Global economic growth will remain robust at 3.1 per cent in 2018 before slowing gradually over the next two years.
Activity in advanced economies is expected to grow 2.2 per cent in 2018 before easing to a two per cent rate of expansion next year.

Growth in emerging markets and developing economies overall is projected to strengthen to 4.5 per cent in 2018, before reaching 4.7 per cent in 2019.

If it can be sustained, the robust economic growth this year could help lift millions out of poverty, particularly in the fast-growing economies of South Asia. But growth alone won’t be enough to address pockets of extreme poverty in other parts of the world.

Policymakers need to focus on ways to support growth over the longer run—by boosting productivity and labor force participation—in order to accelerate progress toward ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

However the projected outlook is subject to considerable downside risks. The possibility of disorderly financial market volatility has increased, and the vulnerability of some emerging market and developing economies to such disruption has risen. Trade protectionist sentiment has also mounted, while policy uncertainty and geopolitical risks remain elevated.

Over the long run, the anticipated slowdown in global commodity demand could put a cap on commodity price prospects and thus on future growth in commodity-exporting countries.

Cambodia wants the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to include more Cambodian products like garments, shoes, bicycles and sugar in its tariff scheme.
The EAEU is an economic bloc composed of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

Cambodia and the EAEU have agreed to further cooperation in the industrial, agriculture and telecommunications sectors as well as enhance trade and investment, streamline customs procedures, and cooperate on setting industry standards, accreditation mechanisms and sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.

The EAEU has also accepted the Cambodian proposal to study the possibility of establishing a framework for the negotiation of a tree trade agreement in future.

Both parties have also agreed to jointly work on intellectual property issues, and explore the possibility of establishing a working group on digitalisation.

Cambodia seeks to gain preferential access to as many markets as possible, as well as sign free trade agreements with other nations and economic blocs.

Currently, the European Union takes 45 per cent of Cambodia’s exports, the United States 25 per cent, and the resulting 30 per cent goes to the rest of the world.

Most exports to northern Eurasia are subject to import taxes. Right now, Cambodia has no trade preferences with the EAEU, which makes its products there less competitive.

Brazilian cotton index rose 12.3 per cent between April 30 and May 30 and cotton prices increased in the Brazilian market in May. This is owing to the lower 2016-17 supply and the slow pace of the 2017-18 harvesting.
During the month, growers, trading companies and/or traders only had a few batches to offer. Some of them seemed to be accomplishing contracts involving the 2016-17 crop.

On the other hand, buyers showed interest in new acquisitions in the spot market, even for mixed quality batches. However, only some agents agreed to pay the prices asked by sellers.

In general, processors were finding it difficult to pass on the price rises of raw material to by-products. So some of them reduced the production pace and worked only with stocked cotton. Others opted for purchasing 100 per cent thread and/or mixed, lowering the need for cotton.

The May 21 truckers’ strike, due to rise in fuel prices, hindered transportation, resulting in reduced trade in the spot market.

Meanwhile, 75.1 per cent of the 2016-17 Brazilian crop (estimated at 1.529 million tons) had been traded until May 29. Of this total, 61.9 per cent was allocated to the Brazilian market, 27.5 per cent to the international market, and 10.6 per cent to flex contracts (for exports, but with an option to sell in the domestic market).

Bangladesh’s earnings from garment shipments were 9.80 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Reasons include increased sales of high-value items and the depreciation of the local currency against the dollar.

So far, Accord and Alliance have completed 90 per cent of the remediation works in 2,200 of their sourcing factories in Bangladesh. As a result of the efforts, garment factories can now confidently chase larger work orders from western retailers.

The country’s garment products are performing well in new markets like Japan, India, Russia, South Africa, Australia and Latin America.

Both the leather and jute sectors look set to cross the billion dollar mark in export receipts this fiscal year. Leather and leather goods are Bangladesh’s second largest export earner after garments.

Earnings from jute and jute goods in the July-May period rose 6.99 per cent from a year earlier. Home textile exports rose 11.67 per cent and agricultural products 18.09 per cent.Footwear exports increased 2.55 per cent, furniture 21.33 per cent and bicycle 4.47 per cent. Earnings from cotton, cotton products and yarn exports went up 15.86 per cent in the period.

Omnichannel is emerging as the new retail phenomenon that binds all channels of sales seamlessly through technology.

With the focus becoming more and more customer-centric, the retail has to embrace technology.

E-commerce has revolutionized the customer experience, offers a sea of product ranges, discounts, personalization through faster deliveries at specifically chosen times, fast-tracked and unquestioned returns, and more.

This is only going to evolve for the better in the coming years, and there’s need of integration with offline retail through the concept of omnichannel. A recent McKinsey survey in Europe revealed that 80% of the top E-commerce executives agreed on their efforts towards Omni.

Successful Omnichannel originations have been able to merge their functions of the supply chain, product, marketing, and retail to create a frictionless experience.

The Omni mindset is crucial for letting go of traditional practices and adopting new ones to reduce lead times, like moving inventory closer to the consumer through decentralising. The new mindset also manifests into the investment in disruptive technology.

Thanks to technology, various omni solutions are being created in various branches under ever growing retail tree.

Luciano Benetton, co-founder of Benetton Group, was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts by the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

Benetton was recognised for his contribution to innovation in industry, his bold ideas and his lifelong quest for unity, civility and respect among all people.

FIT, a part of the State University of New York, has been a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology for almost 75 years. Providing its 9,000 students with hands-on, practical experience, theory, and a firm grounding in the liberal arts.

FIT offers a wide range of affordable programs that foster innovation and collaboration. Its curriculum is geared to today's rapidly growing creative economy, including fields such as computer animation, toy design, production management, film and media, and cosmetics and fragrance marketing.

Gabi Seligsohn will be stepping down as CEO of the digital printing machinery company Kornit Digital on 1 August 2018. Gabi, who has been Kornit’s CEO for four years. He will be succeeded by Ronen Samuel, who joins from HP Indigo, and will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors.

Yuval Cohen, Kornit’s chairman of the board, stated that Gabi has built a deep and wide foundation for the long-term growth of Kornit, including an excellent management team, a long-term roadmap, a strong team and infrastructure in the US, Europe and Asia, and a world class R&D organisation. Whereas Gabi mentioned that Ronen is a proven veteran of the printing industry.

Ronen has spent the previous 18 years serving in various capacities at Hewlett-Packard. Most recently, he served as vice president and general manager of HP Indigo and WebPress EMEA.

Indigo Ag, a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet, has joined the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) as a member and implementing partner. Through this partnership, U.S. Indigo Cotton will be produced in accordance with the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS) Principles and Criteria. The BCSS is a holistic approach to cotton production covering three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic, with the principles and the criteria supporting this. They align with Indigo’s goals and include minimizing the impact of harmful crop protection practices, improving water stewardship, enhancing fiber quality, and promoting healthier soil.

Indigo will support growers of Indigo Cotton throughout the BCI licensing process, conducting field-level training and outreach, verification visits, and data collection to demonstrate continuous improvement and quantify the benefits of producing Better Cotton for farmers and the environment.

BCI exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in, and better for the sector’s future. It is the largest cotton sustainability program in the world and endeavors to develop Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity. In 2017, the program reached 1.6 million farmers from 22 countries and mobilized over $10 million in field-level investment.

H&M Group is launching two new “cutting-edge” technology features which have been created in collaboration with Google and HoloMe.

The first technology feature is H&M Home Stylist, which has been created in collaboration with Google. The voice application from Google Assistant provides personal styling suggestions, mood boards and inspiration for every room in the home, and will mark the first voice applications to be released within the fashion and interior segment.

The app will be available when you ask the Google Assistant to talk to H&M Home Stylist on your phone, and to make the experience even more personal the application will have an exclusive human voice.

In addition, the H&M group brand Monki has partnered up with HoloMe to explore the creation of high definition human holograms in Augmented Reality, which will go in test today and will be accessible through a smartphone or tablet with minimal data usage, turnaround time, and processing power.

The app will offer images of nine selected Monki outfits, which have been enhanced with effects in 3D, allowing the viewer to monitor the garments in great details and experience the holograms as being present in the room.

Indonesia needs to create a more conducive environment for attracting investments in the country as some investors actually feel uncomfortable due to the existence of certain regulations that lead to increased production costs.

One such regulations dilatarbelakangi, introduced to increase state revenues by raising tax rates, duties, excise, and levy, forces industry leaders to withhold production to avoid increased costs.

If the industries reduce production capacity to prevent losses, the state and the workers will lose money and potential income.

The state will also suffer from losses due to the industry holding back or even cutting production. If this condition continues, investors will choose to leave to other countries that are more supportive of its capital development