Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), the nodal organisation for promoting apparel trade has partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to identify key practices that can be adopted by Indian apparel manufacturers to ensure their business growth in a good-sustainable-inclusive way.

Based on their extensive domestic and international studies on prevailing and successful practices at the workplaces, both these organisations have developed a one-of-its-kind Good Management Practices compendium that focuses on workplace co-operation, quality, productivity, clean production, workforce management, & Occupational Safety and Health (OSH).

The project aims to benchmark apparel industry production, management practices and profitability to global standards. Based on the practices adopted, the participating units would be benefited with the time & cost saving as indicated in the compendium.

The compendium will be launched on August 30, 2019 and include various sessions to capture policy requirements and expectations of various stakeholders.

US-based Gap, , has joined Open to All. Gap joins Yelp, Levi Strauss, Lyft, as well as more than 1,500 small businesses and 200 nonprofits that are part of this public education campaign. There are over 2,300 Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and Intermix stores in the US.

Open to All is a coalition of businesses that affirm inclusive values. As the name indicates they are open to all, oppose discrimination and demonstrate a deep commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equality. They don’t discriminate against people of color, LGBT people, people of minority faiths, and many others when they seek goods or services. They welcome all customers.

Open to All, launched in 2017, is a public education effort that unites and galvanises national leaders in business, civic engagement, and the non-profit sector to take a stand for shared American values of fairness and equality. In addition to the business members, Open to All includes more than 200 nonprofit members spanning civil rights and racial justice organisations; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender equality organisations; health and disability organisations and faith organisations.

Gap has been ranked as one of the world's most diverse and inclusive companies for the second consecutive year in the annual Thomson Reuters Global Diversity and Inclusion Index.

Brazil and Bangladesh are keen on a free trade agreement.
A free trade agreement will open new avenues for Bangladesh’s goods in the Latin American country. Currently, exports from Bangladesh to Brazil are subject to 35 per cent duties. A bilateral free trade agreement would help Bangladesh’s products enter Brazil with lower tariffs.

In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh’s export earnings reached 177 million dollars in merchandising exports to Brazil, while Bangladesh imported goods worth 1.52 billion dollars from the Latin American country.

Bangladesh imports sugar, wheat, and cotton from Brazil and exports apparel products, pharmaceuticals, plastics, tableware, vegetable textile fiber, jute goods, and manmade filaments.

Bangladesh wants to export knitwear products to Latin America and start using Brazil as a gateway.

Both sides stress the importance of a deeper and stronger engagement in the bilateral and multilateral arena. Both sides have identified areas to expand ongoing cooperation as well as find new opportunities for further bilateral engagements.

A wide range of issues encompassing political and economic cooperation, defense cooperation, trade and investment cooperation, scientific and technical cooperation, and also cooperation in sports sector have been discussed.

Bangladesh has proposed cooperation in agriculture, tourism, cultural exchange and between training institutes of the two countries.

The EU’s apparel imports from Bangladesh in value term grew 3.92 per cent during the last January-July period. But in volume terms the EU’s apparel imports from Bangladesh rose by 15.75 per cent. Around 64.12 per cent of Bangladesh’s total clothing exports were headed for the EU in the last fiscal year. Orders are shifting from China to other markets, including Bangladesh and Vietnam, which offer comparatively low prices. The unit price for apparel is gradually declining despite Bangladesh’s moving toward mid- and high value-added items. Market pressure is driving the shrinking trend of apparel prices. The euro's depreciation also has had a negative impact on the European Union's imports.

China and Vietnam have diversified their product baskets, including medium and high value-added items. The EU's overall apparel imports from across the globe during the period increased by 5.58 per cent. In terms of value, it witnessed a meagre 0.06 per cent growth.

China's apparel exports both in value and volume to the EU fell by 6.76 per cent and 5.03 per cent respectively. Vietnam's exports to the EU grew by 2.42 per cent and 19.26 per cent in terms of value and volume respectively. Bangladesh targets a 6.33 per cent rise in readymade garment exports for fiscal 2018-19.

Sourcing Expo and Footwear and Leather Show will be held in Australia, from November 20 to 22, 2018. Registrations for the two shows are 20 per cent higher than they were last year.

More than 4000 trade visitors are expected at the show which will bring together 700 textile, apparel and footwear manufacturers and agents from 16 countries. Sourcing Expo attracts sourcing managers for Australia’s large fashion retailers, niche fashion brands, online outlets and designers. It allows buyers to meet with more reputable suppliers than they could physically visit on an overseas buying trip. The trade-only event will showcase a full spectrum of product and service offerings from off-the-shelf clothing through to made-to-order pieces, fabric and functional textiles. Exhibitors are drawn from India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Fiji, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

India’s Council for Leather Exports will represent the growing leather industry in India and showcase the quality of the nation’s products at Footwear and Leather Show. This show is expected to provide a novel and excellent platform for Indian companies to showcase their products to Australian buyers.

Australia’s geographic location means extensive travel is usually required to explore international supply and manufacturing options. These two events will bring everything together under one roof.

"Even though the Autumn edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics was pre-poned this year, it did not have any effect on its popularity. The show attracted around 78,000 trade buyers from 110 countries and regions, there were 4,480 exhibitors from 33 countries. As Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd said, “The diversity and internationality of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics once again came to the fore, as exhibitors and buyers were widely satisfied in meeting their participation objectives. This was aided by the earlier date which more closely aligned the fair with the industry’s earlier autumn/winter sourcing season, and was appreciated by both exhibitors and buyers."

Even though the Autumn edition of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics was pre-poned this year, it did not have any effect on its popularity. The show attracted around 78,000 trade buyers from 110 countries and regions, there were 4,480 exhibitors from 33 countries. As Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd said, “The diversity and internationality of Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics once again came to the fore, as exhibitors and buyers were widely satisfied in meeting their participation objectives. This was aided by the earlier date which more closely aligned the fair with the industry’s earlier autumn/winter sourcing season, and was appreciated by both exhibitors and buyers. There were many exhibitor success stories this edition throughout all the fair’s product categories, while those focusing either on meeting their existing customers or new buyers were able to find their targets. Those focused on China reported the continued strength of this market, while exhibitors targeting international markets were pleased with the buyer diversity and international brands in attendance. For buyers, the unrivalled range of quality products covering the entire apparel fabrics and accessories industry stood out the most for many of them.”

Exhibitors’ satisfied with response

There were many first time exhibitors in this zone. German brand Südwolle that focuses on woolen yarns was there for the first time. “This is our first time here, and both we and our knitting partners have met a lot of potential customers. We target both brands and end-users, and the fair does attract quality Chinese fashion brands as well as garment knitters and weavers,” said James Tang, Marketing Manager. He said Victoria’s Secret saw their product in the Trend Forum and came to their booth. “We’ve also had buyers from Icebreaker and other luxury brands visit us. Chinese buyers are looking for innovation from overseas brands, so we attract more attention being an international company.” The number of buyers in Premium Wool Zone increased. William Halstead, Sales Director, Taylor & Lodge, UK said “We are satisfied with the result this time. We always meet new contacts at this fair, and the number of buyers in the Premium Wool Zone time has increased. It’s important we are in this zone because of the growing made-to-measure business in China. The zone is established in this market, and many people know this is where to find high-quality wool. In Intertextile, although our main focus is on China, we’ve also seen customers from Singapore, India and the US.”

Korea’s Taekwang Industry was exhibiting at the Functional Lab. Yong Hwan Shin, Marketing Manager of the company pointed out they exhibited at the fair to promote their brand to Chinese consumers and brands, “Intertextile Shanghai gives us a lot of exposure. In addition to many Chinese buyers, we’ve also met a lot of international visitors from the US, Europe, India and Bangladesh. The visitor flow has been excellent so far, and we’ve already distributed around 4,500 brochures to interested buyers.”

All About Sustainability

The All About Sustainability area, enabled the exhibitors to meet high-quality customers interested in sustainable products. Environmental protection is a big trend in China now, and Intertextile is a good platform to meet domestic buyers. This is a first-class business platform, where one can not only meet existing customers, but also discover new ones.

Chinese company 3M Intl. Trading (SHA) was at the Accessories Vision. As Sean Pan, Sales Manager, said “As one of the largest textile exhibitions in the world, we can not only meet many of our existing customers here, but also find new potential customers. The number of people in our booth at any one time is always high. Moreover, the quality of customers here is generally good, which, when it comes to doing business, is a unique feature of Intertextile when compared to similar exhibitions.”

Much like the exhibitors buyers too had many positive things to say about the Autumn edition. Markus Göldi, General Manager, Global Trend GmbH, Switzerland points out “This exhibition represents the whole textile industry as we can find everything we need. Nowhere else in the world can you find this. One place, three days, you can find everything you need, including fabrics, trims and all the accessories, and you can find new suppliers to work with.”

Similarly Kuldeep Raswant, Golden Unicorn, Hong Kong found this fair amazingly well laid out, with everything they were looking for. “We are able to do 90 per cent of the sourcing we need here. Intertextile also gives us insights into what are the new things coming out. It is a great experience to be here.”

The growth figures

The Functional Lab reported exponential growth with the number of exhibitors increasing by 92 per cent, while participation in Premium Wool Zone grew by 30 per cent. In Accessories Vision, the number of overseas exhibitors increased 25 per cent. Meanwhile, nearly all the fair’s group Pavilions, like Hyosung, Invista, DuPont and Oeko-Tex, were larger this edition, while new pavilions from Birla, Ecocert + GOTS, the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Korea Outdoor & Sports Industry Association expanded sourcing options for buyers

An expo is being held in Nepal in partnership with China. The event aims at promoting trade between the two countries and strengthening people-to-people relations. There are 100 stalls in the expo, from both Nepal and China. Chinese companies are showcasing products like garments, electronic items, and accessories, among others, while Nepal is displaying products such as stone, wood and metal carvings, textile, jewelry and local garments.

Nepal feels it can benefit from Chinese technology and economic achievements and wants to grasp opportunities from the Belt and Road Initiative. China’s Belt and Road Initiative may help Nepal realize its dream of development and economic prosperity.

Besides the display and sale of products, the event also features cultural performances and fashion shows. Nepal, a land-locked and least developed country, needs the cooperation of neighbors, especially China, to upgrade its status to a developing country. Nepal seeks investment in sectors like hydropower, agriculture, trade related infrastructure, tourism, herbs and herbal products, natural resources and service.

China and Nepal are interested in enhancing cooperation, namely, strengthening policy coordination and consolidating mutual trust, expanding connectivity and sharing experience for economic development, promoting unimpeded trade, deepening the financial integration and constructing the road for innovation, strengthening the people-to-people bond for mutual learning.

The British High Commission and Marks & Spencer have launched a program in India’s garment and clothing factories. The collaborative program aims at promoting gender equality in the workplace and prevention harassment. Phase 1 of the program focused on two factories in Bangalore. Phase 2 covered 11 factories in Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Chennai.

Workers have been made aware of legal provisions guaranteeing their safety at the workplace, and trained to educate fellow employees also. Supervisors at factories have been trained on gender equality, protecting rights of women and how to work responsibly. Recommendations have been made for safe and decent workplaces.

The garment and clothing sector in India provides direct employment to 45 million people, contributing four per cent to GDP and 17 per cent to total export earnings of the country. However, working conditions in the sector can pose challenges, particularly affecting the 60 per cent of workers who are women.

These gender centric programs, sharing learning and open source resources, are expected to help the garment industry in India and other businesses address gender issues and empower women to have the skills and confidence to take up leadership roles, contributing to a safe and gender equal society.

Pakistan's volume of footwear exports increased 22.6 per cent in August. Value of footwear exports increased 14.2 per cent. >Leather footwear was 91.6 per cent of the total value of exported footwear, thus registering an increase in the volume (45.9 per cent) and value (18.2 per cent) of exports.

Leather footwear drove 90.7 per cent of sales performance, increasing by 12.24 per cent during the first two months of the year. Exports from other footwear categories saw a decline in volume by 13.7 per cent and a decline in value by 14.7 per cent. Canvas shoes also saw a double digit decline in volume and value similar to last year.

Pakistan’s tanning industry produces high quality finished leather from hides as well as skins. Pakistan has inherited a centuries old craftsmanship of shoe making and hand crafted footwear with thick leather used in uppers and soles and special stitching process is exported in huge quantities. Skills are blended with technology to produce highly attractive styles, designs and shapes that are comfortable and durable and have great universal appeal.

The country produces footwear to cater to the needs of a variety of customers – -men and women, boys and girls, business executives and bureaucrats, squash and hockey players, cricketers and footballers, mountaineers and foresters, policemen and soldiers, specially designed footwear for the disabled.

In an effort to educate US and UK shoppers about the environmental impacts of the clothes they buy, a pop-up store in London and an interactive pop-up exhibition in New York has been organised simultaneously. The ‘Up Down’ curated exhibition in the SoHo district of New York has been organised by a team of artists and fashion designers from Parsons School of Design with the help of creative start-up Mindsight Lab.

Running from October 3, the month-long Up Down exhibition focuses on fabric designs to highlight the environmental impacts of the fashion industry. It demonstrates the four stages of the garment-making process to its visitors. It discusses the question ‘what is sustainability,’ and invites New Yorkers to customise their clothes and extends their life.

The pop-up store in London has been set up by the Maiyet Collective at the Conduit Club. This will give small scale designers and brands the chance to show off their sustainable and ethically sourced fashion products in a ‘physical’ retail outlet without taking the expensive risk of opening a store in London.

Maiyet Collective will host a ‘Blockchain for dummies’ seminar along with a range of other talks on sustainability and transparency. The store will offer a curation of sustainable and ethical luxury brands on a rotational monthly basis. It will not only bring in new customers for those brands included, but also offer access to potential investors.