Search Results for: United Nations

THE MUCH publicised talks to strike a south-south free trade agreement (FTA) between the world’s largest clothing and textile exporter, China, and upcoming niche outsourcer Sri Lanka is sparking intense debate about its potential impact.

While the secretary-general of Sri Lanka’s Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), Tuli Cooray, is upbeat about the proposed agreement, senior economists Dr Saman Kelegama and Dr Harsha de Silva have urged caution.…

KNITWEAR manufacturing is a complex as well as international business, so the development of detailed global, regional and national standards covering its production processes can be immensely helpful. They act as a transparent blueprint for good practice, having been developed by industry, regulatory and academic experts.…

THE CONFECTIONERY sector has long been interested in edible packaging – the use of rice paper to contain sherbet being a classic example – but food technology companies are innovating hard to allow companies to boast their products generate no packaging waste.…

IS IT possible to divine ‘golden rules’ that increase the likelihood of freezing order relief being granted and lessen the risk of scoring an own-goal when potential costs are compared with what may be recovered?

Fraud Intelligence asked Thomas K Sprange, a partner and Solicitor Advocate in the London office of international law firm King & Spalding and a member of the firm’s International Arbitration Group.…

More academic papers are now available for free than in paid-for peer reviewed journals, according to a study released yesterday (Wednesday) by the European Commission’s directorate general for research and innovation.

“This new research suggests that open access is reaching the tipping point, with around 50% of scientific papers published in 2011 now available for free,” Brussels said in a statement.…

BARACK Obama seems ready to accept an extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for another 15 years before it expires in 2015, but sub-Saharan African textile manufacturers might have mixed feelings.

African ambassadors in Washington DC have been under strict instructions from their governments to lobby the United States Congress to renew the law, forming an ambassadors’ AGOA working group led by Ethiopian ambassador Girma Birru.…

Pakistan’s textile industry has largely remained detached from the industry and the markets of its neighbour India and the hostile relations between the two nations improve, their textile industries stand to benefit immensely: “There could be a huge intra-industry trade between the two countries,” said Dr Pravakar Sahoo, associate professor at the Institute of Economic Growth at the University of Delhi.…

BANGLADESHI consumers have traditionally relied on unbranded meat from butcher shops—unmindful of hygiene and food safety. But a growing army of time-constrained, safety-conscious corporate workers are turning to superstores seeking ready-to-cook meat.

Practicing microbiologist Tasmin Aziz represents a new breed of white-collar executive, who finds little time to prepare protein-rich food herself.…

PAKISTAN meat sector executives believe their export sector is underperforming, failing especially to seize sales in affluent international halal markets.

With an estimated annual output of 2.2 million tonnes, Pakistan is the 19^th largest producer of meat in the world.…

THE DEMAND for lithium from large batteries designed to store and redistribute electricity from the grid could surge if a British pilot project proves a success. It involves building Europe’s largest lithium battery, at southern England’s Leighton Buzzard at a cost of British Pounds GBP13.2 million (USD20.4 million).…