Cambodia on Wednesday raised the controversial monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 28 percent, a decision likely to infuriate unions seeking a higher increase and revive calls for strike programme. Cambodia deployed armed troops in the capital in September as garment workers held rallies to revive a campaign for higher wages that had helped to stoke a year-long political crisis. Sixteen members of the Labour Ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee voted for the government-proposed minim

Textile associations have rejected the four months long gas closure plan and urged the government to immediately reverse this gas supply cut decision. Textile associations asked the government to reverse the proposed gas cut plan within two days. While addressing a joint press conference of Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA), All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (

A compact cotton yarn manufacturing company will be set up on 40 bighas of land in Habiganj in the next one and a half years at an approximate investment of Tk 150 crore. The new venture, Far East Spinning Industries Ltd, will be the first company that will completely manufacture compact yarn. It will have 25,000 spindles with a production capacity of 14 tonnes of high quality yarn per day, said a top official of the firm. Compact yarn is a value-added product that reduces dyeing, finis

The textile industry of Iran needs to form a network of marketing and sales units in factories, as the industry has a high value for finished products and can maintain a working capital for producers, according to Golnaz Nasrollahi, General Director, Department of Textile and Clothing Industry, Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, IRNA reported. She emphasized the managerial role of producers in the textile market and how producers throughout the world offer their products to the consumers

Although US cotton exports started slowly compared to recent years, they are on track to reach the forecast of 10 million bales for 2014/15 cotton season, the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its November 2014 report on “Cotton: World Markets and Trends”. By the end of the first quarter of the current season on October 30, the total cotton exports by the US were just 12 percent of the forecast. One of the reasons for this slow start wa

To preserve and make full use of local culture and history, the Qingdao Traffic Business District authority renovated the century-old, State-owned No 6 Cotton Textile Factory into the M6 Virtual Reality Industrial Park, which has 16 virtual reality programs. "As well as business, we also cherish our culture, history and traditions as they are not only our invaluable wealth but also the humanistic foundation that can elevate the soft power of this area," said Liu Yungang, director at the devel

US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena has strongly denied the allegations that Bangladesh pays tariff for apparel exports to the US market. “Bangladesh pays zero … zero … zero … zero tariff,” he firmly said, replying to a question at a meeting with the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) held at the National Press Club in the city yesterday. His claim came as a surprise to Bangladeshi garment manufacturers and exporters as they have to pay an average of 16.5% tariff for apparel exports to US.

Central Chairman Aptma S M Tanveer has said that the industry would face complete closure in case the SNGPL fails to ensure regular gas supply to the production units during winter. He stated this while talking to media after welcoming the Managing Director SNGPL Arif Hameed to Aptma Punjab office along with his top management. Group leader Aptma Gohar Ejaz, Chairman Aptma Punjab Seth Muhammad Akbar, Central Vice Chairman Aptma Wisal A Monnoo and the managing committee members of the association

Export earnings took a hit of mainly inspection and compliance issues beginning from mid last year, as it saw negative growth last month. In October this year, overall export earnings declined by 7.7% to almost $2bn compared to $2.2bn in the same month a year earlier, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released yesterday. The figure is nearly 20% lower than the target of $2.5bn for the month. The export earnings from the readymade garments sector plunged for the second c

Japan wants to increase its investment in Bangladesh’s readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and electronic manufacturing industries, said JETRO country representative Kei Kawano. He came up with the announcement after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) in Dhaka yesterday. Kei Kawano and MCCI President Rokia Afzal Rahman signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations, aimed at improving cooperation o