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India and Peru are aiming to sign a free trade agreement (FTA). A FTA with Peru would boost Indian exports. It would reduce or eliminate duties on most of the goods traded between them besides relaxing norms and rules to promote trade in services and increase bilateral investments.
Amid uncertainties in its traditional markets, including the US and Europe, India has been looking to enhance its engagements with countries in Africa, South America and Central Asia. Peru is the third largest market for Indian goods in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Trade between the two is worth $1.77 billion. India’s top exports to Peru include: motor vehicles, cars, iron and steel products, cotton yarn and fabrics. In imports bulk commodities include minerals and ores, gold, fertilizer and zinc.
Major textile items exported to Peru are: cotton yarn, polyester DTY, poly/cotton yarn and PSF, among primary products, and plain fabric, denim, and suiting among woven fabrics. Textiles exports to Peru are worth $13 million a month accounting for 1.85 per cent of India’s total exports of basic textiles, including $9 million worth of spun yarns, two million dollars worth of filament yarns, 1.2 million dollars of woven fabrics and $0.5 million of manmade fiber.
Oeko-Tex helps companies throughout the global supply chain to test their organic cotton products for GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Organic cotton products seeking Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex certification will be required to undergo GMO testing. Currently, the GMO testing technology is limited to cotton. Samples are analyzed using RT-PCR (reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction) technology, which can identify known genetically modified materials at a limit of 0.1 per cent. Test results indicate whether these GMOs were detected or not.
Today, about 70 per cent of cotton globally is genetically altered. For example, some forms of cotton have been engineered to be herbicide-resistant. Others have been infused with an insecticide to kill pests like boll weevils. The popularity of organic cotton has grown substantially in recent years. Consumers are increasingly worried about the environment and harmful substances in the products they buy for themselves and families. For them, organic foods and textiles are good choices, and products for which they are willing to pay a premium. But, in return for that extra investment, consumers expect the organic products they buy to be genuine and verifiable.
The new GMO testing gives manufacturers and marketers confidence that their organic cotton products meet regulatory and consumer expectations.
Myanmar is expected to grow 6.8 per cent in 2017-18 compared to 5.9 per cent during the previous fiscal year.
Growth was driven by improvements in the agriculture sector, which expanded by 3.5 per cent during the year on better weather conditions and productivity. Agriculture provides about a third of the country’s GDP. The industry and service sectors also grew during the year, expanding by about eight per cent year over year due to higher demand for manufacturing and tourism-related services.
Due to efforts made by domestic tourism operators, such as promotions by hotels and tour companies, tourist arrivals, particularly from around the region, continued to rise.
However, improving rice and garment exports were not sufficient to narrow the current account deficit, now five per cent of GDP compared to 3.9 per cent last year. Imports, driven by strong domestic consumption of overseas goods and demand for capital goods to supply infrastructure projects, grew 12 per cent during the year.
The fiscal deficit has ballooned to around 3.5 per cent of GDP from 2.5 per cent before on the back of higher spending on infrastructure and social services such as education and healthcare.
Despite more robust growth and spending, inflation slowed to an estimated 5.3 per cent in 2017-18 from 6.8 per cent in the previous year, aided by a drop in food prices and a smaller volume of central bank borrowing to fund the budget.
GM seed maker Monsanto has been barred from claiming patents on its genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds in India. The US seeds company is not eligible to claim patents and charge royalties from Indian seed companies. Monsanto India says the court order is disappointing and it will have wide-ranging, negative implications for biotech-based innovation across many sectors within India and that is inconsistent with other international markets where agricultural innovation has flourished.
Monsanto has been involved in a long-running battle in India over royalties paid by local seed companies for its GM cotton. In 2016, India cut Monsanto’s royalties by more than 70 per cent, triggering a long-running feud that drew in India and the US.
Farmers buy GM cotton seeds from Indian seed makers who pay to use Monsanto's proprietary technology to produce them. In March, India cut royalties paid to Monsanto for its GM cotton for the second time in two years, potentially fuelling another row with the US-based company that threatened to leave India in 2016.
More than 90 per cent of India’s cotton crop is genetically modified. Monsanto has been at loggerheads with seed firms and authorities in India over how much it can charge for its GM cotton seeds, costing it tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue a year. Monsanto says some companies in India owe it millions in royalty payments.
Kingpins Show will be held an edition in Amsterdam from April 18 to 19, 2018. The show will focus on industry novelties of fall/winter 2019-20. Sustainability and transparency will be a major focus at the show. Elleti, an Italian specialized laundry and garment manufacturer, will present a capsule collection of replicas of historical denim pieces produced according to its most innovative sustainable technologies.
Many Kingpins exhibitors have focused on eco-friendly products and they are expected to exhibit them at the upcoming show. Arvind is launching 100 per cent denim, zero per cent cotton, a small new selection of fabrics that employ alternative fibers that can help reducing the market’s dependence on cotton. Berto is presenting a series of fabrics entirely made with scraps from its own production and dyed with low C02 emission technology. Calik Denim offers an updated version of its oxygene finishing. Cone Denim presents its new Trutone Future Black made by recycling 17 pet bottles for black-stay-black denims. Denim Expert is offering a new sustainable collection that employs Green Screen certified substances only. Foison launches a new collection that when dyed reduces sulfur carbon and sodium release by 80 per cent.
Garmon is launching its new Stretch Care family of sustainable chemicals. Indigo Textiles launches fabrics treated to reduce the need for washing. Kilim launches denim made by recycling post-consumer denim fabric products.
HKTDC will host Hong Kong Houseware Fair and Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair simultaneously from April 20 to 23, 2018 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The two fairs are expected to attract more than 2,600 exhibitors from 26 countries and regions, making it an ideal platform for companies to explore business opportunities in house ware, home textile and furnishing sectors. The main theme for this year’s event is L.I.F.E, standing for Lifestyle, Interior, Feast and Enrich, the four major themed zones.
Start-ups, which are essential for the sustained development of an economy, will be in focus at Houseware Fair. The show will feature start-ups from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and first-time participating country Bangladesh. Start-ups can discover further business opportunities by presenting their products and business ideas to buyers and investors at the two fairs.
Four trend concepts will be displayed to focus on the fair themes. A trend seminar will also be organised to unveil houseware trends for summer 2019. The two fairs will also feature product demo and launch pad sessions, international kitchenette and latte art performances as well as a series of seminars exploring technology trends in the building industry and testing, certification and inspection services for houseware products.
About 31 per cent of readymade garment factories in Bangladesh have completely failed to fix safety faults, while 36 per cent factories making less than 30 per cent progress in repairing structural, fire and electrical faults. Factory owners had promised they would complete factory remediation by April 2018. Safety hazards pose a major threat to workers’ lives.
Following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people, nearly 3,780 garment factories were assessed under three initiatives, Accord, Alliance and the ILO supported national initiative. Of the 745 factories, 230 are yet to start any remediation work in the last two and a half years after completion of initial inspection while 272 factories have made less than 30 per cent progress.
Out of 3,780 garment factories, 1,549 were inspected under the national initiative, of which 531 closed down, 69 relocated and 193 units shifted to the Accord and Alliance lists. More than a 100 readymade garment factories in Bangladesh are operating in risky buildings. This despite an order to vacate buildings that put workers lives at risk. And factory and building owners have been repeatedly asked not to use buildings without retrofitting or renovation.
Egypt will expand cotton cultivation next year to meet growing global demand. Nearly 70 per cent of Egypt’s cotton production this year was exported. However, the value of exports fell by four per cent between 2012 and 2016.
A strong return for Egyptian white gold is expected soon in global markets. After a catastrophic year for Egypt’s cotton in 2016, demand has emerged in the global market. Egyptian cotton is preferred for towels and bedding among American consumers. It is the most recognized cotton brand in the United States. Egyptian cotton is also the name most people associate with quality and are prepared to pay a premium for it. In the past two years, Egypt has taken measures to restore seed purity and cotton quality.
The country’s cotton’s reputation and quality had deteriorated significantly due to seed companies’ lack of effective quality assurance systems that resulted in inferior, mixed-variety output. Now, the length, strength, firmness, color, trash count and maturity have all improved. If Egypt’s cotton industry returns to its previous glory, the economy would flourish, spinning and textile industries would boom, and stalled factories would reopen.
In 2014, Columbia Sportswear set up a joint venture in China called Columbia Sportswear Commercial with Swire Resources. Columbia Sports owns 60 per cent stake in the JV. Now, Columbia plans to buy the remaining 40 per cent from its Chinese joint venture partner.
Following the acquisition, Columbia Sports plans to continue investing in the brand’s development in China, while also expanding its distribution network through both direct channels and dealer-operated retailers. The company will maintain the joint venture’s current staff and management team.
The acquisition is consistent with Columbia’s strategy to accelerate investment as a brand-led, consumer-first business in the areas of highest growth potential for its existing brands. In 2017, the joint venture rake in $168 million in sales and is on track to see high single-digit growth in 2018. Columbia Sportswear is a US-based outdoor and sportswear group. Swire Resources is a subsidiary of Swire Pacific.
Columbia Sportswear currently operates in 86 locations across China and also sells through brand-specific websites, and some 50 wholesalers operating around 750 locations between them. After the acquisition, Swire Resources will continue to be Columbia Sportswear’s exclusive independent distributor in Hong Kong and Macau. The acquisition is expected to complete around January 2019.
China is entering into a new phase of opening up. Plans now include broadening market access, raising foreign equity caps and creating a more attractive investment environment. The country relied mainly on providing favorable policies for foreign investors in the past, but now will rely on improving its investment environment. It will strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, or IPR. This is the centerpiece of the system for improving property rights protection, and it will also provide the biggest boost to enhancing the competitiveness of the Chinese economy.
The country this year will significantly lower the import tariff for vehicles and also reduce import tariffs for some other products. This seemingly reconsidered stance comes amid escalating tensions between the US and China, which have been locked in a tariff standoff. China outlined $50 billion worth of tariffs on US goods including cotton. The US detailed 1,300 products from China that would face new tariffs.
The back-and-forth has sent markets roiling, stocks tizzying and kept apparel brands and manufacturers on edge as they wait to see how things will shape up. Concerns over China’s intellectual property practices have been largely the focus of America’s tariff targets. The US says China forces US companies looking to do business there to transfer sensitive data and intellectual property.
