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Pakistan may have a trade policy by November. Over the last two years the country has faced a downward trend in exports.
The policy will offer incentives to the business community to improve its exports in terms of value addition and quantity. There will be a speedy export refund mechanism on value addition and incentives on import of machinery that improves value addition. The institutional framework for promotion of exports will be strengthened. New markets like African countries will be targeted.
Afghanistan has emerged as a major trading partner and has become Pakistan’s third largest export market. Pakistan used to export naphtha, a petroleum product, to the UAE. But then the UAE established its own plants and stopped importing naphtha from Pakistan altogether. This caused a big dent in the country’s exports.
The duty on the import of jewelry for export purposes caused the export of consequent value-added jewelry to cease. This duty will be looked at afresh and revised.
In addition the slowdown in China has hurt Pakistan’s export performance. Energy deficit, the law and order situation and devastating floods have added to the problems faced by the industry. Pakistan wants to take its exports from $24 billion now to $35 billion by 2018.
The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association’s second Annual Factory Awards Dinner is to be held on October 24, 2015 at the Summit Parkview Hotel Grand Ballroom. The awards are to honour the achievements of MGMA’s member factories in manufacturing excellence.
This year, there are several corporate sponsors—TÜV SÜD, OV Logistics, Fine 9 Consulting, BLX Labels, Maersk Line, Luther Law and SMART Myanmar. SMART Myanmar would be to sponsoring and coordinating the ‘SMART Award’—a trophy and recognition to be given out to the applying factory with the most noteworthy progress in social compliance improvement. Member companies too will receive several certificates for accomplishments such as ‘excellence in factory set-up’ and ‘recognition of best workplace facilities’ as well as several other mentions.
Professor Aung Tun Thet, presidential economic adviser will be giving the evening’s keynote remarks. During the evening, two factories will be recognised for excellence in social compliance practices.
A great opportunity to meet people from across Myanmar's garment industry, the event welcomes 200 guests, including several dozen garment manufacturers in attendance and many industry service providers and associations.
Many manufacturers with industry service provides, brand representatives and related companies and organisations had come together at last year’s Factory Awards Dinner for a an evening of business networking and celebration.
www.myanmargarments.org
Orizio, the Italian knitting machine manufacturer will be showcasing its latest innovations in knitting technology at ITMA 2015, which is to be held in November this year.
A press release by Orizio stated that high performance single and double jersey machines up to electronic models and a new special machine for high pile and special fabrics for outwear would be displayed.
The company’s efforts in sustainability have helped the company reduce energy consumption and wastes in its high-level engineering products at affordable prices, according to the manufacturer.
The sinkerless technology from 20 to 80 gauge with 90 feeds on 30” diameteris something that can knit impressive top quality fabrics perfectly, which is being showcased by Orizio. The JFP model, which is introduced this year, produces high quality jersey and jersey with lycra for sinkerless stitch structure fabrics.
JFP is equipped with the performing Orizio LC open frame with electric cutter, pneumatic roll expulsion and a brand new control system with touch screen.
Also, wear and tear of needles is saved and there’s a decrease in energy consumption due to new mechanical developments in the company's machines. Orizio further stated that impalpable and wafer-thin or voluminous, faux fur has always featured in the collections of fashion labels. However, it has never been as fresh as today, because of unexpected level of innovation.
The new Orizio PLE machine version is an electronic single jersey machine for the production of top quality high pile fabrics, with multiple colours high dimension patterns. PLE machine is capable of up to six colour reversible jacquards, with one side incorporating the jacquard as pile fabric, stated the release.
www.orizio.com
China and Britain want to fully tap their potential in bilateral trade, particularly of high value-added and hi-tech products, and in service trade and infrastructure projects. The intention is to have an upgraded and closer bilateral relationship in all aspects, especially in economic and trade exchanges.
China wishes to promote the export of high value added products to Britain while making good use of Britain’s advantage in high-end manufacturing, high and new technology, and research, to expand bilateral trade.
Potential areas of cooperation are technological innovation, e-commerce, financial and legal services, medical care and creative industries. Other areas are high-speed trains, nuclear power, life science, satellite application, new energy, and new energy cars.
Britain is China’s second largest trading partner within the European Union, while China is Britain’s fourth largest trading partner. In 2014, bilateral trade value increased 15.3 per cent year on year, with the growth rate ranking the first among all China’s trade partners in the European Union.
China hopes Britain will play a positive role in promoting the export of European high tech products to China. An early realisation of a China-Europe investment agreement and a feasibility study on the China-Europe free trade zone will be conducive to sustainable bilateral trade and investment cooperation.
The factory safety assessment reports provided by the ILO-hired firms were not being accepted by the Accord on fire and building Safety in Bangladesh. The apparel exporters told this to a high-powered International Labour Organisation delegation.
Bangladesh’s readymade garment factories (RMG) are undergoing double inspections because of the rejection from the European retailers’ group. The delegation of the ILO’s Direct Contacts Mission, in a meeting with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), wanted to know about the country’s progress on the ongoing safety assessment and whether the amended labour law had been implemented in the RMG sector or not.
Md Siddiqur Rahman, President, BGMEA said that the ILO team wanted to know about the trade union activities, number of Workers Participation Committee in the factories, activities of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, and formation of Occupational Health and Safety Committee in the RMG sector.
He added that they had informed the ILO team that the labour law was implemented and the registration of trade unions had increased in the sector. Besides, the team was told that the labour law implementation rules were just passed and the formation of Occupational Health and Safety Committee remains under process, Rahman stated.
The ILO team wanted to know in detail about the progress on the factory inspection programme, Rahman said. He added that the trade body informed that Accord, the platform of the EU retailers, was not accepting the inspection reports provided by the ILO teams.
www.bgmea.com.bd
Bangladesh’s garment makers have huge opportunities in the sweater industry. Right now the world sweater market is dominated by China. But since China is gradually inclining to the hi-tech and heavy industry, Bangladeshi apparel makers can easily grab the sweater market.
Sweaters are one third of the world knitwear market. And in Bangladesh too sweater production is one third of the country’s knitwear production. Sweater production can be enlarged by introducing automated machines. Many sweater manufacturers in Bangladesh have already introduced automated jacquard machines that are helping them enjoy a robust volume of production. Different sweater factories in Bangladesh have installed some 10,000 machines imported from Japan and South Korea.
Producing sweaters and functional fabrics in large volumes would be a pathway for Bangladesh’s apparel sector to reach its export target of $50 billion by 2021.
The knitwear sector in Bangladesh currently supplies 90 per cent of the knit fabric requirements. Many garment units have their own dyeing and finishing units. In fact a separate dyeing and finishing industry also has grown up over time to support the sector. There are more than 2000 knitwear factories and the industry has strong backward linkage facilities. The knitwear is exported to 153 countries of the world.
The second largest employer in that country, Omani companies have been encouraged to invest in India’s textile sector. Around 35 million people would be employed directly due to this.
At an exhibition entitled ‘Vastram—Splendid World of Indian Textiles’ which featured more than 30 traditional Indian textiles, Indra Mani Pandey, India’s ambassador to the Sultanate, said that textiles were an important part of India’s exports to the Sultanate and India whole-heartedly welcomes Omani investments in this industry.
There was Oman-India Investment Meet held recently and in the next two months, another investors’ meet was to be organised, Pandey said. He added that they were looking forward to Omani companies investing in India. There are 1,500 joint ventures between the two countries and there must be many textile-oriented ones among them. Besides, there is one, which is being created in Salalah, the ambassador stated.
Former assistant to Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s adviser at the Ministry of Information, Mohamed Al Riyami also encouraged this investment and felt that Omani investors should go to India and invest, but get the items in Oman and put them for sale there.
Pandey, while highlighting the diversity of Indian textiles in terms of production, material and the processes involved said that the purpose of the exhibition was to showcase this diversity to the people of Oman and the Indian community.
As the 40th edition of IHGF Delhi fair organised at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida, by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), the nodal agency for promotion and development of handicrafts in the country, drew to a close, business enquiries worth Rs 2,700 crores were generated.
Rakesh Kumar, ED EPCH, mentioned that over 7,300 trade visitors interacted with India’s handicraft sector making it the world’s largest fair of Indian handicrafts, home, lifestyles and fashion products. The visitors included international buyers, buying agents and domestic volume retailers.
The IHGF Delhi fair played host to over 2,750 exhibitors spread over 1,90,000 sq mts area, this year, with more than 1,600 product lines and styles at state-of-the art India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida.
Over 110 countries and Indian volume retail visitors mesmerised overseas volume buyers with their spectacular display of traditional Indian art and craft. Products on display included house ware, tableware, kitchenware, hotel ware, home furnishing, home textiles, linens, festive decor, Christmas, Halloween, birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, fashion jewellery, bags, scarves, ties, fashion compliments, luggage, leather bags, furniture, hardware and accessories, carpets, rugs and floorings, bathroom accessories, candles, incense, potpourri and aromatics, stationery, lamps and lighting, chandeliers, lanterns, decorative articles & giftware, garden ornaments, lawn accessories, sustainable products, jute, cane, bamboos, natural fibres, educational games, etc.
Moreover, various knowledge seminars were held along with cultural programmes and fashion shows. Besides, Bhagwat Saran Gangwar, Honble Minister of State for SSI & EP, government of Uttar Pradesh presented the prestigious Ajay Shankar Memorial Awards for best display and design in 10 product categories.
www.epch.in
The oldest registered textile association in Tirupur knitwear cluster, South India Hosiery Manufacturers Association (SIHMA), celebrated its 60th founding day.
S A Khader of Travancore Knitting Company, was the President, when the journey started with 106 member textile units in 1956. Since then, the membership rose to over 1,500 at a point and presently stands at 555 units.
A C Eswaran, SIHMA President said that earlier units that constitute entire apparel production chain such as knitting, dyeing, compacting and garment-making were members of the SIHMA. However, he said, the membership dipped once the segment specific-Associations for different stages of production such as exports, dyeing, compacting, fabrication and knitting, etc., started coming up. A majestic diamond jubilee building has been constructed by the SIHMA at an outlay of Rs 1.1 crore.
The rapid strides in the growth of the region as a knitwear cluster apparently happened after the formation of SIHMA, although Tirupur had gradually started becoming the investment destination for apparel production from a single textile unit that functioned in 1928.
Eswaran stated that the formation of SIHMA had facilitated arrangement of institutional loans for the hosiery industry and import of high quality machines for apparel production in the 1960s. Besides, during the mid-70s, SIHMA initiated the first modernisation drive in the cluster, after which it started gaining its prominence as an export hub, he added.
Moreover, SIHMA initiated the periodic wage pacts since early 1970s. This was non-existent in majority of the industrial clusters across the country at that period, say the workers.
With sustainable buying making huge strides among consumers, there’s still a huge disconnect between consumer demand for more ethical products and a lack of awareness of how and where the clothes are made. Lee said that this is because the complexity of the apparel chain and also the trend of ‘fast fashion’ augmenting the issue.
Since ‘fast fashion’ is frowned upon, as it moves quickly from production to retail to offer the latest trends, Lee believes we need a cultural shift towards endurance of apparel products to address this.
He said that durability and quality have to be the value proposition for our clothing, instead of the thrill of buying the next new thing. He also predicted that the industry has almost reached a tipping point with consumers, however, the industry is still struggling with how to make those consumer connections.
‘Remake’, a start-up seeded by the Levi Strauss Foundation, Lee said, is working to engage consumers in a fresh way to learn about the people behind the products they buy. The organisation’s vision is to create a community of conscious shoppers through films, visual story-telling and immersive journeys.
Ayesha Barenblat, Remake’s founder said that they aim to move away from the pain narrative that has for long paralyzed consumers into inaction. They instead, build human connections between shoppers and makers, she added. By pain narrative, Barenblat refers to changing the conversation from scare tactics, shaming or short-lived calls, to boycott after a factory disaster, toward more meaningful engagement.
Other stakeholder groups such as labour/human rights advocates and shareholders are increasing their expectations of transparency from apparel brands, while consumers are demanding more responsible products. Companies though, feel the pressure to do more than just follow the law; they feel the need to demonstrate actual social impact within their supply chains.
Penetration in the supply chain
One company to put efforts and resources into moving from compliance to deeper engagement with its supply chain and saw results, is Levi Strauss & Co. Lee told the SXSW Eco audience how the company has put millions of dollars in supply chain worker programmes to address issues such as health and financial security.
In 1991, the early days of apparel outsourcing of labour, Levi Strauss adopted a code of conduct called its ‘Terms of Engagement’ (TOE), or as Lee put it—‘the code that launched a thousand codes’. In 2011, Lee partnered with the business side to establish the ‘Improving Worker Well-Being’ initiative for apparel workers in communities where Levi Strauss’s products were manufactured. From just a compliance-focused ‘do no harm’ labour policy, the idea was to move and truly collaborate with suppliers on the ground to make a tangible impact on workers’ lives.
Recently, the finished pilots of the ‘Worker Well-Being’ initiative in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Haiti, and Pakistan. Here, it provides support, surveys and curricula to suppliers on topics such as financial security and women’s health, connecting suppliers with local partners to help them meet the TOE.
Looking into workers’ well-being has resulted in Levi Strauss witnessing a return of up to $3 for every $1 invested in ‘Worker Well-Being’ initiatives, across the supply chain.
Finding the right partners is one of the biggest obstacles in implementing these programmes. To build capacity in developing nations to better serve workers, the NGO sector serving supply chains needs help. Thus, the company focuses its programmes in nations with the most marginalised communities. Lee said that they look at who is the most impacted, and invest in nimble organisations to build bridges with suppliers.
Standing up marginalised people isn’t really reinventing the wheel for Levi Strauss, Lee mentioned. It, in fact, builds on a 163-year history of being a values-driven company.
www.levistrauss.com
