Search Results for: Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s globally important knitwear sector is facing a multifaceted crisis as work orders are falling, political instability and related diplomatic pressure is soaring, while the industry struggles to diversify its output as calls intensify for it to increase workers’ salaries. 

At the heart of the crisis are concerns that the country’s is losing ground in key Western markets.…

Kenya is being opened as a potential outsourcing centre for European Union (EU) knitwear brands by a new EU-Kenya Economic Partnership agreement, now being considered for ratification by the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament (1). Once implemented, the deal will remove 12% and 9.6% EU duties charged on many knitted apparel exports from Kenya, potentially boosting a knitted apparel and accessory trade, growing in recent years.…

The textile and clothing industries of the European Union (EU) and India are closely monitoring negotiations to forge a free trade agreement (FTA), making steady progress since being relaunched last year (2022). Detailed talks were staged in New Delhi between June 17 and 23 (2023), with the EU seeking to reduce tariff barriers for India’s often protected market of 1.4 billion people.…

Chinese textile and clothing manufacturers are increasingly relying on Egyptian cotton, over the past two seasons becoming Egypt’s second largest buyer of cotton, driven by the US ban on Xinjiang cotton, competitive pricing, and strong demand for luxury fibres.

“China has always been a player in Egyptian cotton, but they were never on top of the list.…

Bangladesh has struggled to rebuild its reputation as an ethical sourcing location since the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster, so the murder of Bangladeshi union leader Shahidul Islam on June 25 has sparked concern within the country’s important clothing export sector.

Shahidul was Gazipur unit president of Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF), a prominent trade union, who lost another comrade named Aminul Islam to a violent and murderous attack in 2012.…

Sri Lanka’s inflation may be slowing compared to last year (4% in August, down from 64.3% year-on-year), (1) but the country’s clothing sector is still being hit by a lack of orders, the country’s industry body the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) has told Just Style.…

Tunisia’s clothing and textile sector driven ahead with its near-sourcing export promotion, despite the political turmoil facing the country, where President Kais Saied has since 2019 suspended parliament, dismissed governments, imprisoned opposition leaders, undermining judicial independence and helped fuel anti-refugee and migrant violence.…

Research and development has been making major progress in the handling of limp objects such as fabric – a key challenge to the automation of the clothing industry. However, the clothing industry is still far from widely adopting robots, as a range of technical and economic realities are still working against these technologies.…

This year, tens of thousands of workers have been laid off by footwear production factories in and around Ho Chi Minh City, the centre of Vietnam’s USD24 billion footwear export industry.

Fo example, Pou Yuen Vietnam, a Taiwanese supplier for global giants including Adidas and Reebok, let go 5,744 employees through June and July, following a round of layoffs impacting 2,358 workers in February. …

Bangladesh is exploring offshore wind power as a key solution for a country seeking energy diversification, but whose dense population restricts land availability for renewable power. In July (2023), a USD1.3 billion investment offer in Bangladesh’s wind power energy from Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a leading green infrastructure fund manager, working with offshore wind developer Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) has boosted this south Asian country’s renewable energy ambitions (1).…