Search Results for: Vietnam

INTRODUCTION 

ACCOUNTING used to be restricted to financially measurable matters of profit and loss; expenditure and revenue; taxes and subsidies; investment and liabilities. But the mathematical and statistical skills underpinning a solid set of books and filed accounts are today increasingly being used to measure the environmental and social sustainability of a product, input, production process and supply chain.…

Universities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Madagascar, Nigeria and Yemen have been highlighted as institutions where academics or students were killed because of their beliefs or activism in the past academic year, though a report from campaign group Scholars at Risk (SAR).…

INTRODUCTION

The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a reassessment of the model of relying on one or two outsourcing locations. It has demonstrated that when there is a major disruption caused by an emergency as serious as a pandemic, shipping and industrial processing can be disrupted.…

The second-largest garment exporting country in the world, Bangladesh has grown its position as a key outsourcing hub since the 1980s.  

With a global market share of 6.26%, according to the World Trade Statistical Review 2021 (1), “The industry has come a long way,” said Md. …

The use of ‘sewbots’ that can replace human sewers and other robotics look set to transform the clothing and textile supply chain and facilitate reshoring or near-shoring to developed countries currently reliant on lower income outsourcing hubs, maybe thousands of kilometres away from buyers.…

Halal food exports from India are growing fast, according to a key Indian certification organisation, with domestic consumers among India’s 200 million Muslims also being increasingly demanding about halal standards.

According to Faiyaz Khan, the master technologist in food technology, of certification body the Jamait-Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust, the volume of halal certified exported food products sold from India have grown by more than 50% over the past two years.…

THE TURKISH apparel sector is capitalising on sourcing diversification and changes in retailers’ orders in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Exports are up on last year, and the industry is laying the foundations for strong future demand as the sector expands.…

The Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a revision of the island’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Law, partly to help paint and coatings manufacturers maintain access to the European Union (EU) market. The reform will take account of the EU’s planned Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which may levy duties on products the EU deems have been made with excess carbon emissions.…

INTRODUCTION

Think of finishing and some consumers may conclude that integrating chemicals with or within fibres will always be the most effective way to create a performance or protective textile. But the reality is that applying coatings to textiles and yarns is anything but superficial as a finishing technique.…

A comprehensive study of 3,650 students from 55 counties worldwide has indicated that the expansion of online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has not reduced the attraction of moving countries to undertake in-person higher education in foreign universities and colleges.

Indeed, the study, by IDP Connect, part of Australia-based international student recruitment leader IDP Education, showed that 79% of students questioned were only considering overseas on-campus options.…

INTRODUCTION

Textile and clothing companies are well aware of two major trends driving sales in the industry – sustainability and digitisation. One is driven by the need to adopt sustainable manufacturing processes and materials, to boost sales amongst environmentally conscious consumers and reduce financial and regulatory costs associated with pollution and carbon emissions.…

THE TURKISH apparel sector is capitalising on sourcing diversification and changes in retailers’ orders in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Exports are up on last year, and the industry is laying the foundations for strong future demand as the sector expands.…

The Bangladesh innerwear industry has been witnessing robust growth in the past decade and this outsourcing hub is now competing effectively with its major rival China. The production value of the country’s intimate wear jumped from US216 million in 2012 to US1.078 billion in 2021, according to a report from data service Statista (1).…

Curbs introduced by the Chinese government on the use of electricity within the country have been significantly disrupting the textile supply chain, creating anxiety among garment manufacturers even beyond China’s borders. 

These challenges have unfolded after the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on September 16 unveiled a plan stipulating that China will firmly control energy-hungry and high-emission industrial projects.…

INTRODUCTION

While debates continue over whether Aristotle actually said ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’, the concept that a system can deliver more impact than each element of its technology acting alone is well established in the textile sector.…

INTRODUCTION

Without doubt, the world’s clothing and textile sector is undertaking a technical upgrade that is unprecedented in decades, with new digital systems offering automation and efficient internal controls. As these are worked into the businesses of brands, manufacturers and their suppliers, a new potential emerges, and that is linking these digital systems in a way that could revolutionise efficiencies within the supply chain.…

President Joe Biden may think he has three main foreign policy priorities this year – China, Russia and Iran – but the truth is, as far as the Middle East is concerned, all these challenges roll into one.

That is because both China and Russia are seeking increased influence in the Middle East, and hoping for potential missteps from the USA over the Iran file to leverage their diplomatic positions.…

Covid-19 made 2020 an incredibly disruptive year for the global manufacturing sector and Vietnam’s paint and coatings sector did not escape the pandemic impact. This was despite that this south-east Asian country had an apparently low impact from the disease, with just 9,565 cases (as of June 9, 2021) and just 55 deaths from a 98 million population, albeit with a rash of new cases last month (June).…

Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced amendments to the island’s Registration Procedures for New Chemical Substances and Existing Chemical Substances. In addition to delaying a registration period for the standard registration of existing chemical substances in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has added a number of simplified administrative and convenient measures to optimise registration applications, review and reporting requirements.…

A south-east Asian regional power grid is moving closer in the latest stage of a phased 10-year plan to bring energy security, accessibility, affordability and sustainability,

New, upgraded, extended, stronger, and more flexible electricity transmission and distribution grids are key to this ongoing programme, helping the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to meet the power demands of population and economic growth, rising urbanisation and affluence.…

INTRODUCTION

ROBOTICS are not new to the textile and clothing sector, and have driven productivity improvements for more than a decade. But these technologies are becoming increasingly more adaptable and more autonomous, offering the many stages in the textile and clothing and distribution chain the potential to increase margin.…

The Bangladesh clothing industry is looking forward to the completion of five state-of-the-art textile factories at the Korean Export Zone (KEPZ) with combined floor space of 2 million square feet as an important expansion of local backward linkages. The factories, three of which are under construction, and two (producing polyester yarn and fabrics) are already open, will produce manmade fibre (MMF) yarn and finished garments, at the KEPZ, located in the south-eastern port of Chattogram.…

The Cambodian government eased Covid-19 lockdown restrictions from May 6, but many of the capital Phnom Penh’s garment factories are still dealing with impacts after a third wave of the virus surged through dozens of factories.

The Phnom Penh city municipality on Wednesday (May 5) night reduced the number of areas under strictest ‘red zone’ lockdown measures to a few patches on the map, where factories are unable to open.…

Apparel and footwear brands, especially those in the United States, may come under increasing distribution strain as an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the Chinese clothing and textile manufacturing hub of Guangdong exacerbates already fraught global logistics.  The southern Chinese province recorded 135 total infections over the period June 10–23 and a seven-day average of nine new cases as of June 23, according to data from the USA’s Johns Hopkins University.…

THE INDIAN clothing and textile manufacturing sector is facing renewed disruption as India is hit by a brutal second wave of Covid-19.

“Labour has [partially] gone, production is down and demand is falling,” Sanjay Arora, business director at consultancy firm Wazir Advisors told just-style.…

Demand for knitting machines in China has been recovering remarkably fast from the Covid-19 crisis, with Chinese textile factory owners growing bolder in investment decisions, and exports to south Asia growing too.

Chinese knitting machine-makers Suzhou ReHow Machinery Manufacturing and Fujian Taifan Industrial, which supply mainly T-shirt fabrics single jersey circular knitting machines, saw their sales dip in 2020 but not to a dramatically low level.…

Covid-19 has reshaped commercial crime, and one lucrative offence taking a real turn for the worse is tobacco smuggling and counterfeiting. Keith Nuthall reports.

The Covid-19 pandemic has depressed incomes worldwide and forced lower income smokers to look for cheap smokes, which has included counterfeits or smuggled goods.…

There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has fuelled the black-market trade in illicit and smuggled licit tobacco products. The disease has depressed income and forced lower income smokers to look for cheap smokes, which has included counterfeits or smuggled goods.…

EUROPEAN confectionery and sugar processing associations have appealed to the European Parliament not to reimpose market controls on the European Union’s (EU) sugar sector. MEPs have pressed for new restrictions during the ongoing negotiations about reforming the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).…

PEACE appears to be breaking out between the European Union (EU) and the UK on one side the USA over an aircraft subsidy-prompted trade war that had led to billions of dollars of duties being levied on food and drink exported between these countries.…

Vietnam’s textile-garment sector has been known for low labour productivity relative to China, but this has been changing as foreign-invested factories across the country bring in innovative processes and equipment. A key goal is taking advantage of Vietnam’s privileged access to major markets, especially the European Union (EU), with whom it has a free trade agreement.…

Brief:

This article provides an analysis of why the world’s largest regional trade deal (in population terms) – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – was signed last November (2020). It assesses China’s role in this important political and economic event, and how it reflects its relations with other signatory countries.…

Asian clothing manufacturing associations, including major knitwear outsourcing hubs, are jointly developing ‘red line’ standards for sales to buyers, covering payment and delivery practices, planning and information exchanges and third-party negotiations.

The STAR Network of nine Asian federations has established five working groups to make detailed proposals as early as March.…

Tough American government sanctions levied against Myanmar may emerge soon because of the recent coup, the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has predicted. Nate Herman, AAFA senior vice president, policy, told just-style: “Monday’s coup is deeply concerning. We urge the full and immediate restoration of democratic rights and institutions.…

The president of the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) has warned that the military takeover in Myanmar could spark a significant shift in sourcing away from this south-east Asian country if democracy is not restored promptly. Julia Hughes told just-style: “If there is not a quick resolution, then yes we would expect a major shift to other Asian suppliers.”…

The director general of the European Textile and Apparel Confederation,

Euratex, has warned that the military takeover in Myanmar could halt what has been a boom in clothing export sales to Europe, which grew 40% in 2020, year-on-year.

Dirk Vantyghem told just-style this has been achieved through a major increase in Chinese investment into the country’s clothing industry – its upstream textile segment remains small.…

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic sparked predictions that the shift of textile industrial capacity from China to lower cost neighbouring countries could intensify, but analysts talking to Twist International say the trend may have stalled in the past year. While production capacity of China’s textile industry has indeed in recent years shifted to south and southeast Asia, some of these transfers have not run smoothly.…

Former US President Donald Trump may be out of office, but the first initiatives of the new administration of President Joe Boden have been to encourage the American manufacture of clothing and textiles, just in a different way from his predecessor.…

Unprecedently severe bottlenecks in merchandise trades between Asia and the rest of the world caused by Covid-19 economic disruption is continuing to frustrate apparel retailers in Europe and the US. High levels of demand, port congestion and shortages of containers have been pushing up costs, with shipping rates for the Shanghai-Rotterdam and Shanghai-Los Angeles routes on January 21 being up 296% and 153% year-on-year respectively, according to UK-based maritime consultancy Drewry. …

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is consulting on proposed new accounting requirements for mergers and acquisitions involving companies within the same group. At present IFRS 3 on business combinations covers mergers and acquisitions involving third party-owned businesses, not intra-group deals.…

NEW integrated paint manufacturing units in India with an annual production capacity of less than Indian Rupees INR500 million (USD6.6 million) will soon be exempt from securing prior environment clearance by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). This rule, covering plants with production facilities for resins and pigments, is expected to come into force early next year (2021) once the central government formalises and gazettes a new Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification.…

A new Transparency International (TI) survey has reported significant concern in 17 Asian countries (1) that corruption continues to be a problem or is getting worse, undermining equitable access to public services and trust in government. TI’s ‘Global Corruption Barometer – Asia’ (2) found 74% of the 20,000 people surveyed believe that government corruption is a major problem in their country, with 19% of citizens surveyed admitting to paying a bribe and 22% using personal connections when accessing public services in the previous year.…

China’s recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) materials market is heading for another distortion with repercussions for apparel and footwear brands. While the likes of Adidas, Nike and Decathlon continue shifting from virgin fibre to recycled fibre to improve their environmental impact standings, China’s PET market is heading for another distortion, raising the spectre for supply bottlenecks and price increases.  …

DESPITE Australia’s uninterrupted economic growth since 1991 ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, lax rules on bribery and money laundering have dented its government’s reputation. Reforms to the country’s foreign bribery and commercial crime laws are on the horizon and there is talk about lawyers, accountants and real estate agents having to report on suspicious transactions, but progress has been painstakingly slow.…

VIETNAM clothing industry insiders have told just-style that they are optimistic that the Vietnamese apparel supply chain will emerge strengthened from the Covid-19 crisis in 2021. This is despite an ongoing shortage of orders during 2020, only partly mitigated by switching production to make masks.…

The China National Coatings Industry Association (NCIA) on July 31 informed members that it has been told by the ministry of ecology and environment to investigate the production, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste in the coating industry and compile a management guide based on the investigation’s findings.…

Swiss pharmaceuticals giant, Novartis AG, plus a former subsidiary Alcon Pte and its current Greek wing, are together to pay out USD345.9 million in fines to American regulators because of corrupt practices. The penalties follow admissions that staff bribed public and private healthcare providers in Greece and Vietnam to choose Novartis products in breach of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).…

COVID-19 has taken its toll on Sri Lanka’s textile and clothing sector, with exports forecast to plummet for 2021 (the financial year ending March) from a target of USD5.6 billion, by USD1.7 billion to USD3.9 billion, falling 30% year-on-year for April 2020 to March 2021, the country’s national clothing industry told just-style.…

HONG Kong textile industry leaders have tried to reassure clothing traders and manufacturers operating from the territory they will not face serious harm by any change of diplomatic recognition prompted by the passage of a new HK security law. Speaking to just-style, Louis Chan, assistant principal economist (global research), for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), claimed that sourcing offices in HK would continue to operate smoothly: “As long as the subject merchandise is not made in Hong Kong, the possible revocation of the special trading relationship or any suspension of HKCO (Hong Kong country of origin) recognition should have little or even no direct impacts on HK’s re-exports (of those items),” he argued.…

AUSTRALIA’S existing regulatory framework for importing and manufacturing industrial chemicals, the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) will be replaced by a new system called the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS), starting July 1. The AICIS covers a broad range of chemicals and polymers used in adhesives, paints and solvents among many others. …

Malaysia’s digital textile printing industry and market is growing at a steadfast pace, with local demand driven by regional designers and fashion brands, particularly when producing Islamic wear, such as scarfs and shawls.

However, the industry faces challenges securing enough orders to fully utilise its capacity.…

ROMANIA’S clothing and textile industry is facing a recruitment crunch and experts worry that it will struggle to find a strategy to ensure it can hire sustainably to ensure long-term growth. A survey from PwC’s HR benchmarking project Saratoga released last October (2019) concluded that Romania faces an “acute shortage of workforce”, needing about one million extra workers to sustain a 3.5% economic growth by 2023.…

CHINESE consumers, especially in younger generations such as Millennials and Generation Z, are increasingly concerned with eating healthily- and that includes snack choices. In a trend that may increase following the Covid-19 outbreak, sales of yoghurts, nut snacks and snack bars have all seen soaring growth in sales in recent years.…

THE PERUVIAN government has created a textile and clothing industry roundtable group that has been charged with forging backward linkages delivering a comprehensive domestic supply chain from fibre to fabric, that will reduce costs for the country’s apparel sector. Currently imports significant volumes of yarn and cotton, increasing expenses for the clothing sector.…

With the Korea Cosmetic Industry Institute (KCII) estimating there were USD11.7 billion’s worth of South Korean-made personal care products (‘K-beauty’) sales in 2019, including nearly USD6.49 billion in exports, and more than 16,000 individuals and businesses officially licensed to provide cosmetic products and services, South Korea’s cosmetic industry has the innate strength it will need to cope with the Covid-19 crisis.…

Indonesia’s industry ministry launched an initiative in February (2020) aimed at eliminating lead used in paint made and sold in the country. It involves the Indonesian paint industry, is part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) project and is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an international investment body.…

The Philippines department of trade and industry is finalising a roadmap to revive the textile and garment industry, devised by the government’s Board of Investment. 

Latest drafts of this Textile-Garment Industry Roadmap 2020-2029, which has yet to be formally released, lays out the path for an integrated textile-garment industry, strong linkages between industry, government and private sector, as well as a dedicated trade office.…

THE PERUVIAN government has created a textile and clothing industry roundtable group that has been charged with forging backward linkages delivering a comprehensive domestic supply chain from fibre to fabric, that will reduce costs for the country’s apparel sector. Currently imports significant volumes of yarn and cotton, increasing expenses for the clothing sector.…

NATIONAL minimum wages have been rising in clothing manufacturing outsourcing hubs around the world, with low and medium-cost manufacturing centres increasing pay rates, as their governments seek to balance the need for export competitiveness with the value of industrial peace to avoid production disruption and the ability to retain experienced staff.…

IN southeast Asia’s humid and hot climate, the need for coatings to protect homes, businesses and public service buildings from mould is significant – expanding demand for anti-microbial coatings, especially as strong economic growth fuels construction.

The regional economic powerhouse that today’ Vietnam recorded slightly above 7% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for a second consecutive year, making it one of the best performers globally.…

CONSULTATIONS are being assessed in Australia to develop a National Standard for Environmental Risk Management of Industrial Chemicals, which will include coatings and their chemical ingredients, Australia’s department of agriculture, water and the environment has said in a note. The national standard, for which consultations were to end in February, is being designed to ensure that potentially harmful high-risk chemicals are subject to appropriate and consistent environmental controls across the nation.…

Indonesia’s paint and coatings sector is expected to continue to grow, driven by an expanding middle-class population, the fast-growing construction sector and ambitious government infrastructure projects, encompassing transport networks, energy and utilities.

The south-east Asian country’s paint and coatings market has grown to almost USD2.5 billion in sales revenue in the past year and sales are expected to expand at a fair clip of between 6% and 7% annually in the next five years, according to industry analysts Frost & Sullivan. …

IN a bid to modernise Cambodia’s textile and garment sectors through digitalisation, the industry is introducing innovative new software next month (February) that will help improve efficiency by improving fabric handling and cutting down repeat clothing defects by almost half – in addition to making overall gains on factory productivity.…

Airbus is to pay out EUR3.6 billion (USD4 billion) under a trio of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) with British, French and United States authorities that were simultaneously agreed by national courts January 31 as part of a global resolution over bribes to clinch civil and military aircraft sales.…

PAKISTAN’s clothing and textile sector hopes that 2020 will be a big year for Chinese investment – as Chinese companies look to move production to outsourcing centres, such as Pakistan, that have lower labour costs than China, but nonetheless a skilled workforce, and government incentives through reduced taxes and duties.…

The US-China trade war that has been hindering commerce since 2018 has hit the Chinese clothing and textile export sector severely, but companies that have invested in manufacturing sites outside China have been better protected, Esquel CEO John Cheh has told just-style.…

GLOBAL and regional public policies promoting environmental good practice and fighting climate change have long encouraged the growth of renewable energy production. And with concern about global warming sharpening, these goals – pushed by international and regional organisations and development banks – are here to stay.…

IMPORTERS of paints into Japan have been given four time-windows in 2020 to secure ‘small volume permits’ under which coatings can be brought into Japan without any new chemical components being declared to regulators. This special exemption applies to imports of a product into Japan under one tonne per year, says the Japanese Chemical Substances Control Law.…

A queue formed at the L’Oréal stand at November’s China International Import Expo fair, in Shanghai: the French firm had set up photo opportunities to appeal the ‘Da ka’ set – Chinese slang referring to generation of selfie-taking youths who seemingly live to photograph themselves at important landmarks.…

THE VIETNAMESE government’s Institute for Industry Policy and Strategy (IPS) has said that it will present a “review and roadmap for innovation and modernisation of textile technology” before the end of the year to speed up innovation in the sectors.

The roadmap will contain a comprehensive system of solutions including human resource training, investment promotion, preferential loans and changes to regulations of Vietnam’s National Technology Innovation Fund, a state financial institution that provides preferential loans, subsidised loan interest and loan guarantees as well as granting expenses to organisations, individuals and enterprises that carry out research, technology transfer and innovation.…

KEY textile manufacturing countries in southeast Asia are investing in new machinery to upgrade their textile technology, boosting backward linkages as they seek to strengthen and update local supply chains, international trade data shows. While that level of investment in imports seems to have declined in 2018, key textile manufacturing Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc countries have been importing millions of dollars of new machinery, helping them make the most of trade deals that can insist in local fabric, yarn and fibre sourcing.…

INTERNATIONAL collaboration, financial and strategic support and government policy consistency that endures beyond changes in political administrations are vital to maintain accelerating global gains in access to higher education, delegates at an international conference in Scotland were told this week.…

Data by the Asia Nonwoven Fabrics Association (ANFA) shows that nonwovens production in Asia increased by a robust 6.5% year-on-year in 2018, to 5.6 million tonnes. China-based manufacturers were responsible for the bulk of this output, producing 4 million tonnes. However, but India-based production increased at faster pace, at 15.9% up, year-on-year.…

Eleven years after Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade approved its textile and garment industry development strategy for 2010-2020, the availability of domestically-made textile inputs remains a major problem, hindering clothing manufacturers in the country.

Jacky Roy, CEO of Signature Kollections Group- Vietnam, a knit and woven apparel manufacturer based in the UK and India, told just-style that the “price of local cotton or polyester fabric compared to imported fabric is 40 percent higher, making it too costly to fully replace imports.”…

Clothing and textile executives attending a New York conference have been told they need to take special care on assessing their supply chains, to ensure they are not tainted with human rights abuses, because not only may the reputational risks be severe – criminal liability may follow.…

While cautious optimism on the future of global trade may be currently evident in US financial markets, notably because the United States and China are apparently nearing agreement on a new interim trade deal, representatives of the textile and apparel sectors gathered in New York for the 31st annual Apparel Importers Trade & Transportation Conference on November 7 were still expressing significant caution about future prospects.…

China’s state textile planners have announced they are intensifying ties with Mekong River countries within southeast Asia in the textile and apparel sectors, contradicting assumptions that the Chinese government wants to oppose the exodus of production to this region.

On October 21, the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) announced that it would intensify cooperation with the five SE Asian countries who are co-members of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation forum – Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam (Lancang is the name of the upper Mekong in China).…

A MAJOR textile and clothing exporter in Vietnam hopes that it is influencing the country’s growing fabric and apparel industry to become more sustainable – telling WTiN.com of its good environmental practice.

Delman Lee, president and chief technology officer of Hong Kong-based TAL Apparel Ltd, which produces shirts and polo knits at two factories in Vietnam’s Vinh Phuc province, north of Hanoi, exporting mainly to the USA, claimed the company has been improving its sustainability for more than a decade.…

AN INCREASING reliance on using nanotechnology is giving Malaysian textile manufacturers a competitive edge over rival producers in south east Asia, experts claim.

According to Seow Hon Cheong, president of the Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association, since the US–China trade war began, opportunities for exports by and investments in the Malaysian textile sector have opened.…

A sharp increase in imports of cars into Vietnam has underlined how this south-east Asian country of 96 million people, could become a major auto market, especially as Vietnamese drivers move from motorcycles to cars.

At present, the motorcycle is king in Vietnam.…

OUTSOURCING centres in Asia for the international textile sector are increasingly adopting digital technologies to improve the efficiency of their weaving, as they compete for business from clothing manufacturers and brands.

Bangladesh weavers are becoming increasingly tech-savvy to improve efficiency while driving down costs.…

VIETNAM’S garment-makers have been worrying that a draft revised Labour Code will reduce their competitiveness, but four months after the draft was published there remains a strong chance it will never be enshrined in law.

The draft, which was officially submitted to the National Assembly in May 2019 for an envisioned passage in November, outlines a reduction of working hours from 48 hours per week to 44 hours which, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, would reduce the industry’s export value by at least USD3 billion per year, as businesses would struggle to recruit workers.…

Clothing brands from the USA who are switching purchasing to Vietnam from China because of the trade war need to smarten up – and understand how business with Vietnamese trading partners differs from working with their old Chinese suppliers. “The main issue is that many US buyers expect to do business in Vietnam the way they have been doing in China, but the business culture is very different and many find it impossible to work in Vietnam because they do not understand or accept the differences,” said Frank Vossen, who runs Seditex, a Ho Chi Minh City-based based sourcing consultancy, focused on quality control. …

VIETNAM has been a major textile production hub for years and, as the country’s government pushes sectors to embrace technology associated with the Industry 4.0 movement, some companies are adapting advanced methods such as digital textile printing.

According to statistics from India-based Mordor Intelligence, Vietnam is the third-largest garment exporter in the world, with the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea serving as major destination markets. …

THE CHINESE government has from September 1 imposed 5% additional retaliatory duties on US exports of paint to China, in the latest round of the trade war between the two countries. The new tariffs cover products such as polyester, acrylic, ethylene and polyeurathane powdered paints; acrylic, polymer and vinyl liquid paints; and more – see http://gss.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/zhengcefabu/201908/P020190823604938915640.pdf…

THE VIETNAMESE textile-garment sector has been benefitting from an impressive list of free trade agreements, but a lack of chemical engineers makes it difficult to satisfy their rules of origins. This especially applies to the European Union (EU)-Vietnam free trade agreement, whose terms were influenced by EU textile manufacturers who wanted to ensure that the deal did give a backdoor entrance to European markets for products based on China-finished fabric. …

REMOVING non-tariff-barriers (NTBs) impeding the trade in automobiles, parts and materials between the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is key to unlocking the regional automotive industry’s full potential, experts argue. However, they agree that such moves cannot be achieved without short-term pain.…

Chinese upstream textile producers are increasing production as fears grow that the trade war with the US will hurt exports of apparel and other textile products, now additional 10% tariffs are to be levied on a wide range of China-made textile and clothing products from September 1.…

SOUTH-EAST Asia’s beauty and personal care product market continues to grow, with more mature markets in the region demonstrating an increasing preference for natural products.

As might be expected, consumers in the wealthy city state of Singapore are especially keen to spend more money on lines with natural ingredients.…

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) trade deal struck with South America’s Mercosur group of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, will open this emerging market to EU confectionery exporters, but Europe’s sugar sector fears increased Brazilian sugar exports. The agreement, which now needs to be ratified by both sides, will phase out Mercosur duties on EU exports of chocolate and sugar confectionery of 20%; biscuits (taxed at 20% to 35%); liquorice extract – 8%; and confectionery-making equipment – 14%.…

DOING business in many southeast Asian countries is becoming increasingly challenging, with major companies being exposed to increasingly sophisticated financial crime and widespread corruption. Poorna Rodrigo reports.

COMMERCIAL crime in southeast Asia is fuelled by the fact that it contains wealthy and medium-income well-regulated jurisdictions, alongside weakly-regulated, corruption-heavy poorer countries.…

Clothing industry sources in the Philippines say that the USA-China trade war has helped boost orders for all garment-exporting countries in southeast Asia but their country, despite the Philippines government’s plan to boost local manufacturing capacity. The much-trumpeted Manufacturing Resurgence Programme of President Rodrigo Duterte had originally stated that a national ‘Roadmap for the Garments and Textile Industry’ should be drafted by the end of last year (2018).…

Months after taking the reins as president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Dr Rubana Huq is determined to fulfill her key goal of ensuring the industry effectively monitors its own environmental and health standards.

It is an important job given how the country’s clothing and textile sector has worked to improve a safety reputation battered by the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster.…

THE INTENSIFYING trade war between the USA and China has proved to be an opportunity for some larger Chinese clothing manufacturing firms, some of which had already built capacity overseas, notably in southeast Asia, and Vietnam especially. These companies have been able to adjust to the worsening tariff barriers to the US market for China-sourced exports, whereas smaller companies unable to afford new SE Asia operations have suffered.…

INDIAN knitwear exporters are hoping for a windfall of orders from the US following a spurt in client enquiries, which industry leaders believe are linked to the US-China trade dispute and the latest tariff hike on Chinese clothing and textile exports to America.…

TEXTILE and garment-makers in Vietnam need to continue investing in new technology to remain competitive and make their ability to meet growing demand sustainable, exports say. And there is concern that the capital required may be tough for small-and-medium-sized manufacturers to source.…

VIETNAMESE technical textile producers look set to capitalise on the ongoing trade war between the US and China with an increase in approaches from American automotive supply chain clients already being witnessed.

In May, the Trump regime increased tariffs on USD200 billion of imported Chinese goods, including many technical textiles and end-products made of technical textiles.…

INDONESIAN clothing and textile industry experts and the government say there is continued need to boost investment in creating efficient upstream supplies to enable the country to profit sustainably from growing demand for clothing export sales.

Textile and garment production grew 19% in the first quarter of this year (year-on-year) – but that was largely thanks to a strong performance from the clothing sector.…

INDIAN knitwear exporters are hoping for a windfall of orders from the US following a spurt in client enquiries, which industry leaders believe are linked to the US-China trade dispute and the latest tariff hike on Chinese clothing and textile exports to America.…

JAPAN clothing brands have protected themselves in advance against exposure from the US-China trade war by decreasing their reliance on China-based manufacturing outposts in recent years. This sourcing diversification has occurred initially because of rising costs in China.

According to the Japan Apparel Fashion Industry Council (JAFIC), this movement away from Japan means the impact on Japanese textile and apparel companies from US tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China-made exports would be “slight”.…

AFRICAN swine fever (ASF) has been squeezing pork supplies in China to a point where the country’s political leadership fears upheaval, as reflected by the country’s government influenced social media restricting ASF-related discussion. Even academic articles, if ASF-themed, now require explicit regulatory approval before publishing, informed sources in China, who requested anonymity, told just-food.  …

AN INDIAN government’s Indian Rupees INR133.43 billion (USD1.9 billion) initiative to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) from the country will increase meat exports from the country, say experts. “It will definitely help opening up meat markets especially China, which is the biggest,” Priya Sud, a partner at buffalo meat exporting firm Al Noor Exports, in New Delhi, told GlobalMeatNews.…

AN INDIAN government’s Indian Rupees INR133.43 billion (USD1.9 billion) initiative to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) from the country will increase meat exports from the country, say experts. “It will definitely help opening up meat markets especially China, which is the biggest,” Priya Sud, a partner at buffalo meat exporting firm Al Noor Exports, in New Delhi, told GlobalMeatNews.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Organization for Standardization (ISO) has launched a series of standards designed to help the cocoa industry ensure its products are both sustainably harvested and processed, but also traceable across their supply chains. Its ISO 34101 series is designed to promote good environmental and labour practices in a sector that involves sophisticated confectionery companies, global commodity traders and small farmers, often in poor countries, notably in west Africa.…

THE INDIAN clothing and textile industry thinks it is better able to score export orders internationally since March when the central government announced new tax benefits for the country’s garment exporters. Rahul Mehta, president of Clothing Manufacturing Association of India, told just-style, that the combined reduction in costs delivered by a refund of the central and state taxes, new benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), and renewed 2% duty drawbacks, is 9% to 10%, and that “makes us more competitive”.…

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect in December 2018, incrementally bringing down import tariffs for Vietnamese garments in a market with 495 million consumers across 11 countries.

But Vietnamese garment-makers are struggling to reduce costs to deliver pricing that is competitive enough to make the most of CPTPP.…

Trade negotiators from the United States and China will meet for the second week in a row this Wednesday or Thursday, in what the American clothing sector hopes could be the final round of talks to resolve the trade war.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox Business last week they hope to get to “the point where we can either recommend to the president we have a deal, or make a recommendation that we don’t,” emphasising the United States wants to “rebalance” the trade relationship.…

VIETNAMESE cotton yarn-makers face a period of uncertainty due to raw material price volatility and the ongoing trade war between the US and China which threatens demand stability from Chinese textile and clothing manufacturers. China is the largest importer of Vietnamese yarn and accounts for more than 60% of Vietnam’s total yarn exports. …

Since China’s Premier Li Keqiang has announced his country’s ‘War on Pollution’ in 2014, the world’s main supplier of synthetic fibres and the second-largest supplier of cotton has consistently reduced its textile sector’s adverse impact on the environment.

The government has introduced a slew of new environmental controls and these continue to be introduced.…

BIOCIDAL coating products are some of the most demanding lines to make, sell and import for manufacturers and suppliers as far as regulatory compliance is concerned. Legitimate concerns among environmental health regulators to ensure that biocides only kill the micro- or larger organisms that they target, without unintended damaging side-effects, mean that biocide controls are constantly under review.…

THE MANUFACTURE, distribution and use of leaded paints in projects funded by Japan’s public sector has been banned from March (2019), at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year. For instance, Japan’s ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology revised its building construction standards for educational facilities in April (2019), requiring manufacturers to use a non-leaded primer or sealer before applying antibacterial paint on surfaces such as gypsum board.…

THE LATEST data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs shows that the country’s garment and textile exports grew by 19% in the first two months of the year from January-February 2018, outpacing 2018’s full-year growth of 16% and serving as an early indicator that official export targets for 2019 may easily be met.…

THE RANA Plaza tragedy pushed Bangladesh’s USD30-billion clothing industry into making health and safety improvements to reassure brands they would not be tarnished by similar disasters. But now, the industry is going a step further, and seeking to establish a reputation for environmental excellence.…

THE GROWTH in fast fashion contracts struck between brands and Vietnam’s burgeoning outsourcing will boost demand for machinery and equipment in the Vietnamese textile sector as much as the new trade deals that have been struck by Hanoi, according to industry insiders.…

INDONESIA is seeking to be among the world’s top five textile and apparel producers by 2030, partly by taking advantage of digital technology, a government official has announced.

The adoption of industrial revolution 4.0 technologies will make Indonesia’s textile industry more efficient and competitive globally, said Muhdori, director for textile, leather, footwear and multifarious industries at the industry ministry.…

INCREASES in minimum wage rates are likely to be of significant concern to brands sourcing from south-east Asia in 2019, with pay on an upward trajectory – although governments’ approaches vary.

For some governments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, raising minimum wage serves as a populist measure (for instance by Thailand’s military government, whose supporters will face an election this year), while for others, an annual review is a statutory requirement, for example, in the Philippines.…

MYANMAR is counting on investors from Taiwan to support the country with capacity building and technical assistance, including in textile and garment production, even as its trade access privileges to the European Union (EU) are under review.

Reflecting this, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and Taiwan’s Chinese National Federation of Industries have signed two memorandums of understanding facilitating technology transfers and training programmes for workers, supervisors and technical staff at factories across the country – the agreements were signed in mid-2018 and are now being implemented. …

JORDAN garment exporters maybe growing their export sales, but high costs and declining local purchases could weaken their ability to take advantage of robust growth in overseas demand, industry experts have told just-style.

Jordan’s garments exports are expected to have generated receipts of USD1.8 billion in 2018, and their value is expected to grow by at least 8% in 2019, a source at the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation told the Jordan Times newspaper this week.…

With manufacturing technology advancing at an ever-faster pace, sports apparel companies need to constantly look for ways to embrace new techniques to compete in a constantly changing landscape, an international industry meeting has been told.

Sustainability, blockchain and Industry 4.0 are three of the most important trends being considered by brands and their suppliers, and they were focal points at the sixth World Manufacturers Forum (WMF), organised by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from December 11-12.…

AS the second largest economy within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, Thailand remains a key market in the region for paint and coatings sales. Regarding sales of home paints and coatings, including lacquers and varnishes, London-based market researcher Euromonitor International says that sales have been growing strongly.…

THE VIETNAM Chemicals Agency us ramping up efforts to remove lead from paints in Vietnam – officially requesting to be considered a partner in the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead in Paint, a voluntary partnership formed by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).…

FINANCIAL institutions and other anti-money laundering reporting sectors within Vietnam have had to grapple, since January 1, with a revised Penal Code, which has changed how money laundering is defined in criminal law.

In its 2018, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), the USA State Department notes that this “revises the money laundering offence and adds criminal liability for legal persons involved in money laundering.”…

THE ONGOING trade dispute between the USA and China could accelerate an existing trend of American apparel brands shifting their sourcing away from Chinese suppliers. Indeed, US fashion industry representatives were warned at a conference earlier this week that they need to prepare to establish new trading relationships in case Sino-American trading gets tougher still.…

The Philippines’ latest national trade data, published on October 10, has suggested that a recent slump may be over for this southeast Asian country’s troubled garment export sector. It was considered a sunrise industry during the 1990s but has since fallen far behind its Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian counterparts.…

BANGLADESH’S unions have yet to be satisfied by an increase in the country’s minimum wage, which was published in a government gazette on October 8, hiking minimum wages for entry-level knitwear workers by 51% to USD95-a-month from December, up from the USD63 set in 2013.…

AFRICAN garment and textile manufacturers have a long way to go to increase capacity, develop the supply chain and diversify overall production away from North Africa, an industry conference staged in Cairo has been told. But while north Africa accounts for more than USD10 billion out the continent’s USD13.54 billion in clothing and textile exports (during 2016, according to international trade data), the much discussed potential of Africa as the world’s next sourcing hub is starting to materialise.…

AFRICAN garment and textile manufacturers have a long way to go to increase capacity, develop the supply chain and diversify overall production away from North Africa, an industry conference staged in Cairo has been told. But while north Africa accounts for more than USD10 billion out the continent’s USD13.54 billion in clothing and textile exports (during 2016, according to international trade data), the much discussed potential of Africa as the world’s next sourcing hub is starting to materialise.…

DIGITAL production technologies could help African manufacturers pick up business lost by Chinese rivals because of the trade war in the USA, with brands looking to take advantage of the free trade agreements that many African countries have with the USA and Europe.…

COUNTERFEIT foodstuffs were the most common fake good seized by European Union (EU) customs in 2017 – making up 24% of the total – as fakers increasingly look the Internet to sell their illicit wares. Keith Nuthall unpicks the latest EU data on pirated products.…

A PROPOSED Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia could generate notable structural shifts in Indonesia’s textile (fabric and yarn) sector, expanding the workforce by up to 2.5% for skilled and unskilled workers, expert analysis suggests.

Indeed, a new European Commission’s Sustainability Impact Assessment (see http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2018/october/tradoc_157431.pdf)…

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) have endorsed a project named ‘Greening Vietnam’s textile sector through improving water management and energy sustainability’ with the declared aim of transforming the Vietnamese textile industry into a more environmentally friendly and sustainable one.…

THE Russian textile industry is facing a new crisis due to a decline in demand this year, brought about by ever-increasing prices for local textiles and the low purchasing-power of Russian consumers, business analysts and producers have warned.

According to Anna Lebsack-Kleimans, chief executive of the Fashion Consulting Group, one of Russia’s leading analysis agencies in the textiles and clothing sector, prices for the majority of textile products available in Russia have increased by 20% year-on-year since the beginning of the year and those elevated prices are expected to remain in place into next year.…

SOUTH Korea’s textile exports to Vietnam and the south-east Asian country’s garment exports to South Korea are forecast to register continued robust growth on the back of a range of free-trade agreements linking the two countries.

Data compiled by the department of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware in the USA, stressed how South Korea has for a long time been a leading supplier of textiles for Vietnam, last year (2017) accounting for 17.8% of Vietnam’s total textile imports in value terms, whereas Vietnam is quickly becoming the second-largest garment supplier for South Korea after China, with 30.9% of all imports in 2017 in value terms, up significantly from just 1.7% in 2007.…

IN its trade war against China, the Trump administration in the USA has added tariffs on a wide range of upstream textile inputs and fashion-related consumer products, raising the spectre of fraudulent rerouting of Chinese textile-garment products through neighbouring regions, notably south-east Asia.…

Cryptocurrencies have made a big splash across Asia, and governments have taken very different regulatory approaches to curb associated financial scams and money laundering.

While there is one group of countries that has banned the operation and use of cryptocurrencies entirely, including China, India and Vietnam, a second category spans countries that see cryptocurrencies as potentially boosting their own financial sectors.…

A senior figure in the American cotton industry has told just-style of his concern that Turkey’s collapsing currency and trade disputes with the US government will cause it to import less US-made cotton.

The Turkish lira – TRY has dropped in value by 45% this year – indeed last September 12, USD1 bought TRY3.43, this September 11, it bought TRY6.43.…

WITH the old certainties that the world would move steadily towards ever freer trade now crumbling, the technical textile sector is closely monitoring shifts in trade policy by key governments and international organisations.

This industry depends on the free flow of materials and finished goods – and unlike many textile segments – still has a significant manufacturing presence in mature markets, making the impact of trade policy changes complex and hard to predict.…

COULD digital textile printing help bring the Australian textile and clothing manufacturing sector back to sustainable growth? There are experts who believe this scaleable finishing technology can give Australian design talent room to thrive.

Faced with the proximity of China’s manufacturing juggernaut, it is no surprise that mass textile and clothing manufacturing declines in Australia, but digital technologies are giving the industry a chance to find new niches.…

WHILE Vietnamese government officials define the local textile and garment industry as among the economic sectors projected to have one of the highest growth rates in the country over the next 12 years, industry observers stress that more needs to be done to ensure this happens.…

NEGOTIATIONS for a free trade agreement between Indonesia and the European Union (EU), which will pave the way for greater opportunities for the textile and garment sectors, are entering a final phase, the head of Indonesia’s textile industry association said.

“Negotiations are entering the sixth round.…

THE INDIAN government has been sending out conflicting signals about its trading policy for its important knitwear sector. While it last month (July 18) announced it was increasing import duties for some key knitted apparel and knitwear inputs, talks are moving ahead to forge a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with 16 Asian counties.…

THE MALAYSIAN government has approved a new minimum wage of Malaysian Ringgit MYR1,500 (USD368) for the private sector, but the new wages floor will be phased in gradually.

“If we push for higher minimum wages, cost of production will go up and we will not be competitive,” Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad told the country’s national news agency, Bernama, today.…

INDIA’S paint industry has been exempted from a mandatory biocide registration requirement under the national Insecticides Act (1968) if the biocides are used as a dry film preservative. However, new guidelines issued by Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) in June have told the Indian paint industry that they must use registered biocide products at recommended dosages, or protective labelling rules will kick in.…

Japan’s personal care sector experienced continued growth in 2017, with shipments surpassing Japanese Yen JPY1.6 trillion (USD14.34 billion) during the year to record a new record high. Virtually every sector recording an increase in sales on the previous year. Figures for the January-April period of 2018 suggest that this positivity is being carried over into this year, boding well for Japanese personal care product companies.…

Vietnamese officials say that last year’s shock withdrawal by the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been overcome as Vietnam has in any case entered into 16 other bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs).
This includes the forthcoming Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – which includes all the TPP partners bar the USA, and the European Union-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA), creating numerous opportunities for textile-garment investors.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) customs’ long-standing struggle with counterfeit textile products coming from south-east Asia and the resulting economic losses have sparked the EU to invest in two initiatives aiming at preventing the trade of fake goods. 

IP Key South East Asia (IP Key SEA) and ASEAN Regional Integration Support from the EU (ARISE Plus), both launched this April, will be strongly promoting the protection of intellectual and industrial property rights in the textile and other impacted sector.…

THE RUSSIAN government has confirmed plans to double its country’s exports of textile products by 2025, according to the state press-service. In comments sent to WTiN.com, Russia’s deputy minister of industry and trade Viktor Yevtukhov, currently responsible for the development of Russia’s textile sector, said his administration was optimistic, with exports of Russian textile products currently show good results.…

THE SCALE of Italy’s paints and varnishes sector remained relatively unchanged through 2017, according to AVISA, a division of Federchimica, the national chemicals industry association. Werther Colonna, president of AVISA, told Polymers Paint Colour Journal (PPCJ) that the sector suffered a difficult year in 2017, marked by a succession of ups and downs, which translated into fluctuating monthly sales.…

THE ASIA-PACIFIC (APAC) region’s oil and gas sector faces an unprecedented level of decommissioning for which it is under-prepared and lacks experience, analysts have warned. Unclear regional government regulations coupled with a lack of local expertise mean that companies and regulators face a steep learning curve, high initial costs and the potential for mistakes, according to the consultancy group Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis.…

THE ASIA-Pacific region has many of the elements needed to create a burgeoning nonwovens market and industry. It has growing middle class consumption of basis personal products and continued manufacturing and infrastructural expansion for industrial nonwovens. These items can be supplied my new mass-production in emerging market countries and niche lines from the region’s richer developed industrial economies.…

The digital integration of Bangladesh’s booming textiles and garment sector is gaining pace, with ‘Industry 4.0’ becoming a watchword for becoming more competitive. One company that has been taking such technological development very seriously is the Dhaka-based DBL Group, which has targeted digital efficiencies to turbocharge its business growth. …

THE ASIA-Pacific technical textiles sector is still robust – with China’s industry continuing to grow, with bulk products still a focus. Meanwhile, more developed economies such as South Korea and Japan keep honing their output, looking for specialist niches and edges created by innovation.…

SOUTH-EAST Asia maybe a diverse and hence complicated region in which to market personal care products, but the growth in sales in all its countries make it an attractive target for beauty brands.

The Philippines is a case in point. The gross domestic product (GDP) of this 103 million people archipelago recorded 6.7% GDP growth in 2017, and the World Bank projects it to grow further at an annual rate of 6.7% in both 2018 and 2019, before settling at 6.6% in 2020.…

THE NEWLY signed 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) could help Vietnam boost garment and textile exports to the lucrative Australian market significantly. But the Asian clothing makers may still face big challenges in taking market share in this mature market away from China, experts warn. …

THE ECONOMIES of the Asia Pacific region are impressively dynamic, but HR experts agree much more could be gained if the region were to succeed in improving women’s skills and providing them with equal opportunities at work.

Illustrating just how much potential there is, the latest report from the McKinsey Global Institute published in April, ‘The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in Asia Pacific’, has found that advancing women’s equality in the region could add USD4.5 trillion to their collective GDP annually in 2025 – a 12% increase over the “business-as-usual trajectory”.…

The new realities of accelerating wage growth and the global shift towards placing smaller orders needs to be answered by Vietnam-based garment-makers by embracing technology-driven automation, according to ThreadSol, an India-based technology company. It supplies leading manufacturers in Vietnam with production software driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data.…

MALAYSIA has long positioned itself as a higher-tech source of textile manufacturing and so it is maybe no surprise that it has been growing its digital textile printing segment.

That has been to the benefit of key Japan-based digital imaging and printing solution supplier Epson, which currently claims a Malaysian market share of 87% – based on data harvested last year (2017).…

THE AMERICAN confectionery sector is facing tough tariffs in its key export market of Canada after the US government decided to impose punitive duties on Canadian exports of steel and aluminium.

Ottawa announced its own retaliatory duties, which it intends to impose from July 1, having consulted on a shortlist of products, including potential 10% duties on US-made maple sugar and syrup, liquorice, toffee, chocolate, sugar confectionery, strawberry jam, nut purées and pastes.…

CHINA’S State Council has announced reductions in mainland VAT, with businesses being saved Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY400 billion (USD62.8 billion) in this year alone, it has said. Rates have been lowered (from May 1, 2018) from 17% to 16% for manufacturing and other industries, and 11% to 10% for transport, construction bills, standard telecommunications service, and direct farm output purchasers by consumers (12% when these goods are bought by manufacturers for onward processing).…

OFFICIAL projections for Vietnam’s garment and textile exports in 2018 are bright but input imports for garment and textile production were more than half of the value of garment and textile exports in 2017, highlighting the need for increased domestic sourcing, industry analysts say.…

AN UPCOMING European Union (EU) ‘Counterfeit and Piracy Watch-List’, being developed by the European Commission to identify physical and digital marketplaces outside the EU where counterfeit tobacco and other consumer product are traded widely.

Intellectual property abuse is a key concern to the EU tobacco sector.…

THAILAND needs to join the 11-nation Asia Pacific trade deal – the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – “as soon as it can” so that the kingdom can lift its declining garment and textiles sales to the key American market once again, an industry expert said.…

AS China’s retreat from mass market clothing production continues, Bangladesh knitters are eyeing another added value knitwear niche – sportswear. Following the industry’s success in boosting sales within the profitable lingerie segment, Bangladesh manufacturers are ramping up production in sports apparels, although some experts say that work is needed on boosting its supply chain, particularly of manmade fibres.…

THE VIETNAM Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS) warned that local governments in the country are not licensing textile and dyeing projects over pollution concerns. It has added in comments to Vietnamese media and that this reluctance may prevent the clothing sector from satisfying origin rules of the upcoming the Comprehensive & Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).…

EXPERTS have expressed mixed reactions on how a proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), now years in the making, could help revive the garment and textile sector in South East Asia.

The 16-member bloc that includes the 10 ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and six other countries – Australia New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea – have been negotiating the deal since November 2012.…

VIETNAMESE textile manufacturers should invest in new machinery so they can take advantage of the incoming free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) say German trade and industry representatives.

Germany’s Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (Verband Deutscher Maschinen-und Anlagenbau (VDMA) expects the forthcoming EU-Vietnam free trade agreement (EVFTA) to lift Vietnamese garment exports to the EU with the help of more imported machinery to boost textile production.…

FIVE years after the Rana Plaza disaster, Bangladesh’s apparel industry has undergone expensive structural transformation, but a fair price for garment producers remains elusive, industry-insiders and trade unionists say.
The Dhaka-based Envoy Group, which spent between USD2 million and USD2.5 million on a health and safety makeover following the tragedy accepts it was “a turning point in taking the industry to the next level”, said Abdus Salam Murshedy, Envoy’s managing director.…

Word from US President Donald Trump that he may reverse a longstanding position and explore the possibility that the country may join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after all, has left the fashion industry – along with much of the American business community – somewhat sceptical, while being supportive.…

Turkey’s textile exports appear to be moving ahead, with strong growth indicated in 2018, up 10.5% overall in March (2018) year-on-year, according to data from the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM). Exports of textiles and raw materials rose 13.8% year-on-year at the end of March 2018, to USD9.03 billion.…

The official publication of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nhân Dân, has urged Vietnamese enterprises to increase the product value of textiles and garments by improving human resource development programmes, adopting advanced technologies and brand development.

In an unsigned editorial published in early March, Nhân Dân criticised Vietnam’s textile and garment sector noting that while it has reached double-digit growth rates in recent years, with a total export turnover exceeding USD31 billion in 2017, the products’ added value has been low, accounting for only 5%-10% of total worth.…

THE FUTURE of Indonesia’s textile and garment industry could be bright, but it companies must deal with the challenges of high energy costs and competition from regional neighbours to succeed, said Ade Sudrajat the chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia).…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has warned that is prepared to impose temporary safeguard duties on imports into the EU of USA-made knitwear, as it launched its reaction to the establishment of American import duties on aluminium and steel imports. EU trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström told the European Parliament on March 22 that the preparations would continue despite the US exempting the EU from its metal duties until May 1, to allow discussions to continue.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has fired a warning shot over Cambodia’s bows over concerns about declining democratic and human rights, and the rule of law in this key clothing exporter. In a note sent to just-style, the Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia noted a February 26 statement from the EU Council of Ministers ordering that monitoring of these problems be stepped up.…

India’s new Goods and Services Tax (GST) system has severely disrupted tax refund payments and duty drawbacks to exporters, leading to higher production costs and a 30% dip in knitwear exports, experts have warned.

Since its adoption in July 2017, the new value added tax system has been criticised for its complexity – with the knitwear sector having to deal with four separate tax brackets – and forcing small business to invest in online accounting infrastructure that they cannot afford and are ill equipped to manage.…

REPRESENTATIVES of the USA fashion and apparel industries, along with most of the country’s business community and Congressional leadership, are voicing concern about President Donald Trump’s March 1 announcement that he intends to impose additional tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminium.…

TEXTILE industry representatives have welcomed an anticipated move by the Indonesian government to make new corporate income tax cuts to boost investment and make its manufacturing industry – notably textile and clothing manufacturers – more competitive both at home and overseas.…

VIETNAM’S textile industry is being urged to adopt “cost effective and readily available” eco-friendly technologies to enhance its green credentials and reduce both production costs and air pollution. 

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) Vietnam Low Emission Energy Programme (V-LEEP) and the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) have joined forces to encourage environmental good practice in the industry.…

PAKISTAN’S government is considering a fresh package of incentives for the country’s exporters, including the key textile and clothing sector, which is particularly interested in the fact officials are examining reducing energy bills. Industry insiders have long argued high energy costs in Pakistan are one of the key factors for increasing production expenses, reducing competitivity and hence overseas sales.…

IF there is a quality that gives many Israeli companies an edge internationally, it is innovation. And this trait can certainly be said to run through the work of Israeli apparel major Delta Galil, based in Caesarea, northern Israel.

“We could not succeed if we were not innovative” said Isaac Dabah, the company’s CEO of Delta Galil, in an exclusive interview with just-style, held at his office.…

With China losing its sheen as a low-cost manufacturing heartland, Bangladesh’s clothing exporters are tapping into this opportunity by diversifying into another new higher margin segment — suits.

Senior executives and analysts told just-style how potential larger profits are drawing in major manufacturers, who are now confronting the challenges of building technical knowhow, recruiting skilled labour and attracting global buyers available. …

THAILAND maybe in political stagnation, with its military government unlikely to stage elections until November at the earliest, but its paint and coatings market is expanding robustly. Demand for coatings in Thailand, during the whole of 2017, was estimated at 510,000 tonnes worth USD1.5 billion, according to US-based consultancy for the chemical industry Kusumgar, Nerlfi & Growney.…

Vietnamese textile and garment industry officials have capped a bumper 2017 with forecasts for further robust export growth this year if it can overcome challenges from neighbouring country textile sectors by investing in skills, equipment and automation. 

Le Tien Truong, general director of the Vietnam National Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex), predicting a year-on-year increase of 10% in export value, to USD34 billion, from 10.23% annual growth in 2017 when exports totalled USD31 billion.…

PAKISTAN’S textile exporters have urged their government to speed up and

enhance a tax incentives package if they are to kick

start the country’s ailing textile sector.

The government has rolled out a series of incentives over the past year, including the abolition of a 4% customs duty and 5% sales tax imposed on import of raw cotton announced on January 5 (in force on January 8), meeting a long-standing demand of the textile sector. …

INDONESIA’S textile and garment exports rebounded strongly in 2017, rising about 5% to USD12.4 billion after four years of stagnation, the head of the country’s textile industry association has revealed.

Factory relocation, political stability and less labour unrest contributed to the growth, said the chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia), Ade Sudrajat.…

Sharing best practice and harnessing cross-border co-operation will help Pacific Rim countries overcome challenges in meeting human resources (HR) demands, as experts endorse a new initiative focusing on HR development amidst increasing technological changes to the workplace.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Framework on Human Resource Development in the Digital Age was adopted by the 21 APEC member countries at the Asia Pacific Economic Forum, in Vietnam, in May last year.…

WITH full supply chains and innovative products, Thailand’s knitwear industry is thriving, making the country a nucleus for fashion manufacturing in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Thai Garment Manufacturers Association (TGMA) executive director Chartchai Singhadeja said: “Thailand’s strength lies in our full-value supply chains, starting from fibres to yarns and fabrics, then apparel and clothing within the fashion industry.”…

THE EXECUTIVE secretary of the Indonesian Textile Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia) has said that he hopes his government will make progress next year in forging trade deals with the USA and European Union (EU), boosting textile exports to these key markets.…

NEW Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signal a promising outlook for the Vietnamese textile industry with tariff concessions providing the biggest stimulus to figures, according to the country’s trade officials.

Attendees at the 17^th Vietnam International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition, held late last month (November 22-25th) in Ho Chi Minh City, heard the deals will impact significantly on the national textile sector.…

THE HUMAN resources sector has been urged to put pressure on governments and investment fund managers in Asia to strengthen pension provisions as they deal with the consequences of rapidly aging populations.

And HR and economics experts have warned that corporate HR teams have a critical role to play in educating the workforce about the extent, however limited, of their pension provision and working with company bosses to strengthen policies within their organisations to compensate for the lack of robust schemes in existence.…

Africa governments are waking up to the fact that the continent could be a ‘new frontier’ for clothing manufacturing sourcing, export associations and manufacturers at Destination Africa, a trade event in Cairo, Egypt, have told just-style.

They stressed that Africa has significant opportunities to divert manufacturing from Asia due to rising production costs, especially in China, and take advantage of the proximity to European markets.…

AS a developing country with a fast-growing, cash-based economy, Vietnam presents strong potential for money laundering and other financial crimes. Weak regulations and poor governmental oversight of the financial sector add to the challenges the country faces in combatting financial crimes.…

THE MEMBER countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) need to expand the remit of current skillsets identified in the grouping’s blueprint to ensure greater labour mobility during the fourth industrial revolution, according to a leading economist in the region.…

A NEW project is providing childcare at Cambodian textile and clothing plants, with France’s development agency Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and NGO Planète Enfants et Développement (PE&D) is aiming to boost employees’ wellbeing and reduce staff turnover. The AFD’s Cambodia director Philippe Steinmetz and PE&D’s regional co-ordinator for Cambodia and Vietnam, Nathalie Dupont, have told WTiN.com.…

EGYPT is trying to develop its upstream textile capabilities to bolster exports and be part of an integrated African continent-wide supply chain, linking its cut-and-sew and quality cotton fibre base. While Egypt exported USD764 million worth of fabric and yarn in 2016 according to the country’s Textile Export Council (TEC), challenges abound regarding Egypt’s efforts to generate more value-added textiles.…

LAOS, or the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), with its population of just 7 million, is the least developed member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a communist one-party state where corruption is rampant and transparency scarce. …

AFTER introducing digital printing and leading Bangladesh’s knitwear sector by example, the country’s knitting major, the Knit Concern Group, has said it will ramp up its capacity to digitally print 1 million metres of fabric monthly by 2022. Presently, the knitter, based in Narayanganj, near Dhaka, can digitally print 260,000 metres of fabric a month.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) planned trade deal with Japan – its sixth most important trading partner – struck in principle at the July 6 EU-Japan Summit in Brussels and set to be operational in 2019, will benefit the EU dairy industry greatly, experts say.…

HIGH-END internationally-focused brands are seeking out Vietnam’s traditional artisans to source orders of high-quality, handmade textiles, moving away from the low-cost, mass-produced materials often associated with the country’s textile and garment industry.

These labour-intensive products include indigo-dyed fabrics, hand-woven textiles, and lacquer silk, all of which are created using traditional methods by skilled craftspeople.…

THE PAKISTAN textile industry is worried that a potential trade free trade deal with Thailand, now under discussion, may cause more harm than good to Pakistani manufacturers. Thai and Pakistan government negotiators are preparing for what maybe the final round of talks to forge a free trade agreement (FTA) between these two textile producing countries, with a deal potentially being signed in January.…

A NUMBER of critical human resources hurdles need to be overcome if Vietnam is to reach its goal of one million successful start-up enterprises by 2020, experts have warned.

Vietnam aims to become a key start-up nation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region.…

Training middle managers is a priority for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the key emerging market of Myanmar, if this economic development organisation is to effectively support the country’s economic growth, according to JICA officials.

The agency’s work in Myanmar has traditionally focused on preventing major infectious diseases, creating infrastructure and growing economic capacity but, with the country being restricted by a dearth of professional and experienced talent, more aid is being channelled into nurturing human resources.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), on which negotiations concluded December 2, 2015, will open up “huge business opportunities” for Vietnamese garment companies, business experts agreed last month (September). They were speaking at an event jointly organised by EU business federation BusinessEurope, EuroCham [European Chamber of Commerce] Vietnam and the EU-Vietnam Business Network.…

VIETNAM’S textile and clothing and textile sector is looking to sell more product into Asian markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan, while solidifying its traditional export bases like the US and EU, the latest trade data indicates. 

Last year, Vietnam exported USD2.28 billion’s worth of clothing and textiles to South Korea – a 7.45% gain compared with 2015, according to Vietnam customs data analysed by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). …

CAMBODIA’S tripartite talks that will set a new minimum wage limit for 2018 for the country’s garment and textile sector opened yesterday (Sept 25).

The three parties, representing government, industry and unions, however proposed three different monthly wage floors. Cambodia’s ministry of labour and vocational training suggested a minimum clothing and footwear sector monthly wage of USD162.67 and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia proposed USD161 – but unions have pushed for USD176.25-a-month, up from the current USD153 (and USD140 in 2016), Sokny Say, secretary general of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC) told just-style. …

THE IMPOVERISHED south-east Asian kingdom of Cambodia shares porous borders with the significantly more dynamic economies of Thailand and Vietnam, is notorious for corruption, has a large casino sector and generates significant earnings from illegal exports.

This precarious mixture of factors has since 2012 consecutively earned Cambodia a spot in the Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index (from the Basel Institute on Governance) top-10 risk jurisdictions for money laundering.…

MOST of East Asia’s dynamic economies have traditionally relied on expats and there are no readily discernible signs that this is decreasing.

In Vietnam, which has been benefitting from production lines migrating from China amid rapidly rising labour and land costs there, increasing the number of expats six-fold since 2004 to almost 100,000 in 2016, the shortage of engineers and managers can be seen throughout most sectors.…

VIETNAM is taking a more active role in helping neighbouring Laos raise the quality of its workforce skills. The two countries have close political ties and similar levels of development, with the World Bank saying Laos had USD2,150 gross national income per capita in 2016, and Vietnam – USD2,050.…

AS increasing digitalisation continues to cut jobs, workforces need to adapt to this change by being more creative and above all by rehumanising leadership roles. Experts call it emotional intelligence. But in Vietnam this is still an “unfamiliar” concept especially among small and medium businesses.…

THE Thai government will enact new labour laws on January 1, 2018, among the most draconian changes being that business operators using services from unregistered brokers to seek illegal migrant workers can be subject to human trafficking charges punishable by a jail term of between three and 10 years and/or a fine of THB600,000 to THB1 million (USD18,100-USD30,000) per worker.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), on which negotiations concluded December 2, 2015, will open up “huge business opportunities” for Vietnamese garment companies, business experts agreed earlier this month at an event jointly organised by EU business federation BusinessEurope, EuroCham [European Chamber of Commerce] Vietnam and the EU-Vietnam Business Network.…

AS the growth in Vietnam’s middle class generates wealthier and more educated consumers in this country with a population of 95 million, growing domestic demand for locally-produced fabrics is pushing the country’s textile industry away from focusing entirely on exports.

While demand for inexpensive, imported clothing still exists in Vietnam, even cost-conscious consumers are beginning to seek out new styles and better quality in their fashion purchases, market traders have told WTiN.com.…

A MAJOR international anti-counterfeiting action ‘Operation Renegade’ did not just seize more than 70,000 counterfeit auto spare parts, oil and air filters, grills, and fuel pumps, and nearly 600 cylinders of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants, it yielded valuable anti-smuggling and counterfeiting information.…

THE COSMETICS and personal care industry bases its wealth on personal consumption, targeting its products at the needs and desires of consumers writ large. This is as true in Japan as anywhere else – but in Japan, the industry faces a special problem – plummeting population levels, and a dramatic ageing of local consumers.…

SOUTH east Asia’s countries are as culturally diverse as those in Europe, and far more contrasting in economic development, so it is no surprise that their personal care product markets differ in their tastes and priorities. Fortunately, with the region’s largely emerging market economies still on a robust growth trajectory, and its more developed economies solidifying their wealth, the usual personal care product sale trend is one of expansion, albeit unevenly and sometimes with set-backs.…

THE VIETNAMESE government has said it wants to shift the country’s clothing manufacturing sector from its current low-cost model to an added value sector that includes design and branding.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc is behind the change in direction, releasing a government decision signalling this formal policy change, although details of specific actions are still awaited.…

AS Ethiopia rapidly emerges as a key clothing and textile hub of Africa, the country has been making impressive strides as a knitwear manufacturing and sourcing centre, attracting the attention of global clothing majors.

“International buyers are beginning to buy knitted clothes from Ethiopia including Zara, Tesco, H&M [Hennes & Mauritz] and Decathlon,” said Fassil Tadesse, president of the Ethiopian Textile and Garment Manufacturing Association (ETGAMA).…

HUMAN resources experts in Thailand have called on the country’s military government to reorient the education system so that students become more adept with digital technologies, bringing such skills to the workforce once they graduate.

They have commented after the release of findings by AlphaBeta – a Australia and Singapore-based strategic and economic advisory – which put Thailand at 10th place on overall digital ranking of Asia-Pacific countries, just ahead of Vietnam.…

SINGAPORE has been rated the best city in the world to live for professionals wanting to work in start-ups, according to a survey by furnished apartment web-rental platform Nestpick. The website’s researchers assessed 85 cities, looking at their start-up ecosystems. It assessed average salaries for entry level and experienced positions regarding project management, technology and marketing roles.…

TURKISH and Pakistani textile executives are divided in their opinion about the likely benefits of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) under discussion between Pakistan and Turkey, with Pakistan opinion in favour, but less enthusiasm in Turkey.

Seven rounds of talks between the two sides have taken place and further talks maybe staged in August.…

Amid concerns about a growing shortage of workers in Russia’s textile industry, leading companies are looking to recruit staff from India, China and other emerging market nations.

According to latest data from the Russian ministry of industry and trade, the current vacancy rate across the country’s textile industry is 36%.…

The Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI), which is South Korea’s primary agency for the development of the textile industry, expects South Korean textile and garment investment in Vietnam to grow, albeit with shifting focuses as a response to the US abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).…

INDIA’S hopes of capturing more business within the international textile market lay in expanding its man-made fibre (MMF) production, experts suggested at the three-day Textiles India 2017 exhibition that concluded in Gujarat, on July 2. This, combined with innovative product design, improved labour laws, quick delivery systems and drastically improved logistics, could help Indian textile and clothing producers become a more important sourcing hub for the industry worldwide, said speakers at the event.…

INDIA’S hopes of capturing more business within the international textile market lay in expanding its man-made fibre (MMF) production, experts suggested at the three-day Textiles India 2017 exhibition that concluded in Gujarat, on July 2. This, combined with innovative product design, improved labour laws, quick delivery systems and drastically improved logistics, could help Indian textile and clothing producers become a more important sourcing hub for the industry worldwide, said speakers at the event.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) meat industry has expressed disappointment over the decision by Russia to extend by 18 months its ban on EU exports of meat and meat products, but is optimistic that producers will continue finding alternative markets.

Leaders of EU farm industry association Copa-Cogeca and the European Livestock & Meat Trading Union (UECBV) stressed to GlobalMeatNews that the European Commission, food industry companies and EU member states had successfully adapted to Russia’s actions.…

WITH the Asia-Pacific continuing to be the hub of global industrial growth and also a nexus of technological innovation, the region’s non-wovens sector has been making the most of these benefits, increasing both output and quality.

The Chinese nonwoven fabric sector, for instance, has been growing steadily, with 8-10% year-on-year growth in recent years, surpassing the average growth rate of the country’s entire textile industry.…

TRAINING in a broader skills set will be key to the successful integration of Cambodian workers in the new industrial revolution if the country’s labour market is not to be decimated by automation, experts have warned.

As ASEAN nations embrace Industry 4.0, some countries, like Cambodia, are concerned that while this disruption will bring great opportunities, it will also negatively impact its traditional labour market, forcing people out of jobs.…

There is no sign that Taiwanese textile investors will rethink their commitment to Vietnam six months after US President Donald Trump pulled America out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement that would have greatly boosted Vietnamese garment exports to the USA.…

PAKISTAN’S textile industry, including manufacturers of fabric, yarn, and garments, suspended production and organised protests nationwide on June 20, dubbing the protest ‘Black Tuesday’, over the government’s slow implementation of a promised USD1.7 billion relief package for the sector.

The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) organised the day of action, supported by the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA), All Pakistan Bedsheets And Upholstery Manufacturers Association (APBUMA), the All Pakistan Textile Processing Mills Association (APTPMA), the All Pakistan Cotton Power Looms Association, the Council of Loom Owners Association and other groups. …

THE HUMAN resources sector has been urged to put pressure on governments and investment fund managers in Asia to strengthen pension provisions as they deal with the consequences of rapidly aging populations.

And HR and economics experts have warned that corporate HR teams have a critical role to play in educating the workforce about the extent, however limited, of their pension provision and working with company bosses to strengthen policies within their organisations to compensate for the lack of robust schemes in existence.…

EUROPE’S nonwovens producers again served up a solid performance in 2016 against the background of (uneven and) uncertain trading conditions for the industry.

As usual, the just-published returns from EDANA, the representative organisation for the USD30 billion nonwovens industry in Europe, show some important national variations.…

THE CIVIL Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has claimed that its government’s policy of forging transport links with countries in central Asia, south and south-east Asia, Africa and Europe (the so-called ‘belt and road’ plan) is promoting air travel between China and these states.…

BRIDGING the digital divide in a largely conventional and labour- intensive industry such as garment and textile manufacturing is often a challenge. But Malaysia’s G.PRO Technologies – an arm of Apparel Alliance Sdn Bhd – is re-defining shop flow operations in the apparel business with its innovative software and hardware – helping the industry transition towards digitalisation. …

Demand is growing for a major international programme designed to support developing countries build up their tax audit capacity and – critically – the funding is there to meet that need. Launched as a joint initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in July 2015 after an initial pilot phase, Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) sees tax experts work side-by-side with local officials in developing and emerging markets.…

Amidst growing interest in Vietnam from international textile, garment and electronics companies, the country’s logistics infrastructure has been undergoing a much-needed upgrade, but the trajectory has been bumpy, say experts.

The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index Country Scorecard has noted that Vietnam’s logistics situation improving until 2014 only to fall back in 2016.…

VIETNAM is working hard to develop an upstream parts manufacturing base, but this goal is proving hard to achieve and meanwhile, regional liberalization through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is threatening the country’s auto assembly segment.

In many ways, it is crunch time for Vietnam’s auto sector.…

Slowly, a central government is re-establishing itself in Somalia. But it is far from being a safe place in which to do business. Even though other sectors (such as livestock) are establishing themselves, the tobacco sector still lacks a functional regulator and effective regulation.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) pig meat producers were big winners in boosting export sales over between last March (2016) and February (2017), according to the European Commission, with receipts rising by more than 33% compared to the same period last year. The EU pigmeat sector earned EUR5.4 billion in export earnings from March 2016 to February 2017, EUR1.35 billion more than the same period in the previous year, leading the United States and Canada as the second and third most important pigmeat exporters, reported EU statistical agency Eurostat.…

Political uncertainty over US trade deals sparked by the ascension of President Donald Trump to power should be eased to avoid stifling innovation in the country’s technical textiles industry which could see it marginalised on the world stage, insiders have warned.…

Japan’s cosmetics and personal care market is holding steady, although there are concerns that stability is being supported by strong consumption by the burgeoning number of tourists visiting the country combined with a weak yen. USD1 bought Japanese Yen JPY117 in December compared JPY100 in July, although it has since recovered to JPY110 (April).…

INDIA’S Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL), one of the oldest textile export promotion councils in India, is looking forward to an Indian-government promoted major conference and exhibition ‘Textiles India – 2017’, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from June 30 to July 2.…

INDIA’S Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL), one of the oldest textile export promotion councils in India, is looking forward to an Indian-government promoted major conference and exhibition ‘Textiles India – 2017’, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, from June 30 to July 2.…

Europe’s nonwovens producers again served up a solid performance in 2016 against the background of (uneven and) uncertain trading conditions for the industry. As usual, the just-published returns from EDANA, the representative organisation for the USD30 billion nonwovens industry in Europe, show some important national variations.…

AMERICA may have scrapped its major sanctions against emerging outsourcing centre Myanmar, and brought back the southeast Asian country’s GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) access to USA markets, but the impact on the clothing trade has so far been underwhelming.

Apparel factory owners in Myanmar say American buyers have simply not materialised in the numbers that some expected.…

Vietnam has an amendment to its criminal code under way that would make the crime of illegal dismissal of employees punishable with a jail term of up to one year. That textile executives could be affected by this draconic measure has followed the Vietnam government adopting a policy principle of “piercing the corporate veil” on January 1 this year.…

THE EUROPEAN Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) is predicting that trade in clothing and textile products between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) will grow significantly once the free trade agreement struck between the two jurisdictions comes into force next year (2018).…

THE CHIEF executive of a major Pakistan government economic development agency has told wardsauto that Volkswagen has made significant progress in talks to establish new manufacturing production in this key south Asian market’s port city of Karachi. The latest fruit of the business-friendly policies pursued by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, “Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is in final talks with Premier Systems Private Limited – the authorised importer of Audi vehicles in the country – to set up a manufacturing/assembly plant for its Amarok and T6 (transporter range) models and Volkswagen,” Tariq Ejaz Chaudhary, CEO of Pakistan’s Engineering Development Board told wardsauto.…

Cambodia’s garment industry is in a curious situation, with statistics indicating that export earnings from this key Asian fabric and yarn buyer are on the rise, despite evidence that overseas sales should actually be falling. According to one industry insider, this makes it difficult to project how the Cambodian clothing sector will perform in 2017 and hence how much it will spend on supplies.…

Companies in Vietnam have been warned they are at risk of seeing their executives going to jail over contested sackings following anticipated new national penal code sanctions.

Law firm Duane Morris Vietnam LLC is warning its corporate clients that the crime of illegal dismissal of employees can now earn their executives up to one year in prison.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission should bring forward legislation to enhance due diligence for supply chains in the garment sector, the European Parliament’s development committee said yesterday (March 21). MEPs backed a report by Spanish MEP Lola Sánchez Caldentey from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) group which asked the Commission to propose a European Union (EU) law saying a binding reporting system should generate data linking each product to its respective producers.…

PAKISTAN knitwear manufacturers and exporters say the country’s knitwear industry is passing through difficult times, with export sales becoming tougher to secure through growing input costs and a continued failure of the government to implement a much-vaunted and recently-announced bailout package.…

Around one-in-four people in Asia-Pacific countries are estimated to have paid bribes to access public services, according to the latest survey of 22,000 people across the region from Transparency International. Published March 7 ‘People and Corruption: Asia Pacific Survey 2017’ reveals approximately 900 million people living in 16 countries in Asia Pacific have paid these bribes, with the poorest being hardest hit – some 38% of this group admitted to paying a bribe, rising to 73% in India.…

ASIA’S technical textiles sectors continue to grow, fuelled by ready buyers in domestic and overseas markets, but governments can and do help too – keen to promote these sustainable high tech industries.

China is a case in point. Its industry and information technology ministry plus the National Development and Reform Commission in January (2017) jointly issued development guidance for technical textiles as part of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, which runs from 2016-20.…

The chairman of the Indonesian Textiles Association (API) has expressed cautious optimism about President Donald Trump’s rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact and re-confirmed the need to boost Indonesia’s competitiveness.

Trump pulled the USA out of the agreement on January 23, and while that could be bad news for the other 11 TPP partners, including regional textile sector competitors Malaysia and clothing hub Vietnam, the deal had yet to include Indonesia.…

THE BANK of Thailand is pushing for Thailand to better educate its workforce to cope with digital development, with a lack of research and development (R&D) investment being blamed economic stagnation within this southeast Asian country. The call comes as Thailand’s GDP per capita was just USD5,814.77 (World Bank figures for 2015) when China’s was USD8,027.68.…

With the global garment market still growing fast, Bangladesh needs to seize the so-called ‘China-plus’ opportunity while penetrating new markets and diversifying its products, a Dhaka conference has heard.

In a keynote speech Dr Nazneen Ahmed, a senior research fellow at the state-run think-tank Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), argued world apparel sales were USD445 billion in 2015, set to grow USD700 billion by 2021

But uncertainty over Brexit, the new Trump-influenced global trade regime and an India’s textile sector incentive package of Indian rupees INR60 billion (USD900 million) are posing fresh challenges for the Bangladesh industry, speakers stressed.…

One month after staunch free-trade opponent Donald Trump became US President there are many policy decisions still to be confirmed and clarified to get a full idea of the impact his presidency will have on the trade in technical textiles. His accession comes during an unstable time for international trade – it is arguably even less clear how the UK’s planned exit from the EU will work out for the sector.…

KEY MESSAGES

*The nuclear industry has an ageing staff and needs to recruit new professionals as they retire

*Its strong health and retirement benefits packages could help it attract the new staff it needs

*The nuclear industry outside north America has a strong expat component, making it easier for recruit staff from abroad

INTRODUCTION

The nuclear industry sector is facing some significant human resources challenges, but new research carried out by Airswift and Energy Jobline indicates that the nuclear sector can still compete for talent.…

AS Bangladesh aims to double its apparel exports in the next five years, industry executives and experts agree on one thing: value addition is the key and the development of digital printing services is a key strand of this strategy.
As a result, the launch of operations by Indian textile printing manufacturer and distributor DCC (Dhaval Colour Chem) in Dhaka last December was an important step towards creating such an integrated supply chain in Bangladesh.…

AS the Vietnamese textile sector gets closer to a potential export boom triggered by the near-certain ratification of the European Union (EU)-Vietnam free-trade agreement in 2018, business advocates in Hanoi have called for a loosening of machinery import restrictions.

Notably, the textile industry has been urging the Vietnamese government to amend its ministry of science and technology Circular No 23, issued in 2015, on the import of used machinery, equipment and manufacturing lines.…

As US President Donald Trump on January 23 pulled America out from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with an executive order, he signalled he will instead ask Asian TPP members for bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs). This includes countries such as Vietnam that rely on apparel and textile exports.…

Even as the official withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been greeted by enthusiasm by American automakers, the focus is shifting to the bilateral trade deals that President Donald Trump has promised will take its place.…

THE DIRECTOR-general of the European Union’s anti-fraud office – OLAF – has argued that the only way to stop counterfeit cigarettes and other goods entering Europe is to tackle the trade at source. Giovanni Kessler spoke out at a joint OLAF press conference with the Belgian Customs and Excise Administration in December to showcase how their cooperation had smashed a cigarette smuggling ring.…

THE US Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) has called on the new American administration of President Donald Trump to work hard to negotiate new bilateral trade deals with Asian markets now he has formally pulled his country from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.…

As US President Donald Trump has been wasting no time carrying out his campaign pledges to undo long-standing American trade ties, the Asian apparel industry and the US retailers it supplies have ample reasons to be on edge.

Signs are particularly worrisome for apparel players sourcing from Vietnam, a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the unratified 12-nation deal that will now not include the USA after Trump extracted America from its commitments via a January 23 presidential memorandum.…

UNITED States (US) President Donald Trump’s decision on January 26 to sign an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) should provide opportunities for European Union (EU) dairy exporters, according to European dairy experts.

“From an EU dairy perspective, we would hope that the European Commission will continue to make an effort in our European trade negotiations, especially with Japan,” Alexander Anton, secretary general of the European Dairy Association, told Food & Drink Technology News.…

The January 23 presidential memorandum from President Donald Trump, puling the USA from participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal has disappointed the American cosmetics and personal care products sector. This is not only because of the tariff barriers it would have eliminated but also because the TPP would have pushed regulatory controls in all TPP countries in the same direction.…

CHINA’S textile sector is feeling positive about the Chinese government’s ambitious ‘Made in China 2025’ national strategy, hoping it will guide producers towards sustainable growth.

The policy was unveiled in May 2015 by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. It is designed to move the entire Chinese manufacturing sector away from low value-added activities to medium- and high-end operations in just 10 years’ time.…

Textile and garment makers in Vietnam are overcoming the initial shock of US president-elect Donald Trump in late-October making clear he would issue an executive order to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) the day he takes office.

Vietnam, as one of the 12 TPP signatory countries, had been expected to gain greatly from the trade deal, as its garment exports would have earned 0% tariff treatment in the US market compared to a current average of 32%.…

Hacking and data breaches keep Asian IT departments awake at night, but many of the most serious cyber security incidents can be prevented with greater vigilance from HR professionals. Of course, there are a wide variety of risks being posed to companies from online environments, from denial-of-service attacks, to Trojan programmes that monitor computer use, and theft of identities and intellectual property.…

2016 – Winners and losers

RETAILERS & BRANDS

WINNERS

US-based sportswear brand Under Armour delivered its 26th consecutive quarter of 20%-plus revenue growth in the third quarter of 2016, with sales increases across all divisions. Net sales were up 22% in the third quarter to USD1.47bn.…

VIETNAM’S construction and manufacturing sectors are driving demand for paints and varnishes as economic growth remains healthy despite speed bumps this year. While this key south-east Asian emerging market’s economic growth took a hit this year thanks to environmental issues and weak global export demand, the country’s paints and coatings industry continues to grow.…

HUMAN resources specialists are advising Vietnam’s government and private sector to get smarter over their personnel policies if it wants to maintain the productivity improvements that have helped pull this southeast Asian country out of poverty.

A report released in October (2016) by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) on the issue has cited research from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to highlight Vietnam’s strong record: the report notes that Vietnam’s productivity grew 184% from 1991-2012, far surpassing Thailand’s 85%, Singapore’s 81% and Malaysia’s 80% growth over the same period.…

VIETNAM’S construction and manufacturing sectors are driving demand for paints and varnishes as economic growth remains healthy despite speed bumps this year. While this key south-east Asian emerging market’s economic growth took a hit this year thanks to environmental issues and weak global export demand, the country’s paints and coatings industry continues to grow.…

VIETNAM’S construction and manufacturing sectors are driving demand for paints and varnishes as economic growth remains healthy despite speed bumps this year. While this key south-east Asian emerging market’s economic growth took a hit this year thanks to environmental issues and weak global export demand, the country’s paints and coatings industry continues to grow.…

Vietnam’s upstream textile manufacturing sector remains hampered by lack of investment, poor infrastructure and personnel shortages, although government efforts are expected to ease some difficulties, a seminar at the recent VTG Textile & Garment Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has heard.…

While the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) had made the future of textile manufacturing in Vietnam look rosy in much of 2016, Japanese businesses eyeing investments in this south-east Asian emerging market do not seem to fear the trade deal’s likely demise under United States President-elect Donald Trump.…

THE PROMISE from US President-elect Donald Trump to withdraw the USA from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement on his first day of office has prompted widespread nervousness in auto-sectors around the world.

His rejection of the deal could scupper an agreement negotiated over five years by the United States; Australia; Brunei; Canada; Chile; Japan; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Peru; Singapore and Vietnam.…

HUMAN resources experts in the Asia-Pacific region are mulling the potential impact of US President-elect Donald Trump abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. He has promised to withdraw the US from the agreement on his first day in office.

And without American participation, the pact seems dead in the water: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently said it would be “meaningless,” while Vietnam, whose export-driven economy was expected to be one of the major beneficiaries of the TPP, has withdrawn the proposal for ratification in its National Assembly.…

A senior Canada metal industry association has called on its government to continue ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), despite US President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to withdraw the US from the trade deal on his first day of office.

“We definitely still support Canada moving forward with the TPP, even without the US.…

Vietnam’ clothing and textile industry has been assessing the impact of losing an anticipated huge garment export boost under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) now that US president-elect Donald Trump has promised to sign an executive order pulling out of the 12-nation trade deal.…

UNITED States President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, condemning the deal as a “potential disaster for our country”, has received the thumbs-down from the cosmetics industry.

“TPP represents an important step forward for the cosmetics industry in the signatory countries, containing as it does a specific annex for cosmetics and personal care,” Cosmetics Europe director general John Chave told Soap Perfumery & Cosmetics.…

The world’s leading sportswear brands and manufacturers are struggling to equip their factories with the robotic cyberphysical systems (CPS) element of Industry 4.0 processes, at least in the near term, a major international conference has heard.

Last week’s World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) Manufacturers Forum in Taichung, Taiwan, (held on November 15-16), played host to delegates from 20 countries representing brands such as adidas, Nike and Giant Bicycles, market-leading manufacturers such as Taiwan’s footwear specialist Pou Chen, as well as academics and Industry 4.0 experts.…

With a strong national economy and significant investment in construction and public buildings, the Philippine paint and coatings sector is enjoying a period of robust growth. Official figures for the overall paint market have not been published since 2014 but the leading sectors have continued to flourish.…

EXECUTIVES at a Vietnam knitwear company have told WTiN.com that while it has expanded production because of increased exports, if costs continue to rise in this south-east Asian country – the company is prepared to move production overseas.

Over the last roughly 30 years, Thai Son S.P.…

THE PHILIPPINES’ textile sector is not a strong competitor to Asian outsourcing centres such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, but the industry has its own strengths to “create new niches for eco textiles”, aided by an abundant supply of natural fibres such as abaca, an industry expert told WTiN.com. …

Indian cotton exports to Pakistan are expected to drop sharply after rising political tensions between the two neighbours over the Kashmir issue and the availability of more competitive cotton from West African countries and United States, WTiN has been told.

“There are concerns of [Indian and Pakistan] putting a stop to each other’s trade,” said Atif Dada, chairman of the Karachi Cotton Association, in Karachi.…

THE SHORTAGE of skilled labour is the “second most pressing issue next to political instability” that is hindering growth in Thailand manufacturing firms, a Bangkok-based World Bank expert has told People Management.

Indeed, the south-east Asian country’s skilled labour shortage has been getting worse: for example, the number of weeks it takes to fill a vacancy for a skilled worker in Thailand has increased from about five weeks on average in 2007 to about eight weeks in 2015, said the World Bank’s east Asia and Pacific programme leader for poverty and human development Lars Sondergaard.…

The Association of South East Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) “large structural differences in the education system” are challenging the 10 country group’s efforts to harmonise skills across the board, an expert from Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned. His comments follow the August launch of an initiative to benchmark tourism industry skills in the 10-member bloc.…

Non-wovens textile manufacturers are likely to benefit from a soaring Chinese market for their products, thanks to a fast ageing population, the government’s recently launched two-child policy, and demand created by air pollution that continues to plague the country, and international conference in Shanghai has head.…

Vietnam’s National Salary Council may have increased the country-wide minimum wage by the smallest proportion in a decade of such rises (7.3% for 2017), but the country’s clothing manufacturers are still warning this is a hike too far.

The Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS) has opposed the increase.…

Leaders of Pakistan’s ailing clothing and textile industry have told just-style how they are concerned about their sector’s declining exports, calling on the federal government to intervene promptly to reverse this trend.

“Our exports have been continuously falling since 2013 and the government failed to take any remedial measures,” said Muhammad Ijaz Khokhar, Central Chairman of Pakistan Readymade Garments & Exporters Association (PRGMEA).…

Fast fashion is all about getting product to market quickly without over-spending. And while new technologies such as digital printing machinery can speed up the process, they can also add cost.

Guido Schlossmann, president and chief executive officer of Thailand-based consultants Synergies Worldwide, stressed to just-style that the key issue is getting the balance right.…

The demand for processed and packaged food is growing fast among India’s young, often aspirational and fast-expanding population. And this has made Nestlé India target a double digit annual growth in upcoming years. To realise this goal, the company is steadily introducing premium international products into India, such as its impending launch of Alpino chocolates this month (October 2016).…

THE ASIA-PACIFIC region has been regarded as the workshop of the world for most of the 21^st century, and this is especially true for the technical textile sector, where output has continued to grow, partly fuelled by growing regional demand.…

A KEY women’s business group in Pakistan has voiced concerns about a fall in textile exports from the country, given the industry is not only the largest foreign exchange earning sector of the country, but a key employer of female workers nationwide.…

THAILAND’S strong upstream and mid-stream textile sectors can gain significantly by investing in Vietnam, setting up plants in the country ahead of the key Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal coming into force, Thailand textile industry experts have said. 

Thailand’s “textile bleaching, dyeing, printing and finishing sectors can benefit by investing in Vietnam,” a spokesperson from industry organisation the Thailand Textile Institute’s textile policy research and information service department said.…

The Vietnamese textile sector may face challenges thanks to a newly approved national minimum wage, industry insiders say, with specialists suggesting different rates for higher skilled workers in upstream suppliers, but other worrying about a loss of competitiveness in clothing manufacturing.…

COTTON

Cotton maybe one of the most popular fibres for clothing and accessories because of its universality, timelessness, and availability, but this past year has shown that the fibre is not immune to volatile economic markets. World cotton production fell by 17% to 21.65 million tonnes in 2015-2016, the lowest volume since 2003-2004, according to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).…

The cosmetics surgery sector in South Korea, the industry’s undisputed bellwether in Asia, expanded strongly in 2015, with the number of total cosmetics surgery procedures growing by 17.9% year on year, to 1.2 million, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS).…

WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS

East Asia is a very varied region in terms of economic development. Take the 10 members of trade bloc ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations): with 632 million people, demographics greatly vary, from aging Singapore and Thailand, to the younger and emerging economies of Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.…

THE UNITED States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) has predicted that Vietnam’s position as a key supplier of clothing, and hence a buyer of textiles, will remain strong, even if the USA fails to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. According to the 2016 USFIA Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study, 70% of respondent companies said they will increase sourcing from Vietnam in the next two years if their sourcing volume from China decreases.…

The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) has told WTiN that it strongly supports a proposal from Vietnam’s ministry of industry and trade to develop large textile industrial zones to attract investment for fabric and yarn production, as well as dyeing.…

The Indonesian Textiles Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia) has told WTiN.com that it enthusiastically endorses the opening of negotiations between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia to forge a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) free trade deal.

The goal of the talks announced in July will be to create an agreement that goes beyond traditional agreements that focus on duty and quota abolition, to include removing non-tariff barriers through regulatory mutual recognition and harmonisation.…

MINIMUM wage reviews are underway in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries of Vietnam and Cambodia, with employers seeking to keep payrolls low to help them compete in international trade.

Vietnam’s National Wage Council on August 2 proposed increasing the country’s regional minimum wage (RMW) by 7.3%, the lowest level in nearly a decade – rates vary according to regions across the country.…

The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) has welcomed proposals from Vietnam’s ministry of industry and trade to develop large textile and garment industrial zones to attract investment for dyeing and fabric and yarn production. The aim of the proposed zones, which would be 500 to 1,000 hectares in size, is to bring in investment from both local and foreign garment companies.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has told just-style it is planning to launch a sustainability impact assessment on a proposed European Union (EU)-Indonesia free trade deal that is expected to boost apparel and textile trades on both sides.

A spokesperson from the European Commission’s trade directorate general said the assessment’s “valuable input” will help negotiators on both sides to hone the deal, the spokesperson said.…

Vigorous expansion of export-oriented manufacturing and construction in 2015 spurred the fastest GDP growth in Vietnam in seven years, at 6.7% year-on-year, according to the Asian Development Bank. And although coatings consumption correlates generally well with economic growth, in Vietnam the 2015 year-on-year coatings production increase outpaced general economic expansion – it rose 11.1% year-on -year in 2015, to Vietnamese dong VND13 trillion (USD587 million), according to market researcher Euromonitor International.…

Paint and varnish manufacturers in Japan experienced a disappointing 2015, with sluggish purchasing from the construction and automotive sectors translating into meagre 0.3% growth over the fiscal year. Analysts predict that growth will pick up in the short term, in part as a result of a spike in demand from the construction sector ahead of Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympic Games – although industry players are concerned about the longer-term outlook for the sector.…

Thailand-based automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are set to benefit from the expansion of an existing auto tariff-free zone to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam in 2018. These would then join this ASEAN-linked trading zone’s member countries Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to forge an ASEAN-wide automotive market bloc.…

VIETNAM’S textile sector faces significant challenges as it seeks to profit sustainably from new commercial opportunities offered by international trade deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a major industry conference has been told. The Vietnam Textile Summit 2016 was held from June 29-30, at The Reverie Saigon, an upscale hotel in downtown Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).…

SHANGHAI-based microfibre and fabric accessories maker Pactics Group is set to open a new factory in Cambodia using innovative digital heat-transfer ‘sublimated’ printing – that allows brightly-coloured high quality prints on fabric.

The new factory, under the company’s ‘Raytecs’ division, will be located in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh-based produce women’s activewear, swimwear, apparel and other sublimated printed premium products: “We are a boutique manufacturer of sublimated activewear, apparel and premium sublimated products,” the group’s president and owner  Piet Holten told WTiN.…

THE COMMON market launched on January 1 by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has so far failed to promote a sustainable increase in legitimate intra-ASEAN meat and livestock trades. Instead, imports from outside the bloc, domestic production and US dollar-based smuggling continue to thrive, say experts.…

South-east Asia is a region that has sharp contrasts in economic development, from between the wealth of Singapore to countries such as Myanmar, where poverty is endemic and consumer markets are relatively undeveloped.

Such contrasts pose challenges for personal care product companies seeking regional strategies to tap the markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) 10 countries, whose cosmetics suppliers have to comply with the standards of the ASEAN Cosmetics Directive, which was modelled on European Union legislation.…

Asian paint and coatings manufacturers are set to benefit from the expansion of an existing automotive tariff-free zone spanning Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.…

Indian garment exporters have widely welcomed a series of financial and labour reforms announced by the government on Wednesday (22 June) designed to make their industry more efficient, although it is being resisted by unions. The cabinet has earmarked additional funding of USD880 million for a duty drawback scheme and to also refund state government levies paid by the garment exporters.…

Indonesian negotiators must press harder to make progress on the European Union (EU)-Indonesia free trade agreement or textile manufacturers risk losing market share to neighbouring competitors like Vietnam, according to the Indonesian Textile Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia). Its chairman Ade Sudrajat told WTiN.com…

Japanese engagement in Vietnam’s textile and garment sectors continues to strengthen discernibly, as the southeast Asian manufacturing centre is set to become a global clothing exporting powerhouse under the newly concluded free trade agreements. These include the Vietnam-European Union free trade deal (EVFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which will give Vietnamese exporters better access to American markets.…

In 2015, North America’s manufacturing capacity for nonwovens (regarding the United States, Canada and Mexico) grew from 2014 by 2.4% to reach about 2.77 million tonnes, according to a spokesperson for the US-based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA). The United States dominates supplies in the region, making up 91% of capacity.…

Indonesian negotiators must press harder to make progress on the European Union (EU)-Indonesia free trade agreement or textile manufacturers risk losing market share to neighbouring competitors like Vietnam, according to the Indonesian Textile Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia). Its chairman Ade Sudrajat told WTiN.com…

MALAYSIA’S textile sector will grow by at least 30% thanks to a surge in investments in its textile sector when the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement comes into force, Malaysian Knitting Manufacturers Association (MKMA) executive director Rebecca Chiang has predicted to WTiN.com.…

CONCERN is growing that foreign direct investment (FDI) within Vietnam, including in the textile sector, needs to be tempered with efforts to deter unlimited environmental pollution. Public opinion in Vietnam – important even within this one party officially communist state – has been riled by mass fish deaths off Vietnam’s central coast, with environmentalists blaming a toxic leak from a steel mill in April receiving investment from Taiwan, a key investor in Vietnam’s textile sector.…

DETAILS have been released about knitwear and yarn tariffs that will be scrapped regarding products exported and imported between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) under their new trade deal. The full text of the agreement struck last August (2015) has been released and shows how the EU is prepared to remove its tariff barriers to Vietnam knitwear exports.…

PAKISTAN’S textile sector is struggling as exports are declining, with producers unable to compete with regional countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam,

Jawed Bilwani, chairman of the Pakistan Apparel Forum has told WTiN.com. In an interview he warned that looking at trade data for financial year 2014-15 compared to 2013-2014: “Our textile exports are declining persistently and are in a state of emergency.”…

An anticipated boost for garment exports has failed to materialise since the Philippines was granted Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) by the European Union (EU) in December 2014. Receiving GSP+ status meant that a total of 6,274 Philippines export products were given duty-free access to the EU market.…

THE VIETNAMESE textile industry and government is planning to overcome poor productivity and a serious shortage of textile and dyeing materials to better leverage Vietnam’s inclusion in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.

According to an estimation by the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), Vietnam will need up to USD15 billion’s investment to bring its mills and dyeing houses to a point where local textile sourcing can facilitate compliance with the TPP’s rules of origins, as regards domestic sourcing.…

Vietnam’s ministry of finance will remove price controls on milk products for children under six-years-old by the beginning of next year. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh and minister of finance Dinh Tien Dung in early March told the local media that the move has been sparked by concessions Vietnam has made in free-trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and its recent trade deal with the European Union (EU).…

WITH Bangladesh aiming to double its apparel exports over the next five years, the importance of maintaining secure and quality cotton imports from its top supplier India was underlined at an international conference staged in Dhaka this weekend.

Speakers at the first ‘Bangladesh India Cotton Fest 2016’, on Saturday (March 12) said that Bangladesh and its larger neighbour should establish joint-ventures and foster cross-border investments in the garment sector to strengthen this critically important supply chain.…

The 2016 outlook for the US paints and coatings industry remains positive, with experts predicting growth thanks to a resilient US economy, a strong performance by the manufacturing industry, and notable new trade agreements.

According to IBISWorld, a global market research company, the US paints and coatings industry bounced back quickly from the financial economic crisis beginning in 2008.…

WHILE international clothing buyers today have a lot of sourcing choices, this multiplicity of options can bring its own management headaches, making it important that brands make subtle, complex and fluid purchasing decisions to keep ahead of the competition, Global research firm McKinsey’s biannual sourcing survey – last published in 2015 – of chief procurement officers (CPOs) at leading apparel companies is an interesting window onto today’s complex sourcing landscape.…

With fast fashion demands growing and China’s costs rising, sourcing closer to home is certainly becoming a more commonly considered option for brands, speeding up clothing and textile supply chains, being particularly beneficial for smaller producers, according to experts. Companies sourcing locally can have faster turnaround times, potentially better relationships with suppliers, and greater quality control.…

ONCE clothing sourcing was all about China. No longer. Recent years have seen a continuous decline in China’s export industry, especially in labour-intensive sectors such as clothing and shoe manufacturing, because of rising labour costs and an appreciating Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY or RMB).…

Details have been released explaining how the European Union’s (EU) will open up its markets to rare earths from Vietnam under a trade deal struck last August (2015), despite concerns the country is a conduit for smuggled earths from south China.…

Details have been released explaining how the European Union’s (EU) non-ferrous metal sector will boost its access to the key emerging market of Vietnam, under a trade deal struck last August (2015). The full text of the agreement has now been released (on February 1) and shows how tariffs that will be scrapped regarding non-ferrous metals, as well as related inputs and products exported and imported between Vietnam and the EU.…

DETAILS of the European Union’s (EU) trade agreement with Vietnam have been released that show how the deal could boost the outsourcing of clothing manufacture by EU brands in this key south-east Asian emerging industrial player. The full text of the agreement has now been released (on February 1), and attention will turn to the ratification process, which will happen in the European Parliament for the EU and the Vietnamese National Assembly.…

The Hong Kong-based Esquel Group, the major global high-end shirt supplier, is making progress in a research programme to develop a sustainable Chinese supply of sea island cotton, an extra-long staple (ELS) cotton, in Xinjiang.

This autonomous territory in north-west China is a key cotton production centre for China, and a recent scientific conference in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, where Esquel has a 5,500-acre cotton field, discussed the latest key findings and challenges.…

The European Commission has indicated that to just-style that it may accept a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling against “anti-dumping” duties imposed on leather footwear made in China and Vietnam imported into the European Union (EU).

The duties were imposed in 2006 over concerns that these were being sold in the EU at below cost-price and have been the subject of some controversy ever since, with several retailers claiming they were illegal and demanding refunds.…

THE INDIAN government’s decision to increase its available subsidies to help companies purchase new textile machinery from 10% to 15% will boost the investment in the country’s technical textile sector, which has been struggling to build big capacities.

Under the ‘Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS)’, from January 14 (2016), a producer of technical textiles can avail itself of up to USD4.5 million as capital investment subsidy.…

DETAILS have been released about tariffs to be scrapped regarding food and drink products exported and imported between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) under a trade deal struck last August (2015). The full text has now been released and shows how Vietnam’s emerging market of 89 million people will be opened to the EU’s food manufacturers.…

VIETNAM as almost a “sole supplier of textile products” among Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries is banking on the TPP deal to expand its textile market share, according to VITAS – the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association. Moreover, a spokesperson from the association said that “many Hong Kong, South Korean, and Australian firms are developing and planning major textiles FDI [foreign direct investment] in Vietnam to produce yarn and fabric, the supporting textiles industry for apparel production.”…

Australian and New Zealand confectionery and ice cream manufacturers have been broadly supportive of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that was finalised towards the end of 2015, recognising the potential for securing export sales in lucrative Asian markets. That said, there is some caution, given the TPP delivers more potential for America’s juggernaut of a confectionery sector to roll into local stores.…

An unprecedented spike in rhino poaching has not only threatened the existence of the charismatic species but also shone a spotlight on the highly organised criminal networks responsible. Wildlife crime is no longer seen as victimless or offering little reward but authorities are fighting back with some innovative tactics, reports Mark Rowe. …

Considering the ongoing doldrums within the global economy, 2015 was not a bad year for South Korea’s coatings manufacturers. The sector’s cautiously positive sentiment mainly survived because Korean coatings consumption has been boosted by a domestic construction boom that made up for lacklustre demand from the east Asian export powerhouse’s carmakers and shipbuilders.…

If there is one region in the world that could benefit from a rationalisation of corporate governance structure, it is surely Asia, with its shifting sands of complex company ownership structures. Globalisation has only increased the size of subsidiary/parent relationship webs.…

Free trade agreements with the United States and Europe are essential if the Indonesian textile market is to flourish and compete with strong regional rivals, according to analysts and sector leaders.

The Indonesian government has said it wants to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement agreed by 12 Pacific Rim countries last October (2015).…

A report released yesterday (Mar 10) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) has advised textile manufacturers to support government efforts to tighten environmental rules, saying they are unlikely to cause a loss of business.

The report is an attempt to dispel the widely-held view that tighter environmental rules increase costs and damages business – especially in emerging market manufacturing hubs.…

As in many other areas, the Asian city-state of Singapore punches above its weight when it comes to fabrics and textiles. According to its ministry of trade and industry, in terms of sourcing volume the island ranks as the second largest textile and apparel business and sourcing hub in the Asia-Pacific region after Hong Kong.…

Hanoi-based lawyers serving foreign white-collar expatriates employed in the Vietnamese textile and garment sectors have welcomed the country’s latest easing of work permit regulations but are somewhat divided on its significance. According to a decree approved on February 3 by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, foreigners with bachelor’s degrees and at least three years of experience working in their respective fields are no longer required to obtain work permits in Vietnam, if they visit for no more than 30 days at a time, and no more than 90 days per year.…

VIETNAM’S free trade deal with the European Union (EU) includes a commitment that cars sold in its country should follow international vehicle regulations. These technical rules are set by the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations and are generally written into EU type approval legislation.…

Details have been released explaining how the European Union’s (EU) steel sector will boost its access to the key emerging market of Vietnam under a trade deal struck last August (2015). The full text of the agreement has now been released (on February 1) and shows how tariffs that will be scrapped regarding iron and steel, as well as related inputs and products exported and imported between Vietnam and the European Union (EU).…

DETAILS have been released about tariffs that will be scrapped regarding paints and coatings and related ingredients, exported and imported between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) under a trade deal struck last August (2015). The full text of the agreement has now been released and shows how Vietnam is prepared to remove its tariff barriers to EU exports of paints and coatings, many of which are important to promote its economic development.…

VIETNAM as almost a “sole supplier of textile products” among Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries is banking on the TPP deal to expand its textile market share, according to VITAS – the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association. Moreover, a spokesperson from the association said that “many Hong Kong, South Korean, and Australian firms are developing and planning major textiles FDI [foreign direct investment] in Vietnam to produce yarn and fabric, the supporting textiles industry for apparel production.”…

Bangladesh is set to become the world’s largest cotton importer, with China’s cotton consumption waning and its south Asian rival expanding its textile manufacture. Bangladesh’s apparel and textile industry is boosting its spinning capacity to handle this growth.

The latest statistics from the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) suggests Bangladesh soon will overtake China as the world’s biggest importer of fibre (lint).…

MANY garment manufacturers in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) block will have to cope with raises to the minimum wages in 2016. The move comes as ASEAN launches its Economic Community (ASEAN EC) on December 31, easing labour movement across the region.…

Although the final details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement have yet to be agreed, it is all but certain that the TPP’s free-tariff treatment for Vietnamese garments will see substantial amounts of yarn being shipped from US textile mills to garment factories in Vietnam, with the resulting clothing returning to the USA as finished ‘Made in Vietnam’ products.…

European Union (EU) beef farmers have called for help finding new markets to make up for the loss of exports to Russia in the wake of the crisis over Ukraine.
Jean Pierre Fleury, chairman of EU farm and livestock producer association Copa-Cogeca’s beef working party, has issued a plea to the European Commission, calling on it “to take urgent action to improve the EU beef market situation.”…

VIETNAM’S beef and pork product imports from the European Union (EU) have increased 70 times in 2014 when compared with 2012, industry experts have said. The unprecedented rise comes ahead of an upcoming EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which may increase imports further once it is finalised.…

Sustainability improvements in the Asian outsourced clothing and textile sector are far from being the sole preserve of China. In Cambodia, Tonlé, a sustainable garment-making firm based in Phnom Penh, obtains 90% of its fabric from factory cut-out and 10% through sustainable suppliers to make a zero-waste clothing line.…

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an increasingly dynamic and affluent 10-member bloc with a population half the size if China’s, plans to achieve a single aviation market (SAM) by the end of 2015 as a part of its broader ambition to launch its ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).…

Vietnam held its annual Vietnam Saigon Textile & Industry Expo in combination with the Vietnam Saigon Garment & Accessories Machinery Expo from April 9-12, the double event serving as a barometer for the sectors’ high expectations about the country joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.…

A GREY market trade in bovine meat products between India and China is flourishing, globalmeatnews.com can reveal. Meanwhile, the Indian government is pressing China to allow official access for Indian beef, pork, goat and lamb exports, which it claims have been blocked on alleged health grounds.…

THE CHINESE knitting sector facing transformation, being challenged by lacklustre economic performance in its key export markets, fast-rising domestic labour costs, as well as a determined government crusade for energy savings and emission reduction. The industry is, in general, cautiously optimistic about tackling these challenges and experts agree that if knitwear producers stick to their strategy of adding value through more sophisticated automation, they will manage to retain manufacturing supremacy over their south Asian and southeast Asian peers.…

After years of strong economic growth, salaries of Chinese clothing makers have increased, resulting in more expensive Chinese textiles and clothing manufacturing. But while cheaper outsourcing locations such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and India have picked up the slack, experts both in China and abroad have yet to buy into the notion that garment production is dramatically shifting out of China.…

Changing textile and other input suppliers may be fraught with difficulties, but it is key to the role of any clothing buyer.
“It can be extremely difficult,” said Emma Wilson, buyer for UK-based specialist sourcing agency Smartway. “There are issues such as quality, lead-times and monitoring the supplier.”…

With the implementation of the 10-nation ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Economic Community scheduled for the end of 2015, Thailand’s cosmetic industry is hoping to capitalise on a liberalised common market and streamlined regulatory procedures to boost growth at home and abroad. …

AMERICA’S chances of promoting pigmeat exports by striking trade agreements under discussion such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are slim, if President Barack Obama is not given authority to present deals to Congress for simple yes or no votes.…

GERMAN-made automobiles were the largest source of reports regarding potentially dangerous motor vehicles made to the European Union’s (EU) RAPEX consumer alert network in 2014, analysis of its data shows.
There were 194 notifications to the system relating to automobiles and parts last year, the fourth largest category following toys (650), clothing and textiles (530) and electrical appliances (217).…

The Hong Kong unit of Luthai Textile Co Ltd, China’s leading producer of yarn-dyed fabric and shirts manufacturing, has informed its shareholders of a plan to invest USD150 million building a new Vietnam-based textile plant. The factory, whose location has yet to be disclosed, would have 60,000 spindles, with an annual output of 30 million metres of yarn-dyed fabric.…

INDIAN textile and clothing supply exporters are failing to seize backward linkage market share in Vietnam because of chronic delivery delays, a Vietnam buyer has claimed to WTiN.com. “We are happy with Indian yarn both price- and variety-wise, but the Indians are terrible lead time-wise,” said Sim Thai Ha Phuong, vice director of Thai Son S P Co Ltd, a medium sized knitwear manufacturer in Ho Chi Minh City.…

CAMBODIA’S paint and coating sector is experiencing robust growth according to leading companies, making strong sales to a booming construction industry, which flourished in 2014. Rising urban incomes, a flourishing tourism industry, foreign investment in condominiums, and Chinese and Japanese inward investment in light manufacturing have all contributed to this growth.…

VETERAN customers of US-based coffee and donut chain, Dunkin’ Donuts would be confused having to wait outside the company’s outlets on main shopping street Huaihai Lu in downtown Shanghai. The store does not open until 8.30am – very late for regulars in western countries where stores typically open at 5:30am to catch the breakfast trade, a staple of Dunkin’ Donuts revenue.…

Right in the middle of Taiwan’s sprawling capital Taipei lies Taipei Songshan Airport, a 400-hectare facility launched by Taiwan’s erstwhile colonial master Japan in the 1930s. The airport is comprised of a civilian sector and an air force base, the civilian sector serving domestic flights, including to Taiwan’s outlying islands, as well as airports on several mainland Chinese cities, including Shanghai’s Pudong, in addition to Tokyo’s Haneda, Seoul’s Gimpo and Vietnam’s Tân Sơn Nhất airport, in Ho Chi Minh City.…

The United States’ African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) has helped boost many African countries’ apparel and textile sector, giving them duty-free and quota-free access to the US market. And while many are keen to see the act renewed before its expiration this September 30, some countries have benefited more than others.…

INDIAN textile and clothing supply exporters are failing to seize backward linkage market share in Vietnam because of chronic delivery delays, a Vietnam buyer has claimed to WTiN.com. “We are happy with Indian yarn both price- and variety-wise, but the Indians are terrible lead time-wise,” said Sim Thai Ha Phuong, vice director of Thai Son S P Co Ltd, a medium sized knitwear manufacturer in Ho Chi Minh City.…

The Philippines’ once formidable knitwear sector has been shrinking in size in the past two decades, but the Pacific archipelago’s inclusion in the European Union’s (EU) Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) preferential tariff scheme from January 1 is now filling remaining manufacturers with some hope for another heyday.…

A BOOM in Australian live cattle exports to Vietnam look set to continue this year, thanks to favourable currency conditions; the depletion of the Vietnamese herd by exports to neighbouring China; and increasing demand for fresh quality beef from Vietnamese consumers.…

PLASTIC banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and their use is expanding. Counterfeiters beware. Alan Osborn, in London; Kitty So, in Ottawa; and Lee Adendorff, in Byron Bay, Australia, report.

FAKING banknotes is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper, and while printing technology improvements may aid forgers, central banks seem happy to avail themselves of the competitive advantage.

With 685 million wet pounds of coatings sold for USD730 million in 2013, the Vietnam market consumed only a tiny fraction of Asia-Pacific region’s total of 36 billion wet pounds sold for USD50 billion that year, according to Kusumgar, Nerlfi & Growney, Inc, a New Jersey, USA-based consulting firm for the polymer and chemical industries.…

THE HONG Kong government has proposed a 75% reduction of profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the 2014-15 assessment year, up to Hong Kong dollars HKD20,000 (USD2,578) per case. Announced in the government’s budget, the tax cut will cost HKD17.7 billion (USD2.2 billion), benefitting about 1.95 million taxpayers.…

Low cotton prices and land scarcity may impede a long term cotton production expansion plan launched by the Vietnamese government in 2010, an industry expert has told WTiN.com.

Vietnam is a global powerhouse in textile, garment and apparel manufacturing, but it relies heavily on cotton imports, with only 1% of the cotton used in the country produced domestically, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).…

A MAJOR Bangladesh knitwear company has launched an innovation that may inspire a new segment in this key outsourcing industry – ‘fake’ heavy knitwear.

DBL Group, based north of Dhaka, has developed this fabric for jerseys made from cotton or a blend of cotton and synthetic fibres. …

ONE benefit – for consumers at least – with European Union (EU) legislation, is that it often allows national governments to gold plate rules based on such EU guidance. Whether that is a good idea for food and drink manufacturers of course is another question, and such a debate is now happening in Italy.…

THE MANILA-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has urged Cambodia to upgrade its manufacturing sector, including by developing textile production and finishing, to successfully transition from a low-income to a middle-income country, according to the bank’s November report.

In its ‘Cambodia: Diversifying beyond garments and tourism – country diagnostic study’, the bank noted the key challenge in the survival of the country’s garment sector was the country’s focus on low-value, labour-intensive cut-make-trim activities.…

The panoramic view from D22, a chic new restaurant and skybar, offers the local executive Deloitte has tapped to head up their Cambodian expansion a quick insight into a rapidly developing Phnom Penh. Once a low-lying urban sprawl, Cambodia’s capital city has begun to develop a skyline, with a handful of high-rise towers already in place and several more green-tarped construction projects underway.…

Vietnam is planning a wide-range of textile industry shows and conferences in 2015 that will help generate international business relationships enabling it to profit from any deal that may emerge regarding the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with other Pacific Rim countries.…

2015 will be an important year in southeast Asia, with the launch of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) in December. But analysts question whether the region’s non-ferrous metal giant Indonesia is ready to integrate its industry with those of its neighbours.…

Plastic banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and the consensus so far seems to be that they do an excellent job of a key requirement – reducing counterfeiting. It may be that forgers will gain more expertise in time – faking is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper – but the initial reports from larger countries that have taken this route, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have persuaded the UK’s Bank of England to follow them.

While Cambodia’s GDP growth over the past two decades has been tremendous, averaging 7.6% per year since 1995, Cambodia remains a developing market and its accounting industry is still very much a work in progress. One person deeply involved with helping push its accounting world forward in Cambodia is 40-year-old Kimleng Khoy.…

The panoramic view from D22, a chic new restaurant and skybar, offers the local executive Deloitte has tapped to head up their Cambodian expansion a quick insight into a rapidly developing Phnom Penh. Once a low-lying urban sprawl, Cambodia’s capital city has begun to develop a skyline, with a handful of high-rise towers already in place and several more green-tarped construction projects underway.…

CHINA’S huge cosmetics market remains a battleground for the world’s multinational personal care product players and they are still more than holding their own against local manufacturers and brands, especially in higher end segments.

The country’s overall cosmetics and personal care product market was worth Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY274 billion (USD44 billion) in 2013, according to data provided by market analysts Euromonitor International.…

Plastic banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and the consensus so far seems to be that they do an excellent job of a key requirement – reducing counterfeiting. It may be that forgers will gain more expertise in time – faking is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper – but the initial reports from larger countries that have taken this route, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have persuaded the UK’s Bank of England to follow them.

The newly announced textile joint venture between India’s Reliance Industries and China’s Shandong Ruyi Science and Technology Group could inspire many more such deals, shifting of textile and clothing production bases from China to India, experts have told just-style.

“The aim of this joint venture is to try and capture the global market,” said Devkishan Manghani, chairman, textile trade, Southern Gujarat Chambers of Commerce told just-style, regarding the deal, which will see Reliance integrate its textile manufacturing capacity with the JV.…

AN INITIATIVE led by Europe-south east Asia trade promotion group EVAlliance is trying to transform Cambodia’s low-value added, largely subcontracting” garment making business and imports-dependent textile industry into making high-end goods with locally made textile input.”

The France-based textile and clothing industry group (its name means Europe Vietnam Alliance, but it covers other counties in the region) has released its goal in a new action plan and a two -year Memorandum of Understanding (2015-2016) in November with the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC).…

CLOTHING industry leaders in the USA met on Wednesday (Nov 5) in New York and considered whether America’s mid-term elections on the previous day had made securing agreement on the critically important Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) more difficult.

With the opposition Republicans taking control of the US Senate, and consolidating control of its House of Representatives, the task of President Barack Obama in securing special rights to ratify a deal got harder.…

THE RESPONSIBILITIES of Singapore accountants to report suspicions that their clients maybe involved in money laundering or terrorist finance have become tougher since November 1. New guidelines released by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) have strengthened requirements for accounting firms to establish anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) controls.…

WITH just over 12 months to the launch of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC), experts anticipate that the European Union-style economic union will promote trades in industrial minerals.

The 10 ASEAN nations have been moving towards a more cohesive approach to minerals trading for many years.…

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled that aspects of US anti-dumping measures on frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam break world trade laws. In a report dated November 17 this year, the WTO said that “certain of the measures…are inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Anti-Dumping Agreement.”…

The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office is preparing to prosecute 17 people over the island’s high-profile cooking oil scandal, having indicted the suspects last week (October 30). The office is asking judges for a 30-year prison term for Wei Ying-chun, senior executive with China’s biggest instant noodle maker the Ting Hsin International Group, which his Taiwanese family manages.…

MANUFACTURERS and industry experts visiting this year’s Vietnam International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition were concerned that this year’s anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam might damage business relations, but were prepared to put the problems behind them.

Ryan Lin, a specialist of the business division of the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI), told WTiN.com…

By the end of next year, the increasingly wealthy 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc aims to establish its own European Union-style common market for its combined population of 600 million.
Experts say that the new ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is expected to deepen cohesion and liberalisation within a regional market that has already made significant strides in removing trade barriers that can impact tobacco product sales.…

THE CLOSE relationship between the textile sectors of Vietnam and South Korea could be intensified by the end of the year, with the two countries’ governments saying they want to conclude a bilateral trade deal this year.

Talks have been ongoing since September 2012.…

CAMBODIA’S “high cost of electricity  – the third highest in south-east Asia after Singapore and Myanmar – along with low skills are keeping the country away from producing  textiles”, the World Bank chief economist for the east Asia and the Pacific region, Sudhir Shetty has told WTiN.…

CHANGING demographic patterns in the domestic market are driving innovation at Japan’s largest producer of soy sauce and seasonings, while growing overseas demand means that the Kikkoman Corporation is actively looking to raise its international profile, according to Noriaki Horikiri, president and chief executive officer of the company.…

A second major food safety scandal in Taiwan within the past two months has prompted a call for the reform of existing certification systems. These involve food products and manufacturing being assessed for good manufacturing practice (GMP) and certified Taiwanese agricultural standards (CAS).…

As the global apparel sector searches for more eco-friendly fibres and fabrics, innovative developments are increasingly focusing on more sustainable and often unusual alternative feedstocks.
Companies are being encouraged to innovate also by recent high cotton prices and a growing awareness that tighter control of supply chains can help keep costs down in general.…

THE STRENGTH and diversity of Bangladesh knitwear producers’ supply chains is one reason why this key outsourcing location is so popular with international brands. And indeed, attention to the supply chain is the mantra of Bangladesh knitwear boss Mohammed Abdul Jabbar.…

China, the world’s top cotton consumer – has announced a significant reduction to its low duty 2015 cotton import quota to boost demand for domestically-produced fibre, but experts disagree over whether the policy could pose risks for textile and clothing manufacturers.…

GARMENT exporting outsourcing centre Cambodia relies on overseas laboratories for the bulk of its textile testing because it lacks local facilities, meaning there is a significant potential to develop such locally-based services, experts have told WTiN.com.

Most of Cambodia’s textile testing is undertaken in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and China because the handful of local laboratories’ capability to handle “restricted substances testing is very limited” while others lack the capacity to handle big orders, said Ms Kris Wan, senior manager of the global softlines development office of SGS Consumer Testing Services, in Hong Kong.…

Although the outgoing European Commission president José Manuel Barroso on his late-August visit to Vietnam presented the planned European Union (EU)-Vietnam free-trade agreement (FTA) as a nearly finalised deal – and Vietnamese state media predict the signing will happen in October – the Vietnamese textile industry is still unsure about the FTA’s potential impact.…

When Adrian Bressan started working in the Australian knitwear industry 50 years ago, there were hundreds of competing factories in Australia – but today, his A&B Knitwear, in Melbourne is one of only few left. “With all the cheap imports, the other knitters closed down,” Mr Bressan said.…

Vietnam’s National Wage Council (NWC) proposed on August 6, a 15.1% increase in region-based monthly minimum wages. Regional minimum wages grew on average by 15.2% this year, and labour unions had demanded rises of over 20%.
If approved by the Prime Minister, the new wage levels will come into effect on January1, 2015 and will range from VND 2.2 million (US$103.8) to VND 3.1 million (US$146.3), depending on the region.…

With less than one-and-a-half years until the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) creates its own European Union (EU)-style single market, the bloc is about to sign off on a ‘mutual recognition arrangement’ (MRA) on accountancy services. This is designed to help the mobility of accounting professionals wanting to work across the 10 member states, and all their governments bar the Philippines (expected to sign in October) have now signed up.…

The Vietnamese textile and garment industry has yet to prepare comprehensively for the onset of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Economic Community (AEC) next year. “We are not aware of any AEC impact studies, and I cannot even provide an educated guess,” an otherwise helpful representative of a Vietnamese textile association in Ho Chi Minh City told WTiN.com.…

INDONESIAN garment manufacturers are moving to the Central Java province to capitalise on lower minimum wage costs, according to a senior industry figure.
Ade Sudrajat, chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), said the industry’s established manufacturing hub in West Java, greater Jakarta and Banten province (all in western Java) had become less competitive as unions have won repeated inflation-busting wage increases.  …

EXHIBITORS at this week’s trade show in Phnom Penh, the Cambodia International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition, called on the country to diversify into textile manufacturing, knitwear, finishing and other supporting industries.

Cambodia’s USD5.5 billion garment industry is a mainstay of the country’s economy, accounting for some 80% of exports.…

VIETNAM’S production of powder coatings and liquid protective coatings has in the past been a small part of the country’s paint and coatings output – but foreign investment maybe about to change that. The country has around 80 coatings manufacturers, who have together manufactured a relatively meagre 30,870 tonnes of these specialist products, generating USD91 million’s worth of revenue in 2012, according to the most recent data made available by market researcher Frost & Sullivan.…

INDIA’S beef exports continue to soar, while the new BJP-led government, whose Hindu nationalist leaders have in the past signalled opposition to India’s beef industry have yet to indicate plans to restrict the sub-sector.

Indeed, a senior official from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the ministry of commerce and industry told globalmeatnews.com…

A proposed antidumping duty on imported yarns being considered by the Indonesian anti-dumping agency (KADI) could increase production costs, eroding Indonesia’s competitive edge, the chairman of the Indonesian Textiles Association (API) Ade Sudrajat has warned.

The committee’s inquiry was sparked by a petition from a group of Indonesian yarn producers, including Indorama and Asia Pacific Fibers, who say they are being undercut by foreign companies aggressively entering the market, selling yarn below cost price and allegedly breaking World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.…

EXHIBITORS at two key international textile and shoe exhibitions in Vietnam have spoken personally to WTiN.com on the value of investing time and money appearing at such shows.

The Vietnam International Exhibition on Garment Manufacturing Equipment and Fabric 2014 was organised concurrently with the International Shoes and Leather Exhibition 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City from July 16 to 18.…

INDIAN knitwear manufacturers are hoping for a major growth impetus because of industry-friendly policies being rolled out by the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government. “We are very optimistic about the new government,” Naval Saraf, proprietor of Super Knit Industries, a sock manufacturing company in Mumbai told Knitting International.…

IN the past year, several developments – both new and built on previous initiatives – have emerged, suggesting the apparel and textile industry is continuing to move towards a more sustainable supply chain.

A key move was the publication of Version 4.0, of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), released by the GOTS International Working Group, in March (2014).…

MYANMAR appears set to become a major outsourcing destination among Hong Kong garment companies, with a deal signed last week to set up a 2,400 hectare apparel industrial park in the Yangon region’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

The vice-chairperson of Myanmar Garments Manufacturer’s Association (MGMA), Dr U Aung Win, told just-style that a delegation from Hong Kong signed a contract to set up the apparel industrial park at the Union of Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) in Yangon on June 13.   …

ACCORDING to conventional wisdom, Vietnam’s near-certain inclusion in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will clearly be a major boon to the Southeast Asian country’s textile industry. The planned multinational free-trade zone encompasses 12 countries that together make up 40% of global gross national product (GNP).…

INDIAN apparel exporters have demanded a series of favourable policy decisions from the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government while welcoming foreign buyers at the 53rd India International Garment Fair, held in New Delhi from July 14 to 16.
A presentation from the country’s Apparel Export Promotion Council was released to the conference, calling on the Indian government to conclude the planned EU-India free trade agreement “immediately to counter [the] competitive price advantage available to Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam…” The paper also argued that until such a deal is struck the Indian government should compensate garment exporters with export subsidies equaling the burden of import duties imposed by EU.…

JAPANESE food manufacturers are targeting south-east Asia as key export markets, leveraging their products’ sophisticated, fashionable and healthy image. Indeed, with a significant proportion of south-east Asian consumers becoming richer, the perception that Japanese brands can be relatively expensive can help marketing and certainly not harm sales, they say.…

A major Chinese clothing and textile company has told just-style that the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal is a key reason for a planned investment in Vietnam. In early March, (2014), northern Nam Dinh province, near Hanoi, issued an investment licence for the Jiangsu Yulun Textile Group to build a factory of fabric, textile, dying with total registered capital of USD68 million.…

The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) is considering proposing a nationwide tiered system of minimum wages based on the size and sector of businesses. Apindo chairman Sofjan Wanandi told just-style.com that wage obligations should differ between small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms, as well as between labour-intensive and capital-intensive industries, due to their varying productivities and wage capacities.…

A 15% year-on-year growth in the exports of Indian apparel in the financial year ending March 2014 has been caused by the diversification of export markets and stricter compliance standards by Indian factories, just-style has been told. “We are diversifying into the markets like Japan, Australia and Latin American countries,” Chandrima Chatterjee, director (economic and consultancy) of the Apparel Export Promotion Council of India told just-style.…

Critical trade negotiations for the Thai textiles and garment industry may be at risk following the declaration of martial law on Tuesday, according to the country’s garment manufacturers’ association. After months of political impasse, Thailand’s military imposed martial law on May 20 (Tuesday) in response to the threat of civil war and the overthrow of the government.…

A SUPERVISOR of an American company in Vietnam’s Binh Duong Province has told just-style how she saw demonstrations against foreign ownership of clothing and textile companies turn into ugly riots. But industry insiders in other Asian countries claim the resulting damage will not seriously deter future foreign investment.…

Foreign companies setting up production bases in Vietnam will have to take additional care when hiring staff because of a new labour law decree, a union official has told just-style.

Dr Tran Thi Thanh Ha from the labour relations department of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour stressed that the new ‘Decree No 03/2014’, which came into force on March 15 (2014) would increase controls strengthened last year by another law (Decree No.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Trade Centre (ITC) and the Cambodian ministry of commerce are trying to revive Cambodia’s silk production sector, as the country is importing almost all its total 400 tonnes annual raw silk requirement.

Currently, only five tonnes of Cambodian silk, which is noteworthy because of its natural yellow colour, is produced in the country each year.…

Investment in the Indonesian textiles industry is set to remain stable this year, but with expansion in technical textiles, according to Ade Sudrajat Usman, chairman of the Indonesian Textiles Association (API).  Technical textiles – including medical textiles, geotextiles and agri-textiles – are a growing market and industry within Indonesia, with USD150 million worth of investment anticipated for 2014, according to Ade.…

Taiwan textile industry insiders have told WTiN.com that the recent riots in Vietnam will not deter future investment in this key emerging market outsourcing country.

Serious attacked on Taiwanese textile businesses in Vietnam were suffered when on May 13 and 14 local mobs – protesting against China’s recent installation of an oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea – ransacked and torched hundreds of foreign-owned factories.…

At this year’s Vietnam Textile & Garment Industry Expo, which bills itself as “the biggest and the most important event in the textile and garment industry of Vietnam”, only 60 of the 502 companies exhibiting were Vietnamese. WTiN.com visited the show, in Ho Chi Minh City, last month noting that 283 exhibitors were Chinese companies, with fabric, accessories and machinery manufacturers of 22 other countries making up the rest.…

CAMBODIA’S thriving garment industry could double its exports if the country’s local textile production is ramped up, Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) chairman Van Sou Ieng has told WTiN.

“The industry could expect an increase in export figures by 100%” if local textile and yarn production was expanded, Mr Ieng said.…

INDIA’S holy city of Varanasi is also a traditional centre for the luxurious ‘Banarasi’ silk weaving industry. After securing Indian geographical indication rights for its products under a ‘Banaras Brocades and Sarees’ registration in 2009, the largely cottage-based industry is now gearing up to enter the international branded luxury market.…

Beijing’s traffic-clogged streets have in the past year become used to the sight of white vans emblazoned with the words ‘China Cold Chain Pharma’ and the website www.pharma56.com. The fleet of vans is one visible product of the China Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Alliance (CPCCA), an industry alliance founded in 2011 with the official goal of “achieving effective integration” of the cold chain logistics across the country’s fast-growing but very fragmented pharmaceuticals sector.…

Shifting sourcing is becoming increasingly complex for apparel and textile manufacturers as they set greater production standards and create ever more complex supply chains. To switch suppliers efficiently and ensure that they can meet these requirements, companies must inform themselves of the political and cultural issues in the supplier’s region, and clearly communicate their goals to a new manufacturer.…

The increasingly fluid global market for outsourcing enables brands to switch countries for their manufacturing needs, and it is in the interest of exporting countries to make it easy for them.

Cambodia’s garment industry has been the beneficiary of sourcing shifts from more expensive countries such as China in recent years, attracting manufacturers with some of the lowest labour costs in the world, a past reputation for reasonable working conditions and favoured access to US and European Union (EU) markets.…

AS labour costs in China continue to rise, its apparel and textile industry is seeing orders being transferred to other outsourcing locations as foreign buyers seek lower cost manufacturers. This move could be especially damaging for smaller, low-end Chinese manufacturers, leaving China-based orders increasingly concentrated amongst larger companies, according to a report from the China Cotton Textile Association: “Small to medium manufacturers said their orders dropped sharply during the first quarter of the year while big manufacturers said they had enough orders to keep them busy,” it explained.…

A GLANCE at Hong Kong’s official trade data gives the impression that all is rosy for the Chinese special administrative region’s (SAR) knitwear manufacturers. In 2013, Hong Kong exported knitted and crocheted fabrics worth USD2.5 billion, up 4.1% year-on-year, easily outpacing the 1.6% growth posted by the city’s overall textile exports valued at USD10.7 billion, according to figures from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).…

DANISH dairy giant Arla Foods has merged its Bangladesh interests with Bangladeshi distributor Mutual Foods in a joint venture to accelerate already strong sales growth of powdered milk in a national liquid and powdered milk market estimated at USD700 million.

“We will plough USD40 million into the joint venture over the next three

years with an ambition to become the leader in this market,” Sanayet Kabir

Khan, chief financial officer of newly formed Arla Foods Bangladesh, told just-food.…

Vietnam’s languishing cotton development master plan could be given a new lease of life if a new government bio-safety certificate programme takes off this year as planned, opening the way for farmers to grow genetically-modified (GM) high yield pest resistant cotton.…

AS the 2015 deadline for the full integration of the ASEAN economic community (AEC) approaches, it is becoming clear that while trade and standards harmonisation is right on target (and in some sectors well advanced) among member nations, the infinite details of this process for the coatings sector will be a work in process for many years to come.…

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) scientific committee has sounded an alarm about potential health concerns regarding the use of nano-silver in clothing – the substance often used as an antibacterial in knitted socks.

The EU’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks has noted studies indicating that “nanosilver exposure leads possibly to genotoxicity, changes in activity of the immune system and an accumulation of silver in spleen, liver and testes.”…

ARE clothing and textile-relevant free trade agreements – which allow the garment and fabrics industries to import wares free of duties, or at sharply reduced rates – really worth the effort involved in their negotiation? Maybe not always, or at least not in the US, say some experts.…

THE WORLD’S tobacco trade is not always a straightforward affair, being held up by export and import licence applications, port dues, quality checks, corruption and unusual red tape. A new World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation, struck last December, is designed to ease some of these difficulties.…

SOURCING in Asia has been a merry-go-round for many buyers in recent years. As the era of low-cost Chinese manufacturing draws more or less to a close, several countries have leveraged their low cost labour to capture a significant volume of the world’s lower end knitwear manufacturing, while others have sought to extend their reach into higher value-added manufacturing by investing in infrastructure and training.…

SOURCING in Asia has been a merry-go-round for many buyers in recent years. As the era of low-cost Chinese manufacturing draws more or less to a close, several countries have leveraged their low cost labour to capture a significant volume of the world’s lower end knitwear manufacturing, while others have sought to extend their reach into higher value-added manufacturing by investing in infrastructure and training.…

TURKEY’S tobacco leaf industry enjoyed a boom year in 2013, with total tobacco production for the 2012 crop (purchased in 2013) up 52.6% to 69,348 kilogrammes (kg), according to data from Turkey’s Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Authority (Tütün ve Alkol Piyasası Düzenleme Kurumu – TAPDK).…

Canada’s higher education sector has welcomed a comprehensive strategy released by the Canadian government for recruiting more foreign students into its institutions.

Announcing a new International Education Strategy on Wednesday (Jan 15), the country’s international trade minister Ed Fast accepted that Canada could profit more from the lucrative global international student market.…

Indian buffalo meat exports to Vietnam have doubled in volume and tripled in value within a year as Chinese traders use the southeast Asian country for channelling their meat trade to bypass an official ban on direct imports, globalmeatnews.com has been told.…

A former executive of Vietnam’s largest bank by capital is beginning a life term in jail after admitting to a near Vietnamese dong VND4 trillion fraud (USD190 million).

Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, 36, was sentenced this week after she faked company stamps and forged signatures to steal from companies, banks and private persons, who made loans and deposits with Vietnam Joint-Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) on the promise of very high interest rates.…

A country famed for its beautiful traditional ‘batik,’ Malaysia is also home to a highly specialised textiles industry and these niche skills may prove vital for the country’s numerous finishing factories in what is shaping up to a challenging year. Economists are predicting a general slowing of the Malaysian economy, with average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the next five years estimated in Q4 2013 at 3.4%, revised down 0.2% from Q4 in 2012 (slightly slower than the Asian average of 3.7%), according to the Ifo Institute for Economic Research/International Chamber of Commerce’s World Economic Survey of business experts published in November last year.…

THE TAIWAN textile dyeing and finishing sectors have never quite recovered from the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) abolition of global textile quotas in 2005. It resulted in the closure of many stand-alone units by making their labour-intensive manufacturing processes on the relatively wealthy island uncompetitive.…

THE COUNTRIES of eastern and central Europe that came in from the cold in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall have felt the economic chill in recent years, with recession affecting the fortunes of the cosmetics industry.

Across a wide range of countries – for instance – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia – the retail value of the beauty and personal care products market has remained at around Euro EUR10.70 billion in both 2012 and (according to provisional data for these five countries by market analysts Euromonitor International) in 2013; and is forecast to grow to EUR10.85 billion in 2014.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

A former executive of Vietnam’s largest bank by capital is beginning a life term in jail after admitting to a near Vietnamese dong VND4 trillion fraud (USD190 million).

Huynh Thi Huyen Nhu, 36, was sentenced this week after she faked company stamps and forged signatures to steal from companies, banks and private persons, who made loans and deposits with Vietnam Joint-Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) on the promise of very high interest rates.…

BY JENS KASTNER, in Taipei

THE TAIWAN textile dyeing and finishing sectors have never quite recovered from the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) abolition of global textile quotas in 2005. It resulted in the closure of many stand-alone units by making their labour-intensive manufacturing processes on the relatively wealthy island uncompetitive.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

A country famed for its beautiful traditional ‘batik,’ Malaysia is also home to a highly specialised textiles industry and these niche skills may prove vital for the country’s numerous finishing factories in what is shaping up to a challenging year.…

BY MARK ROWE; JONATHAN DYSON, in Zagreb; and ANDREW KURETH, in Warsaw

THE COUNTRIES of eastern and central Europe that came in from the cold in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall have felt the economic chill in recent years, with recession affecting the fortunes of the cosmetics industry.…

WITH the 2015 deadline approaching for the establishing a common market within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesian textile manufacturers need professional competency standards to be harmonised across the 10 member countries, according to the country’s peak textiles association.…

WINNERS AND LOSERS

RETAIL

WINNERS

ASOS

Fashion retailer ASOS showed online convenience and price are still a winning combination with shoppers. The UK-based online retailer continued its impressive trajectory this year, announcing pre-tax profit had reached GBP54.7m (US$88.3m) for the year ending 31 August, compared to GBP40m in the same period of last year, with retail sales jumping 40% to GBP753.8m, up from GBP537.9m last year. …

BANGLADESH’S garment makers face a drought of summer 2014 orders as western retailers have begun fleeing the South Asian nation after recent political violence and a physical attack on Spanish buyers.

Top industry leaders said that global buyers, seeking stable alternatives, have already diverted 30%-35% of orders to Bangladesh’s rivals, with India, Indonesia and Vietnam emerging as winners.…

THE LAST few years have brought significant changes to the apparel sourcing landscape in Asia. The era of Chinese low-cost apparel manufacturing is well behind us, and several countries have stepped up to claim their part of the manufacturing pie.

Apparel industry analysts say that although China’s dominance continues, a clear segmentation in Asia is now taking place.…

WHILE Australia’s healthy economy is the envy of most countries in the world, and obviously this boosts the personal care product industry in the country – there are concerns that retailers and brands are over-charging consumers. Indeed, Australian consumers are paying as much as 50% more for the same cosmetics as United States and European consumers, according to a recent investigation by Australia’s consumer organisation Choice.…

WITH the 2015 deadline approaching for the establishing a common market within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesian textile manufacturers need professional competency standards to be harmonised across the 10 member countries, according to the country’s peak textiles association.…

WHILE American textile producers fear the potential impact of the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) regional free trade agreement, it is smaller and medium-sized Vietnamese producers who really need to be worried. That is the view of

Chris Walker, marketing manager for Thai Son S.P.…

THE LIBERALISATION taking place in Myanmar has been making the global textile and clothing sector excited about the country’s thus far untapped potential to export indigenous and mainstream textiles. Aung Min, research director of the business insight and social insight department at the Myanmar Marketing Research and Development Co.…

The chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API – or Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia) has welcomed a move by the Indonesian trade ministry to end restrictions on imports of cotton fabrics that have been in place since May 1, 2012.

Ade Sudrajat told WTiN.com…

Although Hong Kong-based quality cotton shirt manufacturer Esquel Group has long placed most of its bets on China, one of its newest bases of operations – Vietnam – could soon prove to be its linchpin for knit shirt manufacturing.  John Cheh, vice chairman and CEO of the company said that Vietnam production could become increasingly important as it continues to scale up operations in anticipation of better Vietnam-China transport links and forthcoming trade agreements.…

ANTICIPATED market liberalisation in democratising Burma is enticing global tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco (BAT) to sell and manufacture cigarettes in Myanmar. However, rampant smuggling of duty-free cigarettes into the country and the dominance of low-end local brands pose a challenge to legitimate business ventures.…

CHINA’S beef prices have been soaring as wealthier consumers consume more meat, and switch to beef from pork. But there are more fundamental issues at stake, not least the collapse in local herd numbers.

A supply shortage has meant whole sale beef prices pushed to a “critical juncture” of Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY60 per kilogramme in the second half of 2013, according to a report entitled ‘China Livestock Research and Investment 2013-2017’ produced by the Beijing-based China Suppliers Institute (CIS) – http://www.hyzsyjy.com,…

While many companies may be looking for strategies to exit China as its as labour and manufacturing costs rise, that is certainly not the case for John Cheh, vice chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based quality cotton shirt manufacturer Esquel Group.…

INDIAN garment exports are expected to rise 24% to USD16 billion in 2013-14, according to D K Nair, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) secretary general. He says the increase is because of the recovering American economy, increased demand from Europe and rival Asian exporters facing a slew of problems.…

ORGANISERS of the 13th Vietnam International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition last week (October 24 to 27) noted a surging attendance, but some visitors suggested a broader range of exhibitors could pay dividends.

Staged at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh Exhibition & Convention Centre, the event brought 210 textile machinery and fabric and accessories exhibitors from 10 Asian countries into contact with an estimated 10,000 visitors.…

THAILAND’S new tax incentive scheme, due to take effect in just over a year, is provoking mixed reactions from tax experts and foreign investors.

As the country looks to move away from low-cost, low-value, environmentally damaging manufacturing industries towards those that might foster a sustainable, knowledge-based economy, Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) has drawn up a new investment promotion policy that will go into effect in January 2015.…

THE COMBINED apparel market of China and India will grow to USD740 billion by 2025 and will surpass the projected combined US and European market of USD725 billion at that time, according to a textile and apparel sector report released at an international clothing conference on Friday (July 19).…

THE CHAIRMAN of the Indonesian Textile Association (API – or Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia) has told WTiN.com that it is anticipating steady growth in exports of Indonesian textiles and garments over the next few years. Expansion in Japan, the Middle East and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets would prove increasingly important, he predicted.…

MEXICO’S new president Enrique Peña Nieto, who came to office in December 2012, promised a less militaristic fight against the country’s increasingly violent drug trade, so his government’s implementation of a new anti-money laundering (AML) law will be watched closely.

Past president Felipe Calderón launched a severe military-led crackdown against the country’s drug cartels towards the end of 2006, around 80,000 people have since been killed in drug-related violence since.…

For manufacturers looking for a cost effective fibre in current global markets, cotton prices are at last stabilising following the last few years’ price distortions and increases, said Mark Messura, US-based Cotton Incorporated’s senior vice president of global supply chain marketing.…

China’s textile industry must create new competitive advantages to compete with emerging low-cost producers such as Vietnam and Bangladesh in today’s tough export climate, according to a senior official with the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

“It’s clear from the trade data that apparel exports in low-cost countries including Vietnam and Bangladesh are growing faster than those in China and we must increasingly look to expand the value of exports rather than rely on bulk selling at low prices,” said Liu Yaozhong of the council’s international trade office at a seminar during the Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics trade show Tuesday.…

CAMBODIA’S garment industry has long had a cost advantage over its competitors: paying some of the lowest wages in the world. Growth in the garment sector in 2013 has been robust, with exports growing 32% year-on-year over the first six months, with exports reaching US dollars USD1.56 billion, said the Cambodia commerce ministry.…

IF further evidence was needed that Asian outsourcing is becoming increasingly mature, with a reliance on international supply chains, then the FOB division of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s Nha Be Garment Corporation Joint Stock Company (NBC) is a case in point.…

Vinamilk (Vietnam Dairy Products Joint-Stock Co.), Vietnam’s largest dairy producer, has announced plans to open a dairy plant in neighbouring Cambodia by July 2015.  

Vinamilk will hold a 51% stake of the 2.7-hectare plant in the capital Phnom Penh through a joint venture scheme with an as yet unnamed Cambodian partner.…

Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk) has confirmed to just-food that it is considering investing in California-based Driftwood Dairy, but stressed that a deal has not been concluded and that other American investment options are being considered.

Vinamilk spokesperson Hanh H. Pham said: “Our projects — including the one with Driftwood — have not come to conclusion yet, so we cannot share any information about this now.”…

A PARTNER at advisors McKinsey has argued that Bangladesh’s advantages in low cost and convenience for brands will ensure its clothing and textile sector keeps growing, despite the Rana Plaza disaster.

Dr Achim Berg led a study released at last week’s World Fashion Convention, Shanghai, which concluded that about 72% of the total 29 chief purchasing officers (CPO) surveyed are planning to move orders from China to other Asian countries in the next five years, although China will still remain as the largest sourcing market.…

INTERNATIONAL clothing and textile experts gathered near Shanghai last week (September 23-7) to discuss solutions to China’s twin challenges – dealing with less foreign demand, while managing rising production costs.

Speaking at the 29th World Fashion Convention, Shanghai, staged in nearby Kunshan, Texhong CEO Hong Tianzhu told delegates it was time for Chinese manufacturers to upgrade their plant and processes, while moving some production outside China.…

THE INSURANCE risks involved in oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) are rising in line with growing industry complexity and the move into deeper, remoter and more environmentally sensitive environments.

This is placing ever greater demands on the need to identify, quantify and insure against risk, particularly when the financial and reputational repercussions of getting it wrong are escalating too.…

China’s textile industry will face major challenges having to deal with the new Chinese administration’s focus on improving the environmental performance of its economy, a sustainability conference hosted by top cotton shirt maker Esquel Group has heard.

The country’s breakneck development over the past three decades has caused serious pollution and environmental health problems while consuming natural resources at unsustainable levels.…

BANGLADESH’S fast growing economy is developing a robust and booming personal care product market. Mosaddeq Hossain, owner of a general store at the Shagoria Bazaar in Hatiya sub-district, neat Chittagong, recalls 10 years ago, there was almost no demand for his stocks of Sunsilk shampoo.…

VIETNAM’S plans to undertake a major expansion of its textile, texting finishing and fibre production sector were a key focus of an International Exhibition on Garment Manufacturing Equipment and Fabric, held in Ho Chi Minh City from July 11-13. WTiN.com attended the conference, where 125 exhibitors from 17 countries and regions showcased a range of garments, leather and footwear, and other industry products.…

VIETNAM’S trade ministry is targeting Africa as an export market for its textile production, encouraging fabric manufacturers to follow Vietnamese clothing companies in successfully scoring sales in this fast developing continent. The African, south Asian and east Asian trade department at Vietnam’s ministry of industry and trade (MOIT) has been promoting the potential of these markets in recent months at conferences and trade shows, stressing that Africa holds some of the greatest export potential for Vietnamese manufacturers.…

To meet apparel and textile brands’ desire to move into fast fashion, manufacturers have begun to embrace new production processes that improve efficiency and performance. Apparel and textile manufacturers have been slower than many other manufacturing industries to embrace supply chain improvements in speed, but are now succumbing to pressure from brands moving into fast fashion retail.…

APPAREL and textile manufacturers looking to streamline their supply chains can benefit from product lifecycle management software, which can make communications and risk management processes linking suppliers and retailers more efficient and accurate.

“There’s a lot of new technology that’s been introduced in the last few years that helps manage that supply chain – everything from the finances, the logistics, quality, design, right through into merchandising,” said Robert Cammilleri, senior account executive of business development at US-based safety consulting company, UL (Underwriters Laboratories Inc).…

THE INDIAN cotton textile industry has increased its global competitiveness over the last decade, but still its exports have not shown the corresponding results, said a report compiled by Zurich-based consultancy agency Gherzi. Entitled ‘Cost Benchmarking Study – India vis-à–vis Bangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt, China, Pakistan and Turkey’, it was commissioned by the Indian Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council and released in New Delhi last week (July 25).…

VIETNAM’S textile manufacturing industry stands to gain as multinational garment companies look to distance themselves from Bangladesh in light of the collapse of Rana Plaza, the multi-story facility in the outskirts of Dhaka, which housed five clothing factories, in April.

The catastrophic incident, which left over 1,100 people dead, has compounded Bangladesh’s hapless record for safety and triggered an exodus as brands seek more reliable manufacturing markets across Asia.…

TROUBLED Turkey’s textile sector is to get a shot in the arm with the launch of a major Chinese-owned yarn manufacturing plant in Balıkesir, west Turkey, south of Istanbul. Shanghai-based Texhong plans to invest about USD180 million in the factory complex, which will supply more than 16,000 tonnes of core-spun cotton yarn and blended yarn to the European Union (EU) market annually, Qiu Ming, general manager at Texhong Turkey told WTiN.com.…

THE WORLD Bank has approved a USD55.62 million aid programme in Vietnam, that will as a priority develop traditional health care medicines in the country. Under the 2014-8 scheme, the World Bank will funnel money through the Vietnamese government to build the administrative and policy-making capacities of key medicine development bodies.…

THE AMERICAN textile and apparel industry is concerned the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations will not be completed this year as originally expected, Julie Hughes, president of the US Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, told just-style.com.

“Most observers from industry are sceptical that the entire agreement can come together in the next six months,” she said.…

China’s massive cotton stockpiles have been interpreted as bearish for prices by the US Department of Agriculture, but analysts suggest a tight supply outside the country and the unwillingness of local textile mills to buy at auction will push prices higher into next season.…

AN ALLEGED leader of a USD200 million international data fraud ring has been charged in a US court with committing bank fraud, while he sits in a Vietnamese jail. Duy Hai Truong, 23, of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, was arrested on May 29, after an investigation involving the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and Vietnamese police.…

THE RECENT industrial accidents that have marred the reputation of Bangladesh’s knitwear outsourcing industry have increased the pressure on the small firms in the sector to merge so they can improve investment in equipment and premises.

Last year’s Tazreen Fashions fire and the factory collapse in April have prompted questions in the global knitwear sector about its “race to the bottom” low cost gambit, unleashing public outrage and calls for improved factory conditions and better safety regulations.   …

Vietnam’s clothing and textile sector has failed to secure a comprehensive breakthrough settling disputes over the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) yarn-forward rule during negotiations held both in Vietnam (May 12 to 15) and in Singapore (May 19 to 20). There was no deal on the controversial “short-supply list” proposals regarding exceptions to the TPP’s yarn-forward provisions, which stipulate that textiles are made with materials from TPP member countries in order to receive tax-free import benefits in TPP markets.…

Drinks packaging design has always been about communicating with consumers – whether it is broadcasting a brand image or delivering information. And with new technologies aiding communication in many ways, interaction is a key theme with international beverage packaging designers today.…

CHINA and Japan offer two contrasting case studies in the punishment of fraud: while China is under pressure to dial down penalties from their past severity; in Japan, there have been moves to make punishments tougher.

Certainly China cannot get much tougher, given the death penalty is available to judges for fraud.…

AFRICA’S beleaguered clothing and textile industry could take advantage of a projected downturn in exports from Chinese manufacturers, but only if a wide range of reforms are implemented locally.   

Industry experts have told the Source Africa trade event in Cape Town on April 12 that if the difficulties currently hamstringing the sector could be overcome then Africa’s clothing and textile sector could thrive.…

WITH global cocoa prices continuing to rise and concerns growing that climate change will hinder efforts to boost production, the confectionery sector’s key Asia Choco Congress 2013 this year explored solutions to assure sustainable cocoa supplies.

Experts from industry giants such as Cargill, Mars and CAMOI joined with international cocoa specialists to assess ways of solving ongoing and potentially worsening market disfunction.…

THE EVER-CHANGING sourcing equation is a challenge to the global garment and textile industry supply chain. There is talk of moving production back home to western countries – bringing it closer to market- but its viability is being questioned. Meanwhile in Asia, where the majority of clothes are currently produced worldwide, the sourcing landscape is changing, experts say.…

IT is a long way from China, east Asia and south Asia to the key developed world markets or Europe and America. And with fashion being so dynamic, demand for a line could have dampened in the months between placing an order and receiving delivery.…

WITH Chinese clothing and textile manufacturers struggling with rising costs – through inflation, wage increases and currency adjustments – international brands have been shopping around for new sourcing countries. There are plenty of options, especially in China’s east Asia neighbourhood, where Vietnam and Cambodia have developed lower cost centres.…

THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has made a lot of noise about its anti-bribery convention. But some countries are failing to comply, and where others do – otherwise honest companies can lose trade. David Hayhurst and Keith Nuthall report.…

THE PAINT and coatings industry in Taiwan generally has an optimistic outlook, with the industry making the most of its close links to mainland China’s burgeoning manufacturing and domestic markets. It is just as well, given the island’s do-it-yourself (DIY) home painting sector remains weak, with such improvements traditionally a deeply unpopular concept.…

CHINA’S demonstrable skills in clothing and textile manufacture has yet to yield dividends in the technical textiles field, with the country still relying heavily on imports, especially for high-end products such as carbon fibre, high temperature fibre and medical textiles.

In 2011, China spent USD3.4 billion importing  technical textiles, including woven and unwoven lines, mainly from the US and Japan – up 22.7% from USD2.77 billion during 2010, according to Beijing-based China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Associations (CNITA).…

WITH AREVA celebrating 30 years of operations in China in 2013 its head of operations in the country is hoping for an expansion of joint ventures as well as overseas collaboration with Chinese partners in uranium sourcing.

Speaking in Beijing, Rémy Autebert, senior executive vice-president for Asia, explained how he hopes to see a doubling in the number of joint ventures with Chinese partners, from the company’s current four.…

THE CAMBODIAN and Taiwan governments have both claimed successes in their efforts to stamp out recent bird flu outbreaks.

In a note to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Dr Sen Sovann, the deputy secretary general, of Cambodia’s ministry of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said the current highly pathogenic bird flu outbreak – that has killed eight people in the last two months – was over: “The event is resolved.…

INCREASED competition and a weakened global economy have not dimmed expectations for Vietnam-based knitwear exporters, with two major trade deals looming, able to guarantee duty free exports to the US and the European Union (EU). They will also remove non-tariff barriers impeding trade, boosting optimism amongst established exporters of quality Vietnam-made knitwear.…

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra has highlighted its increasing focus on emerging markets, as the battle among global dairy companies for a share of markets in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America hots up. Just-food’s Jonathan Dyson spoke to Fonterra CFO Jonathan Mason as the company released its latest half-yearly results.…

AFTER months of speculation about the future of Poland’s nuclear program, the New Year has brought an encouraging sign of progress.

On January 9, PGE EJ 1, the special purpose vehicle handling the construction of Poland’s first of two planned nuclear power plants, announced the result of a public tender to select a contractor to assess possible sites, looking at a shortlist of three.…

ETHIOPIA’S potential as a source of industrial minerals is beginning to be realised, with a growing number of exploration and mining projects underway, and rapidly increasing foreign investment.
To date, its Ministry of Mines has granted 72 industrial minerals exploration licenses – 61 to foreign companies, eight to Ethiopian/foreign joint ventures, and three to local companies; and 52 mining licenses – 28 to foreign companies, 17 to Ethiopian/foreign joint ventures, and seven to local companies.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) Japanese knitwear manufacturers are assessing the opportunities offered by the planned EU-Japan free trade agreement (FTA), with negotiations about to begin, having been authorised by the European Union (EU) member states before Christmas.

“We will try to develop good contacts with the Japanese industry to try to come up with solutions during the negotiations that could be beneficial for both whenever possible”, said Luisa Santos, head of international trade at the European apparel and textile confederation (Euratex).…

DECLINING demand from the USA and European Union (EU) for Bangladesh knitwear has not dampened the world’s second largest clothing exporter from aiming high. Rather, Bangladesh is planning to more than double its current knitwear exports, to USD20 billion by 2020, seeking out new markets.…

THE UNITED States government has unveiled details of proposed flexibilities it wants to introduce into the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement which will allow importers to buy scarce clothing, textiles and yarns from outside the bloc.

Speaking at a New York conference yesterday (Wed, Jan 9), Kim Glas, deputy assistant secretary for textiles and apparels of the US Department of Commerce stressed proposals that may appease concerns of US garment and clothing importers concerned about restrictive ‘yarn forward’ rules in the draft TPP.…

Malaysia’s textile and clothing industry is planning to focus on three key areas – higher value fashion, dyeing and finishing, and technical textiles – to sustain strong growth and continue to compete with significantly lower-cost competition elsewhere in Asia.

The country’s textile and apparel exports grew 28.4% to USD3.8 billion in 2011, according to the Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA), with a further significant increase expected in 2012.…

THE CREATION of a harmonised customs system within the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by 2015 should be better exploited by its regional clothing and textile industry through better vertical integration, a conference was told this week.…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN BANGKOK

THAILAND’S textile and garment industry is aiming to diversify its export markets as it faces a significant drop in demand from its key American and European Union (EU) markets.

Thai garment exports for 2012 are forecast to fall by 10% to USD2.8 billion, while the country’s textile exports for 2012 are expected to dip by 15% to USD3.5 billion, according to figures from the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association (TGMA).…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WINNERS

Bangladesh

Despite its well-trailed labour and environmental problems, analysts still backed Bangladesh as having the potential to become a long term apparel sourcing hotspot. Indeed, ready-made garment exports could triple within a decade, as buyers move sourcing away from China, according to research by McKinsey & Company.…

THE KNITWEAR manufacturers of Taiwan are being challenged by headwinds from the global economic downturn, which has undermined their smart high-end export strategy. Last year was not a good one – as indicated by drops in exports of circular-knit fabric and knitted clothing apparel of 2.74% to USD1.265 billion and 10.97% to USD178 million respectively in the first eight months compared to the corresponding period of 2011.…

BY HELEN CLARK, IN HANOI

Investors often hold their noses about corruption in emerging markets. But countries such as Vietnam attract even more investment if they were cleaner. Helen Clark reports from Hanoi.

VIETNAM in the past 12 months appears to have embarked on a house-cleaning exercise, with police arresting a series of executives for a range of financial offences.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has confirmed key beef exporters Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay will be excluded from the European Union’s future GSP low import duty regime for emerging markets, as they are now too rich to benefit. Brussels has released a list of countries that will qualify for this special status and the Brazilians, Argentines and Uruguayans are not included, along with middle-income countries such as Venezuela, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and others.…

BY CARMEN PAUN IN BRUSSELS

THE EUROPEAN Commission is hoping that the recent overhaul of the European Union’s (EU) Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) will increase the flow of rare earth metals and aluminium oxide into the EU. Concerns persist about supplies of these important industrial minerals.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

Significant questions about the re-elected US Administration’s readiness to stand up for American textile interests in the upcoming negotiations for expanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal are looming in the wake of President Barack Obama’s re-election. Important decisions will be needed soon about the terms for including Vietnam in the TPP and its associated yarn forward rule of origin.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE CANADIAN government has confirmed that it will not interfere with the Québec government’s plans to close down the province’s asbestos mining industry, declaring the country’s controversial trade to be at an end. Instead, Ottawa plans on supporting international efforts to list asbestos as a hazardous material under a global agreement to warn importers of potential dangers of the product.…

BY MARIANI DEWI

BRANCH campuses of established western universities can be major prizes for emerging market higher education systems – but attracting these institutions is not easy, even for economically dynamic countries such as Malaysia.

There are still only six branch campuses in this south-east Asian country.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

THE NEW vice-chancellor of Bangladesh’s Asian University for Women (AUW) has told University World News how she plans to help her institution move forward after management disputes sparked negative publicity. Fahima Aziz was appointed four months ago and is focusing on securing quality academics and attracting more students to the university’s temporary campus in Chittagong.…

BY MARK ROWE

The cosmetics market for Asian men is thriving where other sectors struggle. "Men’s skin care products appear to exist in a different economic world to much of rest of the industry," said Diyva Sangameshwar, a spokeswoman for market researchers Euromonitor based in Singapore.…

BY WANG FANGQING IN SHANGHAI

China’s clothing and textile industry – already undermined by rising costs and competitors snapping at its heels – is especially vulnerable to fallout from a World Trade Organisation dispute (WTO) brought last week by Mexico.

It claims that Chinese government subsidies and tax-breaks for its textile and clothing sector break WTO agreements – and if a disputes settlement panel, Beijing will be under pressure to end these.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI

INDIA will become the largest exporter of beef in the world in 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has concluded in its latest report ‘Livestock and Poultry-World Market and Trade 2012’. The fact creates a rather ironic situation as cows are considered holy by India’s majority Hindu population and killing them can actually lead to a seven years prison sentence.…

BY CONNLA STOKES, IN HO CHI MINH CITY

As one of the world’s fastest-growing accountancy bodies, ACCA is attracting more finance and management professionals in Asia eager to get to the top. This is certainly the case for Shanghai, China-born Katherine Wu.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE CHINESE government is fighting a fresh major outbreak of avian influenza virus H5N1 in southern China, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). It says the outbreak was first reported on September 11 at a duck farm in the city of Zhanjiang, in Guangdong province.…

BY HELEN CLARK, IN HANOI

Fast food consumption has risen quickly in Vietnam. With rapid economic growth in the past decade or more and a rising middle class in the cities with more disposable income many foreign chains have opened up in recent years.…

BY HELEN CLARK, IN HANOI

21 SEPTEMBER, 2012

A FASHION for eating in branded fast food outlets such as America’s KFC is helping to drive increased meat consumption in Vietnam, where pork remains king but chicken dominates menus in quick-meals chains.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

OUTSOURCING textile and apparel production is a necessary step along the supply chain for many large international brands, which – more than often – have long-standing relationships with manufacturers abroad. These partnerships have to start from somewhere, though – and with economic development continuing to grow in the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and other emerging market countries, there are many third-party companies and services that can help international buyers choose the right manufacturer.…

BY POORNA RODRIGO AND MUNZA MUSTAQ, IN COLOMBO

Of course the BRICs countries are far from being the only emerging market suppliers for the global apparel sector – and a knot of competitors such as Bangladesh and Vietnam have long been vying for business.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

CHINA’S powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is to increase cotton quotas and sell cotton reserves to ease prices of this key input, following complaints about rising costs from Chinese fabric and clothing makers, according to China Cotton Association (CCA).…

BY SHEENA ROSSITER, IN SÃO PAULO; RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI; HELEN CLARK, IN HANOI; AND WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

THE GROWTH in outsourcing has been maybe the most important trend in the clothing and textile sector in the past decade, with emerging market countries offering increasingly reliable and sophisticated services.…

BY SHEENA ROSSITER, IN SÃO PAULO; RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI; HELEN CLARK, IN HANOI; AND WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

WHILE the focus on emerging markets for the big international clothing brands has often been to view them as outsourcing opportunities, the truth is that there are a lot of people with a lot of money in these countries.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI

THE INDIAN apparel and textile industry needs to evolve and adapt quickly to overcome the changing demand patterns from its major export markets, delegates at the textile conference were told in New Delhi on Thursday.…

BY KARRYN MILLER, IN HANOI

WITH similar tropical and sub-tropical climates giving personal care product consumers some similar requirements as regards skin care, the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region could be regarded as one by lazy marketers.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

SOUTH Korea’s paint and coatings market may be mature but that has not stopped it from showing steady growth. According to business research firm Timetric, which has a South Korea office, the country’s architectural paint market was worth USD582.9 million in 2010 and USD600.8 million in 2011.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

Manufacturers and suppliers in the fashion production chain used to have a fairly cut and dry job: procure a certain amount of fabrics and materials at the beginning of the season to be manufactured into a predetermined number of apparel items in specific styles, colours and sizes.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, IN LUCCA

The Politecnico di Milano, one of Italy’s leading technical universities, has announced that from the beginning of the 2014 academic year, all Master of Science and PhD courses will be taught exclusively in English. The switch to English at the expense of Italian however has met with opposition from some of the institution’s professors, and 285 have signed a petition to the Rector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ACCOUNTING giant Ernst & Young has claimed nearly half of chief financial officers worldwide – still struggling with the global economic crisis – would undertake unethical and potentially illegal actions to protect their companies.

Its latest global fraud survey said that of almost 400 CFOs questioned, 47% "felt one or more… possibly questionable actions that may help the business survive…could be justified in an economic downturn".…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN AREQUIPA, SOUTHERN PERU

PERU’S Inkabor, one of the world’s leading borates producers, is significantly increasing its product range as it capitalises on growing demand in several key sectors, senior managers told Industrial Minerals. Speaking at its Rio Seco boric acid and borax plant in Arequipa, southern Peru, Flavio Magheri, Inkabor managing director, said that Inkabor’s sales grew by 15% in 2011, with 10% growth forecast for 2012.…

BY KARRYN MILLER, MJ DESCHAMPS, LEAH GERMAIN AND KEITH NUTHALL

THE BYELECTION victories in Myanmar/Burma by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her political allies have loosened the tough trade sanctions that have thus far hampered efforts to develop the country as a new sourcing hub for knitwear and other clothing products.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI, AND LEAH GERMAIN

THE LEADER of India’s key marble association stepped into an international row about his country’s marble trading policy, opposing the reduction of import restrictions, including marble import duties, on lower quality marble that is mined near Indian marble centre Kisharngarh.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

JAPANESE c-store chain Aeon is expanding business in Vietnam, Malaysia and smaller cities in China, last week (March 2) opening a new national headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s commercial capital. Speaking to just-food, a spokesman at the company’s Chiba, Japan, corporate-base said a new Aeon Vietnam subsidiary would control "all of our businesses in the country, including convenience stores, shopping centres and supermarkets."…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE USA’s Under-Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sánchez has told just-style he is optimistic about the impact on the American textile and clothing sector of new bilateral trade deals struck by the Obama administration with South Korea, Panama and Columbia.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

IF any two countries could be deemed vulnerable to Chinese dominance of rare earth supplies, it surely has to be east Asia’s high tech exporters par excellence Japan and South Korea. From smart phones to electric cars, these two Asian nations continue to drive technology forward, but with rare earths an essential component of many electronic goods, these Tokyo and Seoul are scanning the region for new sources of these key minerals.…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH, IN MUMBAI; AND SUZIE WHITE, IN HANOI

KEY Asian poultry producers Vietnam and India continue to be hit by bird flu outbreaks. Vietnam has been hit especially hard, with outbreaks of bird flu reported in 36 communes in 12 provinces across Vietnam this January and February.…

BY PETER DA COSTA

THE WORLD Bank has barred a subsidiary of Texas-based engineering giant from its programmes for two years after KBR Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd (KBR Pty) was found breaking guidelines in a bank-financed water supply project in Vietnam.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

CHINESE clothing and textile manufacturers in key provinces are raising wages amidst heightened fears of labour shortages.

"We are about to lose 50 per cent of our workers after the (Chinese New Year) holiday, and hiring new workers will be difficult," Sea An, spokesperson for Shenzhen-based A.M.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WHILE the thought of bundling up in big knit sweater to brave the cold is how knitwear is usually marketed around the world, over in Canada – where winters are trite with snowstorms, and temperatures drop well below zero degrees Celsius – wearing a wool jumper in a blizzard to clean 10 centimetres of snow and ice off your car is not exactly practical.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WINNERS

TUNISIA

Of all the countries disrupted by the Arab Spring revolts in 2011, Tunisia liberated itself in the swiftest and most business-friendly fashion. This key European supplier rid itself of despotic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January14, and one week later, its textile and clothing sector was back at work.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED Nations has continued to proactively encourage handwashing with soap, staging a Global Handwashing Day in October, with the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF organising events. It said 8 million children in India’s Rajasthan, more than 1 million children in Pakistan,1.7 million children in Afghanistan from 1,700 schools, plus 326,809 Eritrean children in 1,272 schools participated in handwashing events.…

BY MARIANNE BROWN

STABLE large developing countries have obvious advantages over small states and those facing civil conflict, in terms of creating effective anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) systems. But given many are today in the throes of rapid economic growth and transformation into consumer societies, their governments have a lot of priorities to juggle, and keeping close tabs on dirty money might not be one of them.…

BY MARK GODFREY

COTTON prices have eased in 2011, lifting the price pressure on major brands, according to VF Asia Pacific president Aidan O’Meara. The Hong Kong-based executive, who oversees 30 brands in the region, says it was the first time in 19 years at VF that he had seen inflation of production costs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Maritime Bureau (IMB) has warned heavy melting scrap buyers to beware of fraudsters selling phantom waste metal cargoes from Trieste, Italy, that never arrive. The IMB has reported 13 such scams (one involving aluminium profiles) involving a sophisticated abuse of bills of lading, letters of credit and associated documents.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

INDIA is known for its rich history of garment making traditions; however, its knitwear manufacturing centres have been facing serious labour shortages of late – leading to the underutilisation of capacity, spiralling costs and even relocation of some factories to more rural areas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Maritime Bureau (IMB) has warned scrap buyers to beware of fraudsters selling phantom waste metal cargoes that never arrive at port. The IMB – part of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) – says the scam involves a sophisticated abuse of bills of lading, letters of credit and associated documents.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

VIETNAM’s cosmetics industry is almost unrecognisable now compared to 10 years ago: back then, prestigious Western beauty products were nowhere to be found on Vietnam retailers’ shelves, and it was South Korean cosmetics products that were considered luxurious in the communist country’s market.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

THE UNITED States Trade Representative has proposed a ‘yarn forward’ rule within negotiations for Washington to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, to protect the US textile industry from Vietnam’s state-subsidised textile enterprises. America and Vietnam want to join the TPP, currently including Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.…

BY MARIANNE BROWN and KEITH NUTHALL

A CHINK of light in the gloom spread over the nuclear industry by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster can be seen to the south, where south-east Asian governments seem keen to push ahead with their nuclear expansion plans regardless.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

THE UNITED States garment industry is supporting a "yarn forward" rule of origin proposed by the US Trade Representative (USTR) during the latest round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement negotiations. Both the US and Vietnam want to join the TPP trade agreement, which currently includes Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.…

By WANG FANGQING

FACING soaring wages and an appreciating local currency in the Yuan, Chinese clothing makers are being forced to make a hard choice – keep clients or make profits. So far, the answer seems to be clients.

According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, profits in the export sector (for all industries) fell to 1.44% in February 2011 from 1.47% in 2010.…

BY WANG FANGQING

LARGE Japanese retailer Aeon Group is to invest about Japanese Yen JPY200 billion (USD2.5 billion) from 2011 to 2013 for its expansion in Asia, including China, Malaysia and Vietnam. "As the Japanese economy slows down, we are actively looking for opportunities in other countries," said a Chiba-based Aeon spokesperson, adding fast developing Asian countries not only offer great opportunities, but also "are close to Japan geographically and share a similar culture, which is certainly an advantage for communication," she said.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

United States House of Representatives members linked to the textile industry are urging USA Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk in a letter received yesterday (June 1) to ensure an proposed expanded multi-lateral Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement does not flood American markets with Vietnamese clothing.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

"VIETNAM is making a big push to improve all aspects of infrastructure nationwide," said Adam Bury, senior manager of the research and consulting department of CB Richard Ellis in Ho Chi Minh City: "…and this includes airports." The property sales firm put it simply, "The better connected the country is, both domestically and internationally, the better it is for the people and the economy in general."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CANADIAN government has been attacked by environmentalists for blocking an international agreement over the notification of exports of asbestos to importing countries. At a Geneva meeting this week of the fifth conference of parties to the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals, Canada has opposed placing chrysotile asbestos on the agreement’s Annex III.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

THE ASSOCIATION of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) covers 10 distinct countries, each with a unique culture, mirroring the personal care product markets of the European Union (EU). However, these nations do share some similarities – and maybe more than northern, southern and eastern Europe, especially when it comes to what ASEAN consumers have inside their cosmetics cabinets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Iran are among almost 100 countries expected to lose tariff breaks for their plastics exports to the European Union (EU), under a planned reform of the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) system.

The European Commission announced yesterday (May 10) it wanted to focus import duty concessions on poorer countries and so henceforth those regarded by the World Bank as high or upper middle income states would no longer qualify from January 2014.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRAZIL and Argentina are among almost 100 countries expected to lose tariff breaks for their knitwear exports to the European Union (EU), under a planned reform of the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) system.

The European Commission announced yesterday (May 10) it wanted to focus import duty concessions on poorer countries and so henceforth those regarded by the World Bank as high or upper middle income states would no longer qualify from January 2014.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ARGENTINA, Uruguay and Iran are among almost 100 countries expected to lose tariff breaks for their food exports to the European Union (EU), under a planned reform of the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) system, which lowers EU import duties for emerging market and developing countries for more 6,200 tariff lines, including many food products.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

ON first impressions Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s two largest metropolises, seem a far cry from the fashion capitals of the world. Their wide boulevards overflow with heavy traffic and are mostly lined with small family-owned stores and restaurants, rather than well-known brands.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

Vietnam’s General Statistics Office announced that the country imported US dollars USD10 billion worth of luxury products in 2010 (as reported in Vietnam’s national newspaper Thanh Nien in January, 2011).

Recent consumer patterns in Vietnam indicate that there is strong interest in luxury brands, international franchises and high quality domestic goods (reported Savills Vietnam in a Ho Chi Minh City briefing issued in January, 2011).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRAZIL and Argentina are among almost 100 countries expected to lose tariff breaks for their textile and clothing exports to the European Union (EU), under a planned reform of the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) system.

The European Commission announced yesterday (May 10) it wanted to focus import duty concessions on poorer countries and so henceforth those regarded by the World Bank as high or upper middle income states would no longer qualify from January 2014.…

BY WANG FANGQING, MINI PANT ZACHARIAH, KARRYN MILLER and KEITH NUTHALL

EMERGING market coatings exporters sometimes claim tough environmental rules in rich jurisdictions are nothing but a form of protection. And while such arguments can always be contested, it is certainly true that the European Union’s (EU) ongoing and longstanding biocide review will throw up obstacles to Asia-Pacific coatings manufacturers wanting to secure sales in Europe.…

BY DUNG VU

THE VIETNAMESE fashion industry is girding itself for fewer orders from Japan, as it struggles to recover from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Japan is the third largest export market for Vietnam’s clothing and textile sector, after the USA and European Union and manufacturers are expecting production to be hit, although the general consensus is that orders are still being made.…

BY WANG FANGQING

Nissin Foods Holdings, the Japan-based instant noodle manufacturing multinational, will invest about Japanese Yen JPY 3.4 billion (US dollar USD41.5 million) to build an instant noodle plant in Vietnam to meet growing demand in this key emerging market.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

For some it was a total disaster, for others a bump in the road, but the recession left no part of the clothing and textile retail sector unscathed. World Trade Organisation (WTO) statistics from 2009 show that while globally important manufacturing jurisdictions such as China and the European Union (EU) suffered 11% and 15% drops respectively in clothing exports, countries such as India, Vietnam and Bangladesh lost just a couple of percentage points and in India’s case, exports remained stable.…

BY AHMAD PATHONI

INDONESIA’S paint and coating market has grown by about 3-4% annually by average over the past decade. Indeed, consumption rose to 688,863 tonnes in 2010, from 646,700 the previous year, according to the Indonesian Paint Manufacturers’ Association.

And a mini-boom could be approaching.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Bank’s 2009-10 Water and Sanitation media campaign encouraged hand-washing with soap among 20 million (potentially child-bearing) women aged 15-49 and children aged 5-9 in Peru, Senegal, Tanzania, and Vietnam, claimed an assessment. It added more than 800,000 people were also encouraged to wash their hands with soap through linked personal advice in these countries.…

BY MARK GODFREY

VIGOROUS economic growth and stimulus spending in key growth markets such as Indonesia, Thailand and India is ensuring Asia remains a bright spot in the global US dollar USD100 billion paint and coatings sector. Yet in terms of raw material supplies, south-east Asia and India are not as geared towards production as China, which has been ramping up chemicals refining capacity largely through ventures between local and multinational firms.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CHAIRMAN of the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry has confirmed to just-style that his organisation will not seek a renewal of European Union (EU) anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese shoe exports. These tariffs – 16.5% on Chinese and 10% on Vietnamese shoes – are due to expire March 31, and will stay only if the European Commission decides to investigate their potential long-term renewal.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

DESPITE the global economic downturn of the last few years Vietnam’s paint industry has continued to experience growth. According to Vietnam’s General Statistics Office 234,000 tonnes of paint was produced in Vietnam between January 2010 and November 2010.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

DESPITEthe global economic downturn of the last few years Vietnam’s paint industryhas continued to experience growth.According to Vietnam’s General Statistics Office234,000 tonnes of paint was produced in Vietnam between January 2010 and November 2010.In the same period last year production was at 181,200 tonnes.Sales…

BY MARK GODFREY

Albert Ng, Ernst & Young

Managing partner and chairman of E&Y’s China business, Hong Kong native Albert Ng has over 25 years of professional experience in the accounting industry in China and Australia. That background will be valuable as he moves the firm on from an embarrassing settlement over its auditing of Akai Holdings, a bankrupted Chinese electronic manufacturer and retailer.…

BY WANG FANGQING

TO many Chinese manufacturers, 2011 has been a difficult year – an unfortunate combination of the fast-rising Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY); soaring inflation; and a shortage of available investment. And the horizon is not getting brighter: at the beginning of October, for example, the US Senate passed a controversial currency bill, aimed at punishing China for ‘currency manipulation’ with retaliatory tariffs.…

WINNERS

TURKEY

This was the year when Turkey really came into its own. With a well-established and successful clothing and textile industry, supping Europe, Russia and the Middle East, its industry this year laid claim to becoming a fashion centre. August’s Istanbul Fashion Week caught a lot of global attention with 21 catwalk shows, an audience of 40,000, and more than 500 overseas guests.…

BY BARBARA BIERACH

WHILE the Reserve Bank of Australia has a licence to print cash, two subsidiaries wanted one too, it seems – only using international sales agents to bribe foreign public officials over banknote printing contracts. Barbara Bierach reports from Sydney.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

DEFINING a niche drink is an arbitrary matter and what may pass as niche today may well be considered mainstream tomorrow. Flavoured vodka, for instance, had a relatively specialised following in Europe until a few years ago – now it is classified as an official spirit drink under European Union (EU) regulations.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD, KARRYN MILLER, GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE, KEITH NUTHALL

FOR niche spirits, obscure can be good – and so products made in countries not renowned for their spirits production can gather export market cache. Latin America and the Caribbean are regions where effort by buyers can pay dividends.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

BEFORE September 8, few people anywhere had heard of Zhan Qixiong or his battered fishing boat. However, since the Chinese fisherman and his 14-strong crew were taken into custody by the Japan Coast Guard on September 8, Zhan has found himself at the centre of an escalating geopolitical row that has already put planned discussions over gas and oil deposits between Beijing and Tokyo on hold and is ratcheting up broader tensions in the region.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

THE TEXTILE and clothing industry maybe almost unrecognisable from its organisation today in 10 years’ time: Chinese-owned offshore production; unstoppable e-commerce, demand for eco-textiles, shifting luxury markets to Asia’s new middle class, and higher prices for everyone, are just some predictions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PLANNED takeover of Daewoo International by South Korean steel giant POSCO will see the merged company move into natural gas production. POSCO will expand Daewoo energy interests, exploring for natural gas in Myanmar and Peru and oil in Vietnam.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

THE IMMEDIATE priority for the company that has evolved from the merger of Japan’s Nippon Oil Corporation and Nippon Mining Holdings is achieving stability. But even while efforts to achieve that aim are ongoing, JX Holdings Inc. is drawing up plans to acquire new energy assets.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

THE TEXTILE and clothing industry maybe almost unrecognisable from its organisation today in 10 years’ time: Chinese-owned offshore production; unstoppable e-commerce, demand for eco-textiles, shifting luxury markets to Asia’s new middle class, and higher prices for everyone, are just some predictions.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

THE TEXTILE and clothing industry maybe almost unrecognisable from its organisation today in 10 years’ time: Chinese-owned offshore production; unstoppable e-commerce, demand for eco-textiles, shifting luxury markets to Asia’s new middle class, and higher prices for everyone, are just some predictions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Organisation for Standardization (ISO) is developing standards for natural gas fuelling stations to help promote vehicles using this alternative fuel. A new committee ISO/PC 252 will coordinate the work, developing two standards: on fuelling stations for compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).…

BY SHANNELLE LAMARE, KEITH NUTHALL

FOR the last five years the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in partnership with the World Bank (WB), has been operating the Global Programme against Money Laundering (GPML) to boost Vietnam’s AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism) systems.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

VIETNAM’S leading dairy company Vinamilk will hold a 19.3% stake in the New Zealand-based Miraka Limited, helping ease Vietnamese milk supply shortages, a spokesman told just-food. Following approval from Vietnam’s ministry of planning and investment, the dairy producer chose a planned New Zealand dairy production plant for its first overseas investment.…

BY MARK ROWE

IN the truly global market of the paint industry, nowhere has the maxim of work local, sell local, been adhered to more rigorously than in southeast Asia. The region’s paint market is fiercely competitive, driven by developed nations such as Singapore and populous rapidly developing countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

WHEN it comes to cosmetics, people from east, southeast, and south Asia may have overlapping beauty needs. But given the diversity of the region, it is no surprise to say personal care companies can not use a ‘one size fits all’ strategy.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, KARRYN MILLER, GAVIN BLAIR, KEITH NUTHALL

MOST drinks manufacturers would bridle at the accusation that they used anything unnatural to make their products: after all poisoning consumers is bad for business. But in the world of marketing, everything is relative, and some ingredients are so fresh and untainted with processing chemicals that they can, simply, be sold as being more ‘natural’ than standard inputs.…

BY WANG FANGQING, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, KARRYN MILLER

CLOTHING manufacturers and associated regulators in emerging markets are often mindful that they need to meet the requirements of consumer safety rules in key developed world markets, but standards still need raising, and – crucially – enforcement.…

BY KARRYN MILLER, AHMAD PATHONI, MARK ROWE

SOUTHEAST Asia is a growing and diverse market for international personal care product brands, despite the challenges (and some losses) cased by the recession. The region contains relatively rich emerging markets (and the very rich city state of Singapore), and its major poorer countries, notably Vietnam and Indonesia are growing fast and emerging robustly from the recession.…

BY DINAH GARDNER, PACIFICA GODDARD, KARRYN MILLER

AS the ranks of China’s middle class swell, their desire for leading healthier lifestyles – including what they drink – is also growing. Manufacturers have a wealth of ingredients from which to pick. Not only can they use globally-renowned healthy choices such as fruit juices and mineral-enriched drinks, they also have thousands of herbs, roots, flowers and fruits popular in Chinese medicine to choose from as ingredients and additives.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, KARRYN MILLER, GAVIN BLAIR, KEITH NUTHALL

WEARING clothes is not the most dangerous of pastimes: it is not really up there with hang-gliding, off-piste skiing and single-handed ocean yachting. But there are risks associated with wearing clothes, from the contact consumers and workers’ skin has with the chemicals used in production; to potential for strangulation by drawstrings, choking on toggles, and the flammability of some artificial fibres.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

INDIAN garment exporters are losing to competition from China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh, said a recent report released by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Shipments to the European Union (EU) and the US account for nearly two thirds of the country’s textile and apparel exports, but registered a decline by value of 11% in 2009.…

BY WANG FANGQING

WITH the fast development of on-line shopping and increasing orders from overseas, the business of counterfeit perfumes is expanding in China.

Take taobao.com, Asia’s largest online shopping website resembling eBay, as an example. A simple search for J’Adore, a perfume by Dior of Paris-based LVMH (Moët Hennessy.Louis…

BY ALYSHAH HASHAM

AS with many oils and fats industries, the cocoa sector has distinct elements: producers, processors, distributers, wholesalers and retailers. Their collective environmental impact can be reduced if they work together in the most efficient way possible. And it is partly for that reason that there is a growing trend towards pressing and grinding the cocoa near the source, particularly in Ghana and Ivory Coast (which together account for 60% of the world’s cocoa supply), as well as Indonesia.…

BY ALYSHAH HASHAM

AS with many oils and fats industries, the cocoa sector has distinct elements: producers, processors, distributers, wholesalers and retailers. Their collective environmental impact can be reduced if they work together in the most efficient way possible. And it is partly for that reason that there is a growing trend towards pressing and grinding the cocoa near the source, particularly in Ghana and Ivory Coast (which together account for 60% of the world’s cocoa supply), as well as Indonesia.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

SILK is deeply ingrained in the cultures of south-east Asian countries. "In Laos every stitch of clothing used to be made of silk, even baby diapers," said Mark Sloneker, founder of sustainable, fair-trade website Orijyn (www.orijyn.com), which sells Laotian silk products abroad.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

PAINT companies looking for an edge may very well find themselves turning to robots, as the industry in the Asia-Pacific region increasingly embraces automation. Cost effective, efficient and consistent, robots are indeed replacing employees in paint manufacturing processes and applications of coatings to products such as cars and machinery.…

BY MARK GODFREY

EVEN as the Burmese government embarks on construction of an airport in its middle-of-nowhere capital Naypyidaw, traffic remains underwhelming at the county’s main international hub in Rangoon, officially known as Yangon.

Officially opened in May 2007, Yangon International Airport has so far struggled to justify its ambitious capacity of 2.7 million passengers per year set by Burma’s (official name Myanmar) Department of Transportation, which oversees the country’s airports.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

VIETNAM’S Techcombank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, have created a joint US dollar USD50 million fund financing energy efficiency projects in the south-east Asian country. The IFC will also finance with USD20 million an energy efficiency finance programme in the Dominican Republic operated by the Caribbean country’s Banco BHD.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

AS trade barriers continue to diminish, clothing brands are becoming more global. However it is not as easy for the sizes of their goods to be quite as worldly. International players need to adapt their fits for different target markets but that level of adaptation varies by country.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

It is common knowledge that no two bodies are the same. Although clothing sizes help us to categorise bodies into general fits, each garment is going to hang a little differently depending on the consumer. Looking forward these variations in sizes are becoming more apparent as we see advancements in 3D scanning technology that allow us to get a more complete picture of an individual’s size.…

BY MARK GODFREY

MALAYSIA’S emergence as an airport centre for Asia’s low fare airlines has hit turbulence in a squabble between the country’s aviation authority and the region’s fastest growing airline, Kuala Lumpur-based Air Asia. At issue – the expansion of airport capacity for low fare airlines.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

SILK is deeply ingrained in the cultures of south-east Asian countries. "In Laos every stitch of clothing used to be made of silk, even baby diapers," said Mark Sloneker, founder of sustainable, fair-trade website Orijyn (www.orijyn.com), which sells Laotian silk products abroad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE TOWN of Asbestos in French-speaking Québec, Canada – named after the mineral that underpins its economy – is waiting to see whether its provincial government will approve a Canadian dollar CAD58 million (US dollar USD56 million) loan enabling an underground mine to tap an immense deposit.…

BY JOHN PAGNI

Russia has a strong drinks sector, for spirits, beer and juices, especially. Alcoholic beverage makers are having to deal with flat sales on the domestic market and a government determined to reduce alcohol consumption, forcing quality producers to look for export sales to boost profits.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) is to give technical and training advice to Nepal’s Clean Energy Development Bank Ltd to help it increase finance for sustainable energy and energy efficiency projects. Meanwhile, the IFC has launched its own ‘professional training programme on energy efficiency’ in Vietnam to help industrial managers reduce energy costs.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

JAPANESE industries in general have had a tough past couple of years and the cosmetics sector is no exception. That said, manufacturers here have largely stressed the positive and developed a range of innovative new products that meet the needs of ever-more demanding consumers and opened up new product areas.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

VIETNAM has worked hard to convince foreign companies they should look past neighbouring China for their knitwear needs. Through an increasing commitment to quality, along with strong government support, Vietnamese knitwear firms are starting to see the fruits of their labour and tags ‘made in Vietnam’ are becoming more common both domestically and abroad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN textile and clothing outsourcers and buyers will be happy that the European Union (EU) has started free trade negotiations with key exporter Vietnam. The negotiations were launched yesterday (March 2) in Hanoi after a meeting between new EU trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Vietnam prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung.…

BY MARK ROWE

FOR a developing country dependent on exports to a world still groggy from recession, Vietnam and its paint industry have proved impressively resilient over the past 18 months.

According to the country’s ministry of planning and investment, industrial production value in January was 28.4% higher than the same period last year, and the government called for industry to cut back on imports in February to boost domestic production.…

BY MARK GODFREY

CHINA has been nothing but ambitious on its biofuels targets, and although its long term goals are impressive, short term food shortages will probably stunt growth. A lengthy drought last year in the country’s central provinces has hurt grain output, while more recently the return of inflation in December 2009 is likely to convince Beijing to keep in place a ban on new capacity for processing grain or corn for biofuels.…

BY EMMA JACKSON, KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN, PAUL COCHRANE and BILL CORCORAN

WEST Africa is becoming a key region in the booming trade of illicit cigarettes, counterfeit copies of premium brands and smuggled properly branded and manufactured sticks. So much money is being made by criminals using this often-chaotic region as a hub to receive illicit sticks and then distribute them throughout Africa that this trade is becoming a matter of serious concern to the United Nations and even NATO.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

OFFSHORE oil rig builder Singapore-based Keppel Corp has won a US$200 million contract to build a semi-submersible drilling tender assist rig for PetroVietnam. With delivery planned for 2011’s fourth quarter, this would be Vietnam’s first such rig. Keppel praised its "resilience and suitability" for many "challenging environments."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) controversial anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese-made leather shoes will probably be extended for another 15 months, after the European Commission concluded they should remain. It has asked the EU Council of Ministers for a formal extension, although it is far shorter than the usual five years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A YEAR of struggle would be the best way to sum up 2009 as far as the global clothing and textile industry is concerned. The depth and severity of the worldwide recession left many clothing and textile companies reeling, even impacting upon China, which had previously been dominating global markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AWARENESS amongst British nurses, especially senior nurses, of fraud and corruption in the National Health Service (NHS), is high today – thanks in part to the NHS’ Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS). Its work has encouraged honest nurses to blow the whistle on such crimes in British healthcare systems, and has recently been praised by the European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network (EHFCN), which was formed in 2005 to fight the problem across Europe.…

BY DINAH GARDNER

BURMA is both a dream and a nightmare for energy companies. First, it is undoubtedly resource rich. According to the BP Statistical Review, the country had 0.49 million cubic metres (17.5 trillion cubic feet) of proven natural gas reserves at the end of 2008, roughly the same as Vietnam.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THERE has been an increase in the proportion of counterfeit shoes seized in Europe made in China – up to 93.4% of all seizures in 2008 – the European Commission has revealed. This was up from 79.6% the previous year.…

BY MARK GODFREY

INVESTMENT in Bangladeshi dyeing capacity appears stalled as growth in the country’s garment exports slows. Prices for imported dyes are also dipping. Yet given long-term steady growth expected in the country’s apparel industry, there are opportunities for dye importers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo, EMMA JACKSON and LEAH GERMAIN

TIME was when counterfeit personal care products were commonly crude fake perfumes pedalled in markets and workplaces during the Christmas and other festive periods to bargain hunters who knew they were buying rubbish.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have been asked to swiftly write into EU law a multi-year stock protection plan for eastern bluefin tuna. It is based on an agreement forged last November at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) at its annual meeting in Marrakech, Morocco.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, EMMA JACKSON and ALAN OSBORN

FEW things say more about the growing enthusiasm for nuclear power than the rush of young students eager to make a career in the industry. It is happening mainly in America but other countries are now beginning to see the same development.…

BY MARK ROWE

DESPITE the gathering storm of global economic recession, the Vietnamese paint industry has so far turned in a reasonably strong performance through 2009. Projected growth of 8.1% for the whole of 2009 – made by Vietnam’s General Statistics Office (GSO) back in November 2008, now looks slightly optimistic, but the reality may not be too far from that figure, suggest experts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FINLAND’S VTT Technical Research Centre is coordinating a project involving the production of biofuels from rotting fish waste. The Euro 2.5 million European Union-funded ENERFISH project is using waste form a Vietnam catfish-processing plant as feedstock. A biodiesel production plant will be built next door to quickly commercialise technology developed during the three-year project.…

BY MARK ROWE

DESPITE the worldwide economic gloom (and the country’s own political woes), Thailand’s paint industry appeared vibrant right up to and including the final quarter of 2008, with a raft of expansion plans, significant investment and takeovers in an active market.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

WHILE other companies are suddenly looking to cut overheads, trim the fat from their operations or find other ways to batten down the hatches to survive the global economic turmoil, Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido Co. claims it sees the downturn as an opportunity.…

By Alan Osborn

FEW things say more about the growing enthusiasm for nuclear power than the rush of young students eager to make a career in the industry. It is happening mainly in America but other countries are now beginning to see the same development.…

By ALAN OSBORN

For long the Cinderella of the engineering industry, nuclear power appears to be regaining its popularity as a career choice with a surprising increase in university courses, mainly but not exclusively in the US. In some countries, like France, enthusiasm has never faltered and a clear career pattern in nuclear sciences has been established for years.…

BY MARK ROWE

FOR the nuclear power plant industry, global economic crises can make for uncertain times. On the one hand, the long lead-in times associated with construction, along with copper-bottomed signed state contracts, should mean many projects continue as usual.…

BY WANG FANGQING

THE HONGHE Group and the Hongyun Group, the two major Chinese tobacco companies located in the key tobacco-growing Yunnan province have recently (WHEN EXACTLY?) submitted a merger agreement to the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), the Beijing-based industry watchdog.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission announced this afternoon (Oct 2) decided to launch a review of the European Union’s (EU) anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from China and Vietnam, extending their operation while this study is undertaken.

This will upset many exporters and importers, as well as 15 of the 27 EU member states who opposed the review.…

BY LUCY JONES

ALMOST 20% of the United States’ oil refining capacity was shut after Hurricane Ike slammed into the Gulf Coast in September.

The effects were felt immediately. In Texas, petrol prices spiked around

US$5 a gallon and that is assuming you could find any fuel.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

FEW things say more about the growing enthusiasm for nuclear power than the rush of young students eager to make a career in the industry. It is happening mainly in America but other countries are now beginning to see the same development.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission announced this afternoon (Oct 2) decided to launch a review of the European Union’s (EU) anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from China and Vietnam, extending their operation while this study is undertaken.

This will upset many exporters and importers, as well as 15 of the 27 EU member states who opposed the review.…

BY MARK GODFREY

A BILLION people watched recently when China’s top two dairy companies Yili and Mengniu took the prime slot Chinese television advertisements immediately after the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics Games. Being onscreen for the most important TV event in modern Chinese history is a sign of how fast dairy has grown in a land accustomed to soy milk.…

BY WILLIAM BARNES

A WOMAN brushes past palm fronds into the pastel lights of a busy Bangkok salon. At the counter she turns what looks to be a flawless, ivory face towards a woman in a vaguely medical uniform: "Aiyee! I am getting so old.…

BY DINAH GARDNER

THERE has not been a military clash over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea since 1988 when China and Vietnam engaged in a brief naval spat over three reefs. Dozens of sailors perished in that conflict.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi; SAEED AKHTAR BALOCH, in Lahore; and KEITH NOYAHR, in Colombo

THE SOUTH Asian knitwear industry is experienced mixed fortunes at present, with the impact of China’s production boom and the global liberalisation of the textile sector still changing sub-continental fortunes.…

By Keith Nuthall

A UNITED Nations-sponsored global initiative to encourage business schools to teach and promote social and environmentally responsible commercial practices has gathered a critical mass of support. More than 100 business schools worldwide have now signed up to the Principles for Responsible Management Initiative.…

BY KARRYN CARTELLE

AS the world’s wild finfish and seafood stocks continue to dwindle and environmental pressure for sustainable fishing practices rises, South Korea’s fishing fleet is adjusting with the times.

South and North Korea’s combined expansive coastline spans 8,693 kilometres (South Korea’s mainland alone commands 2,413km).…

BY MARK ROWE

LIKE the majority of industries in Thailand, the paint and coatings sector has endured a roller coaster ride in recent years. Having put the disruption caused by the 1997 financial crisis firmly behind it, the military coup of 2006 further unsettled affairs.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

METHANE recovery is a boom industry in China. A frenetic dig for coal to drive its economy means atmospheric concentrations of methane are growing. And this is a problem – methane is not only a greenhouse gas that retains 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide, it hangs around in the atmosphere a lot longer.…

BY DOMINIQUE PATTON, in Beijing, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi, and KEITH NUTHALL

TIME was when the Chinese clothing industry was all about exports. But the astonishing success of China’s export industry has inspired competitors, making life harder for its exporters.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TOURISM is continuing to boom in developing countries, boosting their economies, according to the latest figures from the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Its claims the number of individual international tourism journeys leapt by 6% in 2007 (compared to 2006) to 898 million visitors.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

A YEAR after China began enforcing its Law of the People’s Republic of China on Anti-Money Laundering – effective from January 2007 – observers are wary about the ability of the country’s understaffed enforcement agencies to keep pace with huge inflows of questionable funds into China’s booming economy.…

BY MARK ROWE

VIETNAM is a country enjoying an extraordinary boom. Cities teem with cars and a seemingly infinite number of motorcycles, whilst new offices and advertising hoardings are erected daily, symbolising a new era for the country and good news for the paint industry.…

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

FOLLOWING the late-November OPEC summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited Tehran to discuss joint ventures over oil refining and then chuckle with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, over the weakened US dollar.…

BY ANDREW SALMON, in Seoul

THE WORDS ‘nuclear’ and ‘Korea’ automatically conjure up images of Kim Jong-il’s underground atomic weapons programs, but south of the heavily militarised border, it is South Korea that has quietly built up one of the world’s most competitive nuclear industries.…

BY KARRYN CARTELLE

THE SIGNING of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the United States is expected to fuel an already booming seafood trade. And with the Koreans having a host of other FTAs in the works, it appears this seafood-producing nation will use free trade agreements to push its seafood products to every continent.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

SLATED European Union (EU) free trade agreements (FTA) with South Korea, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will dramatically boost commercial activity in the leather industry if the agreements are passed, claims a study by Copenhagen Economics for the European Commission.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A BOOM in counterfeit clothing accessories being smuggled into the European Union (EU) has overshadowed a fall in the trade in fake sportswear, according to the latest figures from the European Commission. It says EU customs officials seized 30 million items of clothing and accessory fakes last year, up 175%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A BOOM in counterfeit clothing accessories being smuggled into the European Union (EU) has overshadowed a fall in the trade in fake sportswear, according to the latest figures from the European Commission. It says EU customs officials seized 30 million items of clothing and accessory fakes last year, up 175%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has created a disputes panel to rule on the vexed question of whether India’s import duties on wines and spirits are so punishing, they break WTO rules. The panel will hear complaints from the United States, whose drinks industries have long chafed at the aggregated duties that range between 150% and 550%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has been asked to approve two new ‘open skies’ deals between the EU, Jordan and Vietnam. The agreements will provide for the usual mutual access to EU, Jordanian and Vietnamese airports for locally-based carriers.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE
SLATED European Union (EU) free trade agreements (FTA) with South Korea, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries would dramatically boost commercial activity in the clothing, textile and apparel sectors if the agreements are passed, European Commission analysis says.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

SLATED European Union (EU) free trade agreements (FTA) with South Korea, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries would dramatically boost commercial activity in the clothing, textile and apparel sectors if the agreements are passed, European Commission analysis says.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has created a disputes panel to rule on the vexed question of whether India’s import duties on wines and spirits are so punishing, they break WTO rules. The panel will hear complaints from the United States, whose drinks industries have long chafed at the aggregated duties that range between 150% and 550%.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE
SLATED European Union (EU) free trade agreements (FTA) with South Korea, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will dramatically boost commercial activity in the leather industry if the agreements are passed, claims a study by Copenhagen Economics for the European Commission.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Organization for Standardization (ISO) (NOTE: It uses the American spelling for its name) is staging a meeting this October of a new technical committee charged with creating technical good practice standards for the seafood industry’s aquaculture and wild harvested arms.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Organization for Standardization (ISO) (NOTE: It uses the American spelling for its name) is staging a meeting this October of a new technical committee charged with creating technical good practice standards for the aquaculture and wild fish sectors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States Trade Representative (USTR) has released a series of detailed reports outlining the threats posed by counterfeiters worldwide and the inability of many governments to fight the problem.

Its sheaf of intelligence includes comprehensive warnings from cigarette giant Philip Morris, a company that has adopted a high profile in fighting counterfeiters and smugglers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PHILIP Morris International (PMI) has released a detailed intelligence dossier on cigarette and other tobacco product counterfeiting, in a bid to encourage the international cooperation it deems necessary to effectively fight this crime. The report highlights 17 countries around the world where it thinks cigarette counterfeiting is a particular problem and where the cigarette company has specific advice: Latvia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Egypt, Belize, Panama, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Ghana.…

BY MARK ROWE
INTERNATIONAL cosmetics companies are increasingly casting an eye over south-east Asia. In the middle of the first decade of the 21st Century it would appear to offer all things to all companies.

With Asia (including nearby China) representing half of the world’s population and an economic growth rate ranging between 5 and 10%, many companies are interested in entering or developing these markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
VIETNAMESE clothing manufacturers have been guaranteed quota-free access to the established members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after joining the global trade body on January 11. Its membership, which followed 12 years of negotiations, also means that duty levels for its exports to other WTO countries will henceforth be capped.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud agency OLAF has helped uncover three rules-of-origin frauds costing EU coffers millions of Euros. In one case, an OLAF-German police inquiry has uncovered the loss of Euro 50 million in duties by the illicit rerouting of Chinese energy-saving lamps via Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and Tunisia to evade 66.1% anti-dumping duties on China-made lamps; Euro 7 million of avoided taxation has been recovered.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on imports into the EU of footwear with uppers of leather made in China and Vietnam. These 16.5% and 10% duties were agreed one day before provisional anti-dumping duties they replace were to lapse, because southern European countries seeking to protect their shoe-makers disagreed over duty levels with northern Europeans wanting cheap shoes for their citizens.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has warned of a continued surge in counterfeits of perfumes and cosmetics entering the European Union (EU), with 694,633 fake products seized by customs officials last year. That said, this actually represents a fall in numbers from 2004, being 89% of the number seized in that year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

VIETNAM will hope its November approval of accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will improve the access to overseas markets enjoyed by its clothing and textile exporters. Membership means that Vietnam and its trading partners have promised to keep their mutual clothing and textile trades unimpeded by restrictive quotas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

VIETNAM will be hoping that the approval this week of its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will improve the access to overseas markets enjoyed by its clothing and textile exporters. Membership means that Vietnam and its trading partners have promised to keep their mutual clothing and textile trades unimpeded by restrictive quotas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it will spend Euro 28.3 million on research to fight bird flu, which remains a threat to European Union (EU) environmental health. The studies will examine the flu’s microbiological mode of attack, human and livestock vaccine development, better diagnosis and early warning systems.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE LAST minute decision to impose European Union (EU) anti-dumping duties on shoes exported from China and Vietnam has been savaged at the European Parliament. Leading MEPs from the key socialist and liberal groups denounced the move as folly, although the parliament will not be able to reverse the decision.…

BY STEVEN SWINDELLS, in Johannesburg

SOUTH African retailers have been warned by their government that they could be guilty of "treason" if they try to get around quotas placed on Chinese clothing and textile imports.

The bizarre and disconcerting warning from Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka came after leading retailers warned that an imminent cap on Chinese textile imports would force them to import alternative supplies from other foreign producers – including those in Vietnam, Bangladesh and eastern Europe – whose goods are cheaper than local manufacturers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN business leaders, led by high end footwear manufacturers, are calling on European Union (EU) member states to resist Mediterranean country pressure to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on shoes from Vietnam and China. In a joint letter to governments, EU shoe manufacturers, retailers and distributors are pushing for the rejection of a compromise proposal from current EU president Austria, which would impose duties for 12 months, with an option to renew over five years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DETAILS of a comprehensive plan to mitigate environmental and social problems caused by a planned Vietnam fluorspar (and tungsten) open cast mine have been released by the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which is expected to support the project.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DETAILS of a comprehensive plan to mitigate environmental and social problems caused by a planned Vietnam tungsten and fluorspar open cast mine have been released by the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which is expected to support the project.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE

INDONESIA’S paint and coatings industry continues to develop, with growth in sectors being led by increases in exports of furniture, and the introduction of new coatings products and systems.

Overall increased domestic demand for paints and coatings in Indonesia has led some companies to expand.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

The Brussels plan to impose anti dumping duties on shoes imported into the EU from China and Vietnam has sharply divided EU governments with as many as ten of the 25 member states voting against it in the EU’s anti-dumping committee this week.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FOOD producers and distributors in Vietnam are to receive assistance in raising their standards because of Euro 38 million lent by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Germany’s Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam Limited. This money will finance the construction of wholesale stores in five main Vietnamese cities: Can Tho, Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Hanoi, Haiphong and Da Nang.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FOOD producers and distributors in Vietnam are to receive assistance in raising their standards via Euro 38 million lent by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Germany’s Metro Cash and Carry Vietnam Limited. This money will also help finance the construction of stores in Can Tho, Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Hanoi, Haiphong and Da Nang.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

A PROPOSAL by the European Union (EU) trade commissioner Peter Mandelson to impose provisional anti-dumping duties of 19.4 % on imported leather shoes from China and 16.8% on those from Vietnam has sparked protests from the Chinese Leather Association (CLA), caused concern among EU retailers and importers, while bringing uncertainty into the global leather market.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

European Commission officials confirmed today (Monday) that anti-dumping duties of around 20% on leather shoes from China and other Asian countries will be proposed this week. The move follows close monitoring by Brussels of sales from China and Vietnam over the past 12 months which found there was an average subsidy of 8.5 Euros per pair of shoes.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

EUROPEAN Union (EU) trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has formally proposed slapping anti-dumping duties on imports of leather footwear from China and Vietnam into the EU. He said the European Commission had found "compelling evidence" that shoes from these two countries were being sold at below production costs which is against world trade rules.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

European Commission officials confirmed today (Monday) that anti-dumping duties of around 20% on leather shoes from China and other Asian countries will be proposed this week. The move follows close monitoring by Brussels of sales from China and Vietnam over the past 12 months which found there was an average subsidy of 8.5 Euros per pair of shoes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Commission trade officials in Brussels have confirmed that the European Union (EU) may exempt sports trainers from possible anti-dumping duties against Vietnam footwear exports, now under investigation. The official told just-style.com: "We’re considering an exemption in this case; that’s a scenario we have put to member states, (European) producers and other interested parties."…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, in Taipei

TAIWAN’S leading expert on transmissible diseases, Dr. Mei-Shang Ho, says that she is reasonably confident that the national surveillance system she helped design “will be able to catch anything which comes along” regarding threats to the island’s current bird flu status, despite being in the region where the disease is most common.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SOAP supplies companies paid together hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in kickbacks to the toppled Saddam regime, the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Iraq Oil for Food programme scandal has claimed. There were 101 (mostly toilet) soap suppliers, from countries largely from the Middle East and east Asia, named in a report paying Iraq to secure humanitarian supply contracts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of certain stainless steel fasteners and associated parts (bolts, nuts, etc) from Taiwan (23.6%), China (27.4%), Indonesia (24.6%), Thailand (14.6%) and Vietnam (7.7%), with lower duties for some companies cooperating with a European Commission inquiry into the problem.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SOAP supplies companies paid together hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in kickbacks to the toppled Saddam regime, the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Iraq Oil for Food programme scandal has claimed. There were 101 (mostly toilet) soap suppliers, from countries largely from the Middle East and east Asia, named in a report paying Iraq to secure humanitarian supply contracts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed imposing definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of certain stainless steel fasteners and associated parts from Taiwan (23.6%), China (27.4%), Indonesia (24.6%), Thailand (14.6%) and Vietnam (7.7%). Stainless steel products covered are wood screws, self-tapping screws, screws and bolts without heads of stainless steel, slotted and cross-recessed screws, hexagon socket head screws and hexagon bolts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EXPORTS in Hong Kong have warned that the human H5N1 strain of avian flu detected in northern Vietnam this year has proved resistant to Tamiflu, the commercial brand of oseltamivir, the powerful antiviral drug considered the best chance of fighting the disease, especially if human-to-human transmission arose.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE RISK of bird flu entering the European Union (EU) is becoming increasingly likely, with the European Commission banning imports of live birds and untreated feathers from Turkey, after a suspected outbreak in this country straddling Europe and Asia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LONDON-based oil and gas exploration and production company SOCO International will be lent up to US$45 million by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help finance its investments in emerging markets, particularly Vietnam and Yemen. SOCO wants to help stem Yemen’s declining oil production, and help Vietnam secure more market-based foreign direct investment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned major international donors have given only 20% of the money needed to control bird flu in poultry and animals before the epidemic spreads again this winter. The FAO wants mass vaccination campaigns in east Asian countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where the disease is most entrenched and from where a global epidemic is most likely to spring.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned major international donors have given only 20% of the money needed to control bird flu in poultry and animals before the epidemic spreads again this winter. The FAO wants mass vaccination campaigns in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend German retail giant Metro Euro 40 million to build five junior wholesale cash and carry stores in Vietnam. They would cover between 6,000 and 9,000 square metres in sales area and would mirror the small cash and carry format that has proved particularly successful for Metro in eastern and southern Europe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ASSOCIATION of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed how its member governments should cooperate in the event of a major disaster, such as another Tsunami or earthquake. The international organisation, which includes such major countries as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, has approved a comprehensive deal that lays down how they should mitigate disaster damage, reducing the insurer payouts in a region increasingly interested in insurance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MINES and minerals ministers of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed wide-ranging cooperation plans to promote their respective mining sectors. At the first of a series of ministerial meetings, (in Sarawak, Malaysia), an ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan (AMCAP) 2005-2010, containing 19 actions was approved.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MINERALS and mines ministers of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed wide-ranging cooperation plans to promote their respective mining sectors. At the first of a series of ministerial meetings, (in Sarawak, Malaysia), an ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan (AMCAP) 2005-2010, containing 19 actions was approved.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
FIGHTING money laundering is about getting your hands dirty. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) may pronounce global standards that it would like jurisdictions to follow, but all governments need help, and often regional bodies are better placed to do the detailed work than more remote global organisations.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
A RECENT USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report has found many online pharmacies declaring they are based in Canada, selling cheap drugs under local liberal medicine sales laws, are actually based in the US or outside North America, in Vietnam and the Czech Republic, for instance.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
A RECENT USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report has found many online pharmacies declaring they are based in Canada, selling cheap drugs under local liberal medicine sales laws, are actually based in the US or outside North America, in Vietnam and the Czech Republic, for instance.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
SINGAPORE’S economy is rejuvenating after the horrors of early 2004 when the threat of terrorism (both internationally and closer to home in South East Asia), and then the SARS virus hit the city state hard, shrinking demand for construction and hence the amount of money to be made by the coatings sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Commission trade officials in Brussels have confirmed that the European Union (EU) may exempt sports trainers from possible anti-dumping duties against Vietnam footwear exports, now under investigation. The official told just-style.com: "We’re considering an exemption in this case; that’s a scenario we have put to member states, (European) producers and other interested parties."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A BAN on imports into the European Union (EU) on poultry meat or poultry from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Malaysia has been extended until this September, because of concerns that bird flu is still present in these countries.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, in Taipei

TAIWAN’S leading expert on transmissible diseases, Dr. Mei-Shang Ho, says that she is reasonably confident that the national surveillance system she helped design "will be able to catch anything which comes along" regarding threats to the island’s current bird flu status, despite being in the region where the disease is most common.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FORMAL decision has been taken by the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers to abolish all remaining textile and clothing import quotas for World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries from January 1. It means 210 quotas affecting exporters from Argentina, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand will go.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
VIETNAM has promised the EU to cap its import tariffs at an average of 22% for fishery products and 24% for other agricultural goods in a deal over Hanoi’s future membership of the World Trade Organisation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SUSPENSION of chicken product imports into the European Union (EU) of chicken products and birds from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, China, South Korea and Vietnam will remain until March 31, 2005. The extension, (from December), of the bird flu ban was confirmed by the EU’s Standing Committee for the Food Chain and Animal Health.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SUSPENSION of chicken product imports into the European Union (EU) of chicken products and birds from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, China, South Korea and Vietnam will remain until March 31, 2005. The extension, (from December), of the bird flu ban was confirmed by the EU’s Standing Committee for the Food Chain and Animal Health.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EU import bans of poultry products from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, China, South Korea and Vietnam have been extended to December 15 by the European Commission over continuing bird flu concerns.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IMPORT bans into the European Union (EU) of poultry products (and poultry) from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, China, South Korea and Vietnam have been extended to December 15 by the European Commission. The existing restrictions were to expire on August 15, but Brussels is still concerned about bird flu in these countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for human flu vaccines to be given to all poultry slaughterhouse workers, following the reemergence of bird flu in three Asian countries: Vietnam, China and Thailand. The FAO said research showed the virus was more widespread than previously thought and was unlikely to be “eradicated soon”.…