Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last week urged all stakeholders in the country to sincerely unlock the huge potential of jute to expedite socio-economic development. She was speaking at the National Jute Day-2018 event and inaugurated a three-day multipurpose jute product fair at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka. "We can produce better jute and jute products. If we can work together, we can tap the enormous potentials of jute for country's development," Ba

Germany has once again emerged as Bangladesh’s largest export market overtaking the United States in July-February of the current fiscal year 2017-18 due to slow growth in readymade garments export to US market. Earlier, Germany had overtaken the US for the first time as Bangladesh’s largest export market for the July-November period of 2016-17 fiscal and then the US regained its position as the country’s largest export destination, according to Export Promotion Bureau data. Export earning

Garment exports to non-traditional markets rose 3.77 percent year-on-year to $2.56 billion in the July-January period of the current fiscal year thanks to preferential trade benefit and fiscal incentive. Apparel shipments fetched $2.47 billion in the same period last fiscal year, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau. In 2008, garment exports to the emerging markets stood at only $800 million. Since then it started climbing and rose five times to $3.90 billion in 2015-16. B

Shanghai-based outbound conglomerate Fosun International Ltd recently bought a controlling stake in French fashion house Jeanne Lanvin SAS. The acquisition will be carried out by Fosun and its subsidiaries, the company announced. This is in line with the target of Fosun Fashion Group established in 2015, which aims at investing globally in the fashion and retail industry. The exact investment amount and stock proportion were not disclosed, but global law firm DLA Piper has estimated the tota

On March 5th, star athletes, professional trainers, and fitness enthusiasts joined Reebok to celebrate the launch of their Fast Flexweaverunning shoe which features Flexweave, the latest cutting-edge technology developed by Reebok’sInnovationCollective, a division dedicated to the “pursuit of progression through innovation and partnerships.” The event, held at Industria Studios in New York City, was an opportunity for guests to wear-test the product during a high intensity training session le

China's exports of goods increased by 36.2 percent in February year on year to 1.11 trillion yuan ($176 billion), compared with a rise of 6 percent in January, the General Administration of Customs reported on Thursday. Imports fell 0.2 percent to 888.16 billion yuan in February. That left the monthly trade surplus to 224.88 billion yuan, an reversal from a trade deficit of 72.99 billion yuan in the same period a year ago. In the first two months, exports rose 18 percent while imports were

Trading activity remain moderate due to renewed buying interest at the lower level at the cotton market on Tuesday. However, the availability of quality cotton resulted in some trading activity. Trading on ready counter was fairly moderate as needy spinners went for quality cotton. The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 7,000 bales, Alipur, at Rs7,000; 400 bales, Jalalpur, at Rs7,100; 2,487 bales, Rahimyar Khan, at Rs7,300; and 800 bales also, Rahimyar Khan,

Turkey, home to a major textile industry and companies that supply global fashion brands such as Zara, Adidas and Nike, imported USD 519 million worth of US cotton in 2016, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute. Turkey is likely to hike duties on imports of American cotton, as retaliation against potential US steel tariffs, said one of President Tayyip Erdogan's economic advisers on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump said that he would impose broad tariffs on imports of ste

Already a major driving force for the world economy, China is poised to make greater contributions with its reaffirmed commitment to economic rebalancing. In a report on government work earlier this week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged to strengthen the fundamental role of consumption in driving economic growth, open China's market wider and defend free and fair trade. Experts believe these efforts will inject new impetus into China's growth and further boost the global economy. "With

Jute and jute goods hold potential to become the next key driver of the economy as the present ones -- garments and remittance -- have little scope to contribute more in the long run, said an economist yesterday. “Bangladesh needs a new growth driver. In this case jute and jute goods can be the main driver soon,” said Hossain Zillur Rahman. The government has been favouring the garments sector over the years and should similarly give policy support on adding value to jute and jute goods an