Vietnam’s imports of garment and textile materials rose significantly during January to September 2018. In clothing materials, fiber imports jumped 34.6 per cent from the same period in 2017. Cotton imports saw a rise of 30.3 per cent compared to the first nine months of 2017. Imports of waterproof fabrics rose 13.5 per cent.

The country has to import large volumes of feedstock including yarn, fabric and others. >The industry has to decrease its dependence on traditional sources in Asean and China. Depending on purely one or two sources will limit manufacturers’ production capacity and development. Vietnam has imported garment and textile raw materials from China for a long time. It is now looking at upgrading technologies as well as diversifying its raw material sources.

India is seen as one of the best alternative choices. Many Vietnamese garment companies have visited India to explore co-operation opportunities and returned impressed with the country’s garment and textile industry, since several raw materials available in India suit their needs. Indian products have good quality and are priced reasonably due to the free trade agreement signed between India and Asean. Besides, India plans to cut taxes on garments and textile sector products in future.

Countries in Asia and the Pacific recently adopted a declaration that will strengthen national statistical systems to present a more complete picture of the region's development, and support good governance, health and human rights. The declaration, ‘Navigating Policy with Data to Leave No One Behind,’ was agreed at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Sixth Committee on Statistics held in Bangkok from October 16-19, 2018.

The Committee brought together high-level policymakers with leaders of National Statistical Systems to identify transformative, collective actions to advance the regions progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls for high-quality data that is accessible, timely, reliable and disaggregated by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migration status, disability and geographic location, along with public-private partnerships to support innovative use of new data sources to inform policymaking.

The declaration urges the governments to make nine commitments to strengthen and transform national statistical systems in support of the 2030 Agenda. It also calls on development partners to support national statistical systems and on ESCAP facilitate its implementation.

Tajikistan’s textile and clothing production have increased by almost 30 per cent in the first eight months of this year. The industrial production index increased 29.1 per cent due to an increase in cotton fiber, fabric, carpets and carpet products, and hosiery. Textile exports increased 92 per cent more than the same period last year.

Starting with the production of raw materials to the production of finished products, the country has a full value chain. The sector has modern enterprises for making clothes and shoes. A complete production cycle has been organized, including the production of raw materials, spinning, fabric manufacturing, and the manufacture of garments and carpets.

The main products are fabrics and garments made from them like denim pants, shorts, textiles, carpets and leather products. Tajikistan has a program targeted at supporting the development of the textile and clothing industry and improving the quality management infrastructure.

Prosperity Textile, one of the main denim producers worldwide, has chosen for its new facility one of the most interesting and sustainable-oriented Itema technologies, iSAVER™ equipped on the Itema. Prosperity Textiles is, in fact, one of the early adopters of this new technology for the new plant that the world-famous indigo fabrics producer will open in Vietnam, and that will be exclusively equipped with the latest Itema weaving machine model, demonstrating once again its green, future-oriented approach.

iSAVER™: the ideal green tool for denim weaving, developed by ItemaLab™, the Itema Advanced Innovation Department, is able to completely eliminate the left-hand weft waste, allowing to insert the weft yarns in the fabric without the need of additional yarns. iSAVER™ significantly reduces raw material waste, leading to tangible benefits in terms of machine’s efficiency, cost reduction and energy saving.

The introduction of iSAVER™ clearly sets a new benchmark in terms of sustainability within denim fabric production. Furthermore, the iSAVER™ is one of the key features of the Itema R95002denim, the rapier weaving machine born and designed to weave denim guaranteeing to weavers superior textile quality, outstanding user-friendliness and tangible energy and raw materials saving.

Pakistan is giving high priority to the value-added textile export industry. The aim is to increase exports, boost the domestic economy, accelerate industrialisation and create job opportunities. In order to promote value addition and exports, the regulatory duty on the import of yarn and other raw materials has been significantly decreased.

The regulatory duty has been revised only on 90 items whereas the same has been increased on 100 luxury items. Further, rebate will also be paid with the export proceeds electronically in order to facilitate the exporters. The process of validating licenses – for export-oriented units and manufacturing bonds – will be soon automated. The audit will also be done automatically by the system. Pakistan’s textile exports constitute a major portion of the country’s overall exports.

The six major sub-sectors of the textile sector, including spinning, weaving, processing, printing, garment manufacturing, and yarn manufacturing, are expected to benefit by adopting value addition and modern techniques. The country is working on upgrading its supply chain and improving productivity. There is room for further expansion of the textile sector with improvement in the law and order and energy situations. As compared to 2013, Pakistan is a changed country now with a conducive environment for both local and foreign investors.

Oerlikons will cooperate with the Chinese machine and plant manufacturer Shaoyang Textile Machinery for nonwoven solutions in the hygiene market. The aim is to jointly advance the international sales of Spunmelt lines for hygiene applications in the field of disposable nonwovens outside China.

Oerlikons business unit Nonwoven will be responsible for the entire project in the future. To this end, the Neumünster-based company will contribute its know-how in plant engineering to the partnership. Additionally, Oerlikon acquires the CE certifications of all exported Shaoyang Spunmelt lines. Oerlikon will also be responsible for product and process guarantees and will provide worldwide customer services outside China. Shaoyang Textile Machinery, on the other hand, supplies the Spunmelt plant technologies.

Apparel Textile Sourcing Miami (ATSM) will take place from May 20 to 22, 2019. This is the largest apparel and textile sourcing show in the southern US and Latin America. It attracts the attention and support of manufacturers and industry partners across the globe.

The event will host more than 300 international and domestic manufacturing companies exhibiting a wide range of products and process solutions in the field of manufacturing and sourcing services. It will present three days of networking, seminars and fashion shows and connect southeastern US, the Americas and the Caribbean to the production world of apparel, textile, and fashion.

Top buyers from more than 40 countries are expected to attend ATSM 2019 to source, connect and develop lasting relationships with qualified international and domestic suppliers. Conference and educational sessions featuring industry experts will cover fashion trends, new technology applications such as AI and 3D printing, sourcing tips, sustainability, e-commerce strategy, international trade policy, marketing techniques and much more.

A pavilion will display more than 100 unique products from emerging markets including Inner Mongolia, East Africa, India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan and more. Another pavilion will showcase a curated collection of streetwear -- a dominating industry trend that has taken over the men’s market.

Nearly 70 per cent of the European clothing retailers avoid using the 'Made in Bangladesh' line in the tags. Poor images of the country, stemming from sub-standard workplace safety and low payment to workers are some of the major reasons. Moreover, it is not mandatory in the European Union to state the country of origin of the garment; only the fabric composition and care instructions are needed in the labeling. The same retailers use the countries of origin for others though. It is only in case of Bangladesh that they forfeit transparency.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), however, ruled out the possibility of Bangladesh's garment products being re-branded as another country's in the absence of the 'Made in Bangladesh' line in the tags. Both the buyers and manufacturers have strict tracking system now.

Labeling the country of origin or the country of export is mandatory under the Tariff Act of 1930 in the US, so all American retailers use the 'Made in Bangladesh' line in the tags.

Kenya has become a net importer of cotton as the current home production cannot satisfy demand. There has been a decrease in the number of ginneries from 24 to only about 10 due to the low production of lint. The ginneries have an installed capacity of approximately 1,40,000 bales annually but the utilised capacity is a meager 20,000 bales. In addition only 15 of the 52 integrated textile mills devoted to yarn and fabric production are operational, operating at 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the installed capacity. This has led to a decrease in cotton spinning.

There has been a 71.42 per cent decrease in average annual lint production compared to 1984. Cotton cultivation is undertaken by small-scale farmers in marginal and arid areas on small land holdings averaging about a hectare. Only an estimated 40,000 farmers are believed to be active in the industry as at June 2018.

Plans are to expand the acreage under cotton to 2,00,000 hectares, up from the current 29,000 before the end of this year. Improved seeds will be used to improve production of the crop in western Kenya where cotton farming is largely practiced. Seeds are being tested in different parts of the country.

The European Union accounts for 40 per cent of all Cambodian exports. Between 2011 and 2016, exports rose sharply by 227 per cent. The EU is Cambodia’s main export destination. Of Cambodia’s garment exports, 46 per cent goes to Europe, 24 per cent to the United States, 16 per cent to Japan and nine per cent to Canada.

However, now the EU has begun the process of withdrawing Cambodia’s EBA status, as the country’s economy has kept growing. Vietnam does not have EBA access and neither does Indonesia or Thailand as these countries are seen to be having economic growth. When a country loses EBA access, their exports are taxed.

EBA has contributed significantly to job creation and growth of Cambodia’s textile sector. Everything But Arms is part of the EU’s generalized system of preference which came into force in 2001. This project covers around 7,200 product tariff lines, 919 of which are agricultural products. For Cambodia, EBA provides a lot of benefits to the agriculture industry, in particular, rice and a number of other products. In the last couple of years, Cambodia has significantly increased rice exports to the EU, especially, France and Italy.