, according to a report in an Uzbek media outlet. It also started exporting new products like protective masks and clothing. Uzbekistan textile companies currently produce 6 million masks and 10,000 sets of protective clothing per day, and export them to Russia, Kuwait, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and other countries. A May 6 presidential decree allowed Uzbek cotton to be sold at a rate pegged to prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The decree lengthened payment deadline for raw cotton from 90 days to 150 days.   The government also committed to simplifying the process whereby producers get value-added tax rebates once they ship their goods out of the country. That effort was in line with a broader Uzbek government strategy of moving toward the production of more valuable exports, like fabrics and clothes, instead of simple raw cotton.  

Source: Fibre2Fshion

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Myanmar’s garment sector hit hard by COVID-19 impact

The cut-make-pack (CMP) garment sector in Myanmar has been hit hard by the coronavirus impacts amid the global demand slump, said an official of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, state media reported. Supply chain disruptions and cancelling customer orders following the coronavirus outbreak hurt the global textile industry. Similarly, the CMP garment sector which contributes to 30 per cent of Myanmar’s export sector is bracing for downward trend owing to the cancellation of orders from European countries and suspension of the trade by western countries amid the pandemic. Exports of garments manufactured under the cut-make-pack (CMP) system were valued about US$4 billion around the past eleven months in the current financial year 2019- 2020, said an official of the Ministry of Commerce.

Source: Mizzima

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