Bangladesh : Recession: a boon or woe for Bangladeshi T&G industry? Exports records of Bangladeshi textile and garment industry- a vital sector in country’s economy, show ascending trend since past few years, and accounts a considerable share in country’s GDP. Current economic challenges, that have perplexed eminent countries across the globe, on contrary, have augured the prospects of the Bangladeshi textile and garment industry. During the first three months of the fiscal year 2007-2008, RMG exports embarked a 44.66 percent growth, while it hiked to 45.26 percent in September, according to the BGMEA. Apart from this, ever increasing imports of plant and machinery by the sector in the second half of last year, investments by garment companies in up-gradation of machinery and infrastructure to pace up with the times, considerable investments by the textile industry setting up spinning mills across the country to save precious foreign exchange on import of raw materials like fibre and yarn, etc. justify the optimism amongst global fraternity for Bangladeshi textiles and garment industry. In spite of this optimism, as the sting of global recession is spreading like a slow poison, engulfing even strong economies; it is an obvious question if Bangladeshi textile and clothing sector will be an exception. Getting inquisitive on this and such more interrogations, Face2Face team at Fibre2Fashion interviewed Mr SM Nurul Huda Chowdhury - Managing Director, Base Textiles Limited – a pioneer in composite manufacturing of fabrics to garments with its headquarter in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Please click here to read complete conversation. United States Of America : Will Obama's trade policies support textile trade? People hoping audaciously for a change felt their fulfillment when Barak Obama was elected as the 44th president of US. The coming years will be an unprecedented period for the textile and apparel industries of US. Obama has proposed a detailed plan to get the sliding economy back in track by coming up with more employment generation, and middle-class tax cuts. This gives an option to think that textile and apparel industry would not be the prime focus for a limited time. In a letter sent to the National Council of Textile Organizations, Obama has given a hint of his notion to change the economic policies observed in the country for the past eight years. He has proposed plans which would give priority to the needs of the middle income populace. He has articulated his willingness to take actions to curtail the currency manipulation adopted by China, and bring regulations to limit the inflow of textile and apparel imports from China into the US market. The new reign of Obama is positively expected by the people to bring the country in a good position to deal with the global trade regime. Click here to view the complete article. United States Of America : Dassault Apparel spells out strategy to remain competitive Dussault Apparel Inc Jason Dussault, Dussault Apparel, Founder and Chief Creative Officer, provides corporate update for Dussault Apparel and strategy aimed at remaining competitive in a difficult economy. Anticipating a continued economic slowdown for retail in North America, Jason Dussault said, "While we continue to remain optimistic about the future of Dussault Apparel, it is absolutely critical that the company continues to take the necessary steps to ensure the survival of the Dussault Apparel Brand's future." Specifically, Mr. Dussault went on to say, "We have taken a number of important steps including a major reduction in overhead and operating expenses to ensure our future in such a difficult economic climate. Specifically, staff levels have been dramatically reduced, the Los Angeles Store was closed on October 31, 2008, office and warehouse space has been significantly reduced. In addition, going forward from a design, product development, production and inventory management point of view, we have adopted a discipline of creating only pre-sold inventory. "We have also been successful in identifying low cost effective promotional methods to continue to build awareness of the Dussault Brand. For example, in the past three months we have received major media coverage to name a few in My Vancouver Magazine, 24 Hours, Skinnie Magazine, Transworld Business, CBC and Ask Men.com. "We expect that these steps will dramatically reduce our cash needs and help to drive the brand and company toward a profitable future. On a positive note, the 2009 Magnificent Seven Hoodies Collection was marketed on a future booking basis only. I am pleased to report that the entire collection sold out." David Goldman owner of one of Vancouver's premier retailers, BoysCo remarked, "Dussault continues to be one of our strongest brands, and the most recent collection doesn't disappoint." Mr. Dussault concluded by saying, "I have just returned from the ski industry show, the SIA in Las Vegas, where we presented our Dussault designed and developed Money Bags product line to the adrenaline and extreme sports market. The response was overwhelmingly favorable. Head sales agent of Living Dream, Mike Rosen, said the reaction from retailers to the Money Bags line exceeded everyone's expectations." United States Of America : CHM & RockBands to develop high-quality apparel lines RockBands Inc announced that the Company has signed a significant distribution agreement with CHM Solutions. The agreement includes RockBands' new apparel as well as their popular Leather RockBands. CHM Solutions is one of the best/top independent apparel sales, design and consulting distributors in the apparel industry, with distribution into national retailers and high end boutiques in the United States. Teaming up with CHM Solutions to bring RockBands' products to retailers and boutiques throughout the United States is a huge milestone for RockBands. The addition of RockBands to CHM Solutions' roster not only increases the Company's exposure but also constitutes a great endorsement of the quality of RockBands' apparel lines. The Company anticipates a significant boost, both in name recognition and demand for RockBands throughout the entire USA. "Phil Molinari, Chairman of CHM Solutions, wrote the history book as a sales rainmaker with sales of $250 Million for Phillips Van Huessen as their VP of Sales in 1983; $500 Million for Bugle Boy as Exec Vice President in the early 90s; and $250 Million for Nesi Apparel lines Rocawear, Shady, and Tigre in the early 2000s," said Lee Dalhberg, Founder and CEO of the RockBands Apparel Company. "Extrapulate these numbers into today's dollars and the magnitude of numbers are impressive. Mr. Molinari is known in the apparel industry as the 'one to watch.' Phil was voted one of the top 50 Apparel Executives in North America by Sportwear International Magazine in 2000. Phil has brought massive sales to the finest apparel lines and has brought many hot new brands to market. We believe that this distribution agreement will be a major windfall for our Company and its shareholders," said Dalhberg. "CHM Solutions has been watching closely as RockBands, Inc. has gained market share, 2300 plus celebrity endorsements and awareness in the apparel industry. It was only natural that we would come together with this growing Company," stated Phil Molinari, Chairman of CHM Solutions. "RockBands offers to the nation's savvy consumers a cutting edge product, personifies individuality and is trendy. American's love to identify with celebrities and be on the cutting edge; RockBands provides them the opportunity to do just that. We are pleased to add RockBands to CHM Solutions' development and sales of high-quality apparel lines," said Molinari. CHM Solutions is one of the best/top independent apparel sales, design and consulting distributors in the apparel industry, with distribution into national retailers and high end boutiques in the United States. CHM identifies top quality companies and apparel for introduction to the high end markets. RockBands are unique pieces that personify individuality. Each one of a kind piece is hand made using the finest quality aged leather and fixtures. Each stone is hand carved and polished. The stones used are beautiful to the eye and beneficial to the mind and body. Pakistan : 'New textile policy will be flawless & comprehensive' – Textiles Minister The government has been organizing a series of seminars across the country in order to get relevant feedback, which will culminate in to a final seminar at the residence of the President, Mr Zardari. The purpose of this exercise is to understand the problems of the textile sector and submit recommendations to draft a comprehensive textile policy. This was revealed by the Federal Minister of Textiles, Mr Khan at Lahore while addressing stake holders from the textile industry of the province at a seminar. This seminar will be followed by others at Faisalabad, Multan and Sialkot. The earlier ones were held in Karachi and Hyderabad, with the final one at the President’s residence. He said that the government would sympathetically reconsider the demands from the industry, including the one to abolish refundable taxes. He said he was positive that the industry would come through the crisis, but was worried about the liquidity position of the banks if this crisis continued for long as was expected. He advised the exporters from the sector to explore new markets and also keep Russia on their radars as that country was the least to be affected from the current ongoing crisis. Trade body chiefs from the spinning, weaving and hosiery sectors also put up their set of demands in order to get relief measures from the textile policy. United States Of America : CMU athletics agrees to apparel partnership with Adidas Central Michigan University’s Athletics Department has announced it will enter into an exclusive apparel and shoe agreement with Adidas. The proposed deal was approved by the CMU Board of Trustees on Thursday. The agreement would outfit all of CMU’s varsity athletics programs in Adidas apparel and footwear, provide the university substantial savings on game uniforms, practice apparel and shoes, and bring consistency to color, design and logo usage on CMU’s uniforms and apparel. “This agreement with a nationally known leader in the apparel industry like Adidas further illustrates our drive to enhance the regional and national recognition of Central Michigan University and especially our athletic programs,” said CMU Director of Athletics Dave Heeke. “It’s also an agreement that will benefit many different areas of campus that serve our overall student body on a daily basis. Reaching this agreement has been a collaborative effort of many departments on campus. “While this is a tremendous marketing venture, it is also a very prudent business move for our program,” he added. “The partnership with Adidas increases to a much higher level our purchasing power and our ability to outfit CMU student-athletes. An added result of the partnership will be consistent uniform and color combinations across our programs and an opportunity to grow the CMU brand.” The agreement with Adidas marks the first time all of CMU’s varsity athletics programs have been included in a single, all-encompassing apparel agreement. The utilization of a single vendor for all programs will ensure consistency in image branding, particularly uniform and apparel colors and design elements, throughout the athletics department and across campus. Each of CMU’s programs will receive equal treatment in the allocation of apparel and shoes under the agreement. The contract also addresses budgetary concerns within the athletics department, allowing the department to effectively control cost growth while providing the best available products to all its student-athletes. The special apparel pricing available to CMU Athletics also will be extended to club sport programs, intramurals and other campus groups. “The thing that I’m most excited about is the opportunity to brand our 34 sport clubs and intramural programs along with our varsity programs,” said Director of University Recreation Stan Shingles. “This is the first time that we’ve been able to do that. I’m extremely excited about partnering with Adidas and think it is a great opportunity for Central Michigan University.” The agreement also includes extensive retail opportunities for the university bookstore. “I am very excited about the all-sports deal that has been reached between CMU Athletics and Adidas,” said CMU Bookstore Director Barry Waters. “This deal will benefit the entire CMU community because Adidas is a solid brand, and their merchandise will be a fresh change for our market. Their price points are very attractive to our customers, they have high quality merchandise and their selection covers men, women and children.” The agreement with Adidas will take effect beginning with the 2009-10 academic year. Lesotho : ‘Crisis may cost 42,000 clothing industry jobs’ – Finance Minister Lesotho, a small country, completely surrounded from all sides by the borders of South Africa is going through the same pain, due to the slowdown in the global markets, as the rest of the countries in the world. In the budget statement, the Finance and Development Planning Minister of the country, Mr Timothy Thahane said that textile industries of Lesotho will no longer be able to avail of facilities provided by banks in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. He added by saying that the local banks also do not have the expertise, other than through their head offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. The textile industry used to open letters of credit, avail of export-import financing and other sundry facilities from the overseas banks. He continued by saying that, purchase orders from the US to our clothing industry, has fallen to a trickle. The clothing industry is at the risk of losing 42,000 jobs due to the slowdown in orders from the overseas markets. The effects of the recession are also being felt by the mining industry, the diamond sector in particular, he said. Mines have also started laying-off workers which was also adding to the woes of the local populace which is dependent on the mining sector for their livelihood. Mauritius : Govt to save jobs in T&G sector with stimulus package The textile and garment industry, which provides employment to hundreds of thousands of workers, is feeling the heat of the recessionary trends prevailing in global markets, particularly in its key US markets which is the epicenter of the whole crisis. On the lines of a stimulus package announced by their respective governments in India and China, the textile and garment sector in Mauritius is also set to receive a similar type of stimulus package from its government. This announcement has come on the heels of garment manufacturing companies, who have started laying-off workers and are also not able to keep their repayment commitments with the banks and financial institutions. The industry which employs over 50,000 workers is facing mass unrest, due to the closures effected by their respective companies who in turn have been deeply impacted by the slowdown in the global markets. United States Of America : Maersk at Port of Wilmington supports NC's textile & apparel industries The Danish container shipping company, Maersk Line, has announced that it will begin weekly vessel calls effective Friday, March 6, 2009, between the Port of Wilmington and Puerto Cortes, Honduras and Santo Tomas, Guatemala in northern Central America, with over the road service to El Salvador and Nicaragua. “North Carolina and our ports continue to be attractive to businesses around the world. Maersk Line is a perfect fit for North Carolina and the Port of Wilmington,” said Gov. Bev Perdue. “I will continue to focus on building up the capacity of North Carolina’s port enterprises.” Maersk Line is the world’s largest container shipping company and has a significant regional office in Charlotte. “Maersk’s new service at the Port of Wilmington supports North Carolina’s textile and apparel industries,” said Carl J. Stewart, Jr., Chairman, NC State Ports Authority Board of Directors, “ and will help to sustain the jobs of thousands of North Carolina workers in these and related industries.” The Port of Wilmington’s proximity to the state’s textile operations increases their competitiveness in the global market through lower inland transportation costs. “The cost savings on inland transportation to Wilmington will be realized in the delivery of raw materials to the port for export to the North Central American zone, as well as in the return of finished goods to distribution centers in North Carolina.” said Thomas J. Eagar, Ports Authority CEO. “Taking advantage of this new trade lane offered through the Port of Wilmington also expands the advantages of the North Carolina Ports tax credit to a broader range of importers and exporters,” said Glenn Carlson, Ports Authority vice president of business and economic development. Maersk is the third container shipping company to begin service at the Port of Wilmington, following expansion of the container terminal. The improvements include a 42-foot navigation channel, berth reconstruction, four 100-foot gauge container cranes and a terminal operating system that allows customers to track their own containers online in and out of the port. “The state’s investment in improving the port is paying off with new business,” Stewart added.