Vietnam’s textile and apparel industry expects to achieve high growth rates over the next 12 years, Tran Du Lich, member of National Advisory Council on Financial and Monetary Policy, told the 4th Vietnam Textile Summit in Hanoi recently. Textile goods worth around $31 billion were exported last year, representing a 10.23 per cent year-on-year rise, he said. The rapid growth is expected to continue this year with an estimated turnover of $33 billion, he said. The sector also promotes the

The Indian Government will change the base year for calculating gross domestic product (GDP) and retail inflation to 2017-18 and 2018 respectively, which is expected to be effective by 2019-20. The last base year for GDP, index of industrial production (IIP) and consumer price index (CPI) was revised to 2011-12 and 2012 (for inflation), a news agency reported. Allaying fears that the government has changed the GDP and CPI calculation methodologies to suit its needs, minister of statistics and

As many as 364 factories affiliated with the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (Alliance) have completed all material components outlined in their Corrective Action Plans (CAP). The Alliance provides global RMG firms and retailers opportunity to come together and put forward concrete solutions to issues that impact apparel and retail firms worldwide. “We commend the commitment these factories have made to prioritize safety for their workers, and we thank them for setting a standard for ot

Cotton prices in India are likely to stay firm during the next fiscal following the tight demand-supply scenario, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) recently said in a report. Supply constraints may arise from lower fibre production this season due to pests, acreage drop in the next season and adverse weather in other key cotton-growing nations, it said. However, the expectation of firming prices may encourage farmers to sow and arrest the acreage contraction, a news agency reported citing t

The 25th Fashion Week Spring/Summer, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, will be held from July 9 to 12, 2018, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. In the light of fashion technology, a series of seminars on the applications of fashion tech will be held during the event to help industry players to keep abreast with the trend. On July 10, 2018, a seminar entitled ‘The Next Wave in Fashion Technology’ will share on some of the state-of-art technologies disrupt

Moving towards sustainability, Thermore has introduced a revolutionary and blowable product - Ecodown Fibres. These fibres ensure the same loft as high quality 90/10 feathers and can likewise be blown into a garment. Tests performed on Ecodown Fibres have shown an outstanding fill power of over 600, which is how the product guarantees that “puffy” look. The loft of down products is calculated with the “fill power test”: fibres are blown through a cylinder and their volume is measured. The

Two more member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa — Kingdom of Eswatini, formerly called Swaziland, and Ethiopia — have received green signal from their governments to start cultivation of insect-resistant transgenic Bt cotton. They will join Sudan, a COMESA member state, that initiated commercialization of Bt cotton in 2012.Four African countries — Burkina Faso, Egypt, Sudan and South Africa — had to date commercialized Bt cotton, according to information on COMESA sec

The inaugural US Functional Fabric Fair by Performance Days, which will be held on July 23 and 24, 2018, in New York, has attracted global exhibitors and visitors. Top textile manufacturers and service providers, along with sports fashion designers, product managers, purchasing agents, representing functional wear manufacturers, will be seen at the expo. One month prior to the event, some 70 companies are exhibiting and more than 400 attendees from 12 countries have registered to attend th

Egypt’s garment exports rose by 12 per cent during January-May to reach $645 million against $575 million during the same period last year, the Readymade Garments Export Council (RMGEC) said in its monthly report. Exports to the United States also rose by 12 per cent in the same period, recording $310 million, against $276 million in the corresponding period in 2017. The country’s garments exports to Europe during the period was $219 million against $189 million in 2017 — an increase of 16 pe

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently hosted a forum to create a networking platform for Kyrgyz garment firms and foreign brands and buyers. The forum brought together over 20 European and Russian brands and fashion retailers, international apparel equipment manufacturers, and software developers with Kyrgyz apparel firms. An exhibition of the latest garment technologies and business-to-business meetings for buyers, investors, and Kyrgyzstani apparel manufact