Pleasant surprises are often followed by troubling afterthoughts in Pakistan. Beautiful women showcasing top textile brands cast a spell on commuters, slowing down traffic on busy roads. Smiling down from billboards, they remind people of an additional pressure on the family budget at the start of the summer shopping season. An average household on the lower rung of the social scale annually spends around Rs5,000 per female on cotton clothing, according to an estimate based on a random survey

Southeast Asia's major economies drew more foreign direct investment combined than China for the second straight year in 2014, as growth in their giant neighbour cooled. But by country, inflows into the region were uneven, swayed by political change and the varying costs of doing business. Overall FDI into Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam rose to a record $128 billion in 2014, estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters show. That surpassed the $119.56 billion t

Textile industry are seeking reduction in excise and import duties while pitching for higher fund allocation as it will enable Indian textile industry to achieve a substantial growth rate in the market of man-made textile products as this segment has not achieved any growth rate over a period. In this regard, South Indian Mills Association (SIMA) representatives met Textile Minister Santosh Gangwar. According to SIMA Chairmen T Rajkumar, it is essential to reduce the central excise duty on m

Turkey has imposed an additional 50 per cent customs duty on Pakistani handmade carpets, which can have tumultuous impact, since Turkey is the second biggest importer of Pakistani handmade carpets. The imposition of the duty comes following the safeguard measure imposed on Pakistani apparel exports at 42.2 per cent in 2011, making exports to Turkey unviable. In a letter written to the federal minister of commerce, the Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) has crit

Organic cotton can prove to be a successful substitute to the non-organic cotton for Chinese cotton farmers, as it fetches a higher margin and its demand is likely to grow manifold by 2020 in the international market, according to a cotton expert. "Organic or sustainable cotton helps farmers in China to fetch bigger margins. There are several market opportunities in sustainable and organic cotton," Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect, an organisation serving retailers and brands and farmers th

The number of newly established firms continued to surge on the back of government efforts to streamline the process for starting a business, according to official data. About 348,200 new companies were registered in January, up 37.74% year-on-year, statistics from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce showed. Notably, the number of newly registered firms in the tertiary industry surged 41.61% to 280,100, accounting for 80.44% of new companies. By the end of January, the

Garment makers are dreading a significant drop in work orders from June as retailers refuse to travel to Bangladesh for the political turmoil since January 6. The retailers or their representatives were due in January and February to have a look at the factories and put in work orders for the summer but they did not come, said Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Although the internal situation like transportation of goods from fac

The textile industry is drawing up the “13th Five-year Plan of Textile Industry” and the draft of which will be finished in the first half of this year, Li Jincai, director of China Textile Planning Institute of Construction said at the recently held 2015 China-Asia International Textile Forum. According to Li Jincai, the 13th Five-year Plan will focus on five directions: upgrading of textile chain, internationalization, domestic regional transfer, eco-friendly sustainable development and ta

To revive the handloom industry and protect the interests of weavers, the Weavers’ Protection Committee are wanting separate bank to cater to their needs. Hence, they have urged the government to take step for establishing an exclusive bank. Yemmiganur and Adoni towns were predominantly inhabited by weaver families and they are leading a miserable life since the collapse of the cottage industry. The association drew the attention of the government to the need for improving the designs and qua

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has called upon G7 countries to impress upon the global brands, retailers to uphold justice and fairness in determination of price towards RMG manufacturers within a sustainable global supply chain. Addressing the G7 stakeholders’ consultation on developing sustainable global supply chain, the Commerce Minister elaborated the way the Bangladesh textiles and RMG industry grew over the decades complying with the range of international social and environmental stan