Bangladesh : Garment factories to make payments before Eid - Minister In order to ward off any kind of untoward incident before the Eid-ul-Azha, owners of garment industries of the country, guaranteed industry workers to pay full salary for the month of October and half salary for November, said Mr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Labour and Employment Minister. If possible, the owners will also pay bonus to their workers before the festival, which will be observed on November 28. Legal actions would be taken against the garment owners, if they fail to pay the assured wages on time, said the minister. It might be difficult for around 860 small and medium garment factories to do the payments as they witnessed very few orders from international buyers on account of economic slowdown, said an expert of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). However, these industries will make payments before Eid by taking loans from banks as BGMEA has advised garment enterprises to pay salary, bonus and overtime to the workers before the festival, at any cost. The issue of payment had earlier been discussed by a crisis-management committee constituted with representatives of BGMEA, BKMEA (Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association) and workers and officials of the home and labour ministries. India : Lilliput Kidswear wins 'SME of the Year' award Lilliput Kidswear Ltd, the dominant player in the Kidswear industry walked away with the prestigious ‘SME of the Year Award’ and ‘Most Promising SME - Retail’ at the ‘CNBC TV18 and ICICI Bank’s ‘Emerging India Awards 2009’. These Awards are India’s foremost initiative powered by the capability of shaping the future of Indian SMEs, and have been acknowledged as India’s biggest business award by the Limca Book of Records. Lilliput won these two prestigious awards for its global competitiveness whose business practices are at par with global giants. The ‘Emerging India Awards 2009’ salutes those entities that are geared up to take on the world and are elevating Indian Inc to the global village. The eminent jury, sieving through 300,000 applications, conducted a detailed national survey spread across the spectrum and awarded Lilliput the coveted ‘SME of the Year’ Award as an acknowledgment to its achievement. The Award was presented by the honourable Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram. Lilliput also won the ‘Most Promising SME - Retail’ for its distinction and growth in the Indian Retail industry. Thrilled Mr. Sanjeev Narula, Managing Director, Lilliput Kidswear Ltd, said, “It is a moment of great pride and honour for us to have been judged as the ‘SME of the Year’ and ‘Most Promising SME - Retail’ by the most eminent jury. Our commitment towards the industry, consistent high-quality and diligent team has won us this acclaim. The awards bring along with it a greater responsibility and promise to excel in our stream.” He added, “These awards will help us gain better access to capital, technology, global markets and quality manpower”. The ‘Emerging India Awards’ honored SMEs which are competent enough to develop a higher benchmark of excellence, which prove to be profound motivation to the next generation of SMEs, bringing them on par with top global organizations. The awards felicitated a total of 12 categories like Automobiles, auto ancillaries and engineering; IT Communication and Entertainment(ICE) and ITeS; FMCG, food and agri-based business; Textiles and apparels; Retail; Pharmaceuticals and chemicals; Gems and jewellery and others. Bangladesh : UK-based garment company to invest $5 m Talisman Limited, a company based in UK, soon will establish a high fashion garment industry at a cost of US $5 million in Dhaka Export Processing Zone. In this regard, an agreement was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and Talisman Limited in the BEPZA Complex. BEPZA member Mr. Moyjuddin Ahmed, and Chairman & Managing Director of Talisman Limited Mr. MA Matin represented their respective organizations. The company would generate employment for around 1,800 people in Bangladesh, through this establishment. Ethiopia : ALTEX & ALMEDA sign long term apparel deal On November 19, 2009 the USAID East Africa Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Program (COMPETE), a regional trade development project based in Nairobi, host a ceremony in Addis to highlight expanding U.S.-Ethiopian business ties. ALMEDA TEXTILES, a member of the EFFORT Group, and two U.S. companies, ATLAS MANUFACTURING GROUP and PINNACLE TEXTILES, will sign agreements establishing long term relationships in the apparel sector. Atlas Manufacturing Group is a leading corporation in the U.S. uniform, corporate wear, and medical garments markets. Pinnacle is the U.S. leader in kitchen wear and hospitality garments. ALMEDA TEXTILES is one the largest vertically integrated textile and apparel firms in Ethiopia spinning, weaving and finishing fabrics in its own textile mill and manufacturing apparel in its own garment factory. These partnerships will lead to initial production volumes of more than one million units of T-shirts, kitchen wear and uniforms per year, providing jobs to over 1,000 Ethiopians. These commercial agreements are a result of several initiatives undertaken by COMPETE’s East and Central Africa Trade Hub (ECA Hub). COMPETE provided technical assistance to ALMEDA and sponsored the company to exhibit at the MAGIC Apparel Trade Show in August 2009. The Africa Pavilion at MAGIC, designed and managed by COMPETE, has become the premier platform for African Apparel exporters to access the U.S. market. Sustained ECA Hub support to the Ethiopian Apparel sector under the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative dates back to 2003. The USAID COMPETE project works across East and Central Africa in collaboration with regional economic communities such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to reduce barriers to trade and to help African companies become more competitive in the regional and global marketplace. The ECA Trade Hub raises awareness about AGOA and provides targeted capacity building and market linkage support to exportready firms in East and Central Africa. Since 2000, 18 of 29 eligible African countries have exported ready-made garments duty free to the U.S. under AGOA. This event comes on the heels of the just concluded 8th AGOA forum held in Nairobi last August. Fiji : Apparel sector contributes notably in poverty elevation Textile, Clothing and Footwear industry of Fiji is offering a significant contribution in poverty elevation of the country by employing around 4,000 workers and supporting over 8,000 people below poverty line. It is expected that the monthly exports of 35 export oriented factories of the country would become stable after witnessing a tough period in the last 12 months, as many factories have started utilizing their full capacity and the industry is currently in its peak season. The industry exported US $80 million worth of goods this year, recording a decline of around 25 percent compared to last year’s export of $110 million, said Mr. Kalpesh Solanki, President TCF Council. According to Mr. Solanki, government’s decision to offer $300,000 marketing grant to the TCF industry for next 3 years would prove to be a significant assistance for the sector. It will help the sector to improve its presence and penetration in the markets such as Australia, New Zealand and the US, and to achieve the target of bringing in $150 million revenue per year as well as to employ more than 6,000 people. The government has now recognized the contribution of TCF sector in country’s economic development and employment generation, stated TCF stakeholders, who have also made submissions, on how the state can further assist the industry, to be included in the 2010 national budget, to be announced soon. The submission mentions the re-introduction of Tax free factory incentive scheme, urgent need for the establishment of National and Sectoral productivity targets and to establish a national charter of "Full Employment target". The industry also recommends a new scheme to establish sewing factories in a bid to employ women, who are currently on welfare, to make them independent and also to support local people to cross over the poverty level. United States Of America : Agri-businesses need disaster assistance, NCC & Agriculture groups The National Cotton Council has been joined by other national commodity organizations representing producers, processors and related agri-businesses in expressing strong support for the prompt passage of legislation to provide funding for emergency disaster assistance. In their letter, the groups thanked a group of Senators for their efforts to deliver much-needed financial assistance to producers and rural communities to assist them in recovering from devastating losses caused by hurricanes, excessive rain during harvest and other weather-related natural disasters that have affected growers in the Mid-South, Southwest and neighboring states. They pledged to urge other Senate leaders to work with the group to identify an appropriate legislative vehicle that could be enacted to provide timely emergency financial assistance to farmers and ranchers who have suffered weather-related losses in 2009. “Soybeans, cotton, rice, peanuts, sweet potatoes and other crops and segments of the agricultural economy currently are experiencing devastating weather-related losses,” the groups stated. “In some cases, the 2009 losses follow on the heels of similar losses in 2008. To make the situation even worse, the rains in the Mid-South came during harvest so farmers had invested the maximum in inputs to bring the crops to completion only to suffer yield and quality losses, in addition to increased harvest expenses which has resulted in severe financial stress. Processors and related businesses that rely upon robust production will operate at reduced levels or not at all, placing stress on small businesses and rural communities.” The groups said the legislation introduced on November 20 by Senators Thad Cochran, Blanche Lincoln and Roger Wicker can deliver urgently needed disaster assistance by utilizing a delivery mechanism similar to Direct Payments. The payments would be limited to growers in counties with Secretarial disaster declaration. The projected cost of the emergency assistance would be off-set so there is no increase in the budget deficit. They stated, “This delivery mechanism offers the combination of timely assistance for yield and quality losses that can be delivered with minimal administrative burden on USDA.” The groups also noted that although loss estimates are preliminary, they already have reached the hundreds of millions of dollars. They emphasized that many producers need assistance within weeks to repay loans and secure new financing in time for spring planting any alternative means of providing assistance, however well-intentioned cannot be delivered before late 2010 or early 2011. Bangladesh : Country turning into playground for sportswear brands Bangladesh is turning in to a global hub for outsourcing sportswear as many renowned brands are lining up at the door steps of apparel manufacturers to purchase functional sportswear clothing, as and when a big sporting event is scheduled. The main features which attract sportswear brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma, who are sourcing their requirements from Bangladesh since long, is the quality and the competitive rates quoted by the clothing exporters of the country. Fibre2fashion spoke exclusively to Mr Ahasan Khan, Vice-Chairman of the multi-faceted Viyellatex Group, who said, “Sportswear brands used to buy from traditional sourcing hubs like China, Taiwan, Thailand and India, but in recent days, Bangladesh has became focus point for all the sportswear brands because, it has the ability, capability and competitiveness over those countries”. He explained by saying, “Bangladesh used to be sourcing place for value products only but now we have proved that the local manufacturer has the ability to produce quality products for the up-market and our work-force also has the required skills. “We have lots of vertical units for manufacturing knit or jersey, who can also handle large volumes of order under one roof and also provide competitive prices, since our labour cost is cheaper then rest of the world, which has facilitated most of the global brands to outsource from Bangladesh. “Another important issue is that, most of the sportswear brands have expanded their product portfolio’s from specialized sportswear products to fashion life style goods, which has increased the range of product and items. “People prefer to wear sportswear as a fashion wear or casual wear for day to day use, which earlier was meant for sports activities alone, which has also helped increase the popularity and scope of sportswear. He concluded by saying, “Viyellatex is one of the leading knitwear manufacturer company and our clients include well known sportswear brands like Puma and Adidas, with whom we have a strategic partnership, along with which we also supply to other renowned brands like G-star, Esprit, Marks & Spencer, etc.” India : Planning Commission member raises plight of silk weavers According to a member of the Planning Commission, which is an apex body of the Government of India and formulates the five year plans, there is a need to waive off or reduce customs duty on imports of silk yarn from China. Ms Syeda Hameed who was on a two day visit to Varanasi, which is famous for its silk industry, was particularly appalled, where she met the poor silk weavers. According to her the duty on Chinese silk fabric is higher than Chinese silk yarn. She sternly said that the Banarasi silk industry was dependent on Chinese silk rather than silk yarn from Karnataka and promised to raise the issue with the Planning Commission as well as the government of India. She also promised to bring to light the loop holes in the schemes launched by the Central Government for the development of handloom and handicraft, since these loopholes prevented these weavers from being benefited from the various schemes. India : Textiles & apparel market ripe for FDI: Textiles Minister Indian Textiles and Apparel market is currently valued at US$ 40 billion and is growing at 14%, and most of the top global apparel retailers have their scouring network in India like JC Penney, Nautica, Dockers, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Kohl’s, Liz, cK, Sprit, M&S, GAP, United Colors of Benetton, Mango, Zara and Dillard’s, said Thiru. Dayanidhi Maran, Union Textiles Minister while inaugurating the 25th IAF World Apparel Convention here on November 19, 2009. Thiru. Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry also addressed the gathering. There is an urgent need to attract and sustain FDI in textiles sector if India has to achieve the goals of employment generation, technology up gradation, creation of brand India and attain 4% share in global trade in textiles and clothing, said the Minister. India, which is the only bright spot along with China in otherwise bleak global economic scenario, with ever increasing per capita, household and discretionary income, with US$ 425 billion (Rs. 19,46,500 crore) retail Industry will be an attractive destination for foreign Investment in coming years. The Minister said that he had led a Industry delegation to Tokyo, Las Vegas, Zurich, Milan and Istanbul and invited the major international player to collaborate with Indian textiles Industry in manufacture of fabric and garmenting, setting up of Green Field Units in textiles machinery, manmade fibre and yarn and create brand equity with Indian Apparel Company. The response has been overwhelming and we expects to get positive results very soon, informed Thiru. Maran. The Textiles Minister said that Indian textiles and apparel exports, which are currently US$ 22 billion, are expected to register four folds increase to touch US$ 90-100 billion in the next twenty five years. Approximately 60% of Indian exports of textiles and over 70% of clothing are to USA and EU 27 markets, and there is an urgent need to broaden product mix and explore new markets, while maintaining and increasing Indian textiles and clothing (T&C) share in core markets through product innovation and diversification, said Thiru. Maran. To diversify the T&C exports and reduce dependence on USA and EU 27, the Government is promoting exports to Japan, South East Asia and Australia under its ‘Look East Policy’, said the Minister. The Textiles Minister outlined that in order for India to have double digit growth, attributes such as job creation, inclusive economic growth, infrastructure development and health care improvement are minimum requirements. The technical textiles will play an important role in all these aforementioned areas, said Thiru. Maran. There is an immediate need to increase technical textiles usage in our country, which is 4% as compared to international norms of 22%, emphasized Thiru Maran. Speaking on the occasion , Thiru. Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry welcomed the participants and gave an overview of the foreign trade scenario. He said that with skilled manpower, diverse raw material base and growing economy, the Indian market is an attractive destination for foreign capital. He said that his Ministry is taking steps to diversify Indian exports to new and emerging markets. In the Foreign Trade Policy 2009, twenty nine countries in Latin America, Africa and Oceania have been given special thrust under the Focus Marketing Scheme and Focus Market Scheme.