Nearly 1,200 garment factories in Bangladesh shut shop in the last four years due to lack of compliance and being left behind in the competitive environment, according Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Siddiqur Rahman, who expects some more factories to close soon as those are unable to make profits. Garment products from the country have been losing competitiveness due to longer lead time, poor productivity and poor global demand, Bangladesh media

The Indian commerce ministry is reportedly working on a new export incentive scheme for merchandise shipments compliant with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to replace the merchandise exports from India scheme (MEIS), under which exporters of goods avail of incentives and duty benefits depending on product and country. It could be named ‘rebate of levies’. The step assumes significance as the United States has complained to the WTO against India over export subsidies, claiming these incen

India’s goods exports fell by 2.15 per cent year-on-year to $27.95 billion in September after a positive run between April and August. The decline is hoped to be temporary, owing to a high-base effect. Imports saw a rise of 10.45 per cent to $41.9 billion during the month, bringing down the trade deficit to $13.98 billion, according to commerce ministry data. In the first six months of the current fiscal, exports posted a growth of 12.5 per cent in dollar terms. Imports grew 16.1 per cent, a

Cameroon’s national cotton development company Sodecoton will announce the final results of its transgenic cotton trials by this year end. Started in a controlled environment in 2012 and in the open in 2015, the trials will soon conclude. In 2015, Sodecoton had launched public consultations in the far north to seek producers’ views on transgenic cotton. Sodecoton targets 260,000 tonnes of cotton in 2018 and plans to raise this ten-fold in the coming years through the introduction of transgen

Egyptian minister for the public enterprise sector Hisham Tawfiq recently announced that a comprehensive development plan for state-run spinning and weaving companies is being formulated that will be implemented over three years. The plan includes development of the cotton spinning companies through weaving, dyeing and processing, he said. Tawfiq said this while visiting the Misr Spinning & Weaving Company in al-Mahalla al-Kubra City under state-run Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning,

Myanmar’s ministry of labour, immigration and population has asked garment units in the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone to set up assessment centres so that workers can receive skill certificates from the National Skills Standards Authority. Skill assessment will improve the quality of factory products and brands, authority president U Win Shein said. Out of the estimated 500,000 garment workers, only 1,831 have skill certificates from the authorit, according to a report in a Myanmarese newsp

Courtesy: Lenzing Lenzing has announced the launch of the new Veocel Lyocell fibre with eco disperse technology which is designed for use in flushable wipes. This new fibre demonstrates enhanced biological disintegration performance. The inclusion of the fibre enables more diverse design opportunities while providing exemplary wet strength and disintegration performance. Versatile and tailor-made for daily care routines, the new Veocel Lyocell fibre with Lenzing’s eco disperse technology of

Courtesy: Amazon Amazon has announced an initiative to generate renewable energy by installing solar panels on its fulfilment centres across the UK, with an installed capacity of 20MW. Amazon expects the solar panels to generate the equivalent amount of electricity required to power over 4500 UK homes and will reduce its carbon footprint by 6000 tonnes of CO2 annually. Amazon has also signed a deal for 100 per cent renewable electricity to power its UK buildings. The electricity will be fully

Courtesy: Made-By A buyer is being sought for the intellectual property assets of Made-By Label UK Limited, by liquidator Brian Baker of Kingston Smith & Partners LLP, the corporate recovery and insolvency arm of top 20 accountants Kingston Smith LLP. Made-By has worked with many of the top fashion brands including Hugo Boss, Ted Baker, Tommy Hilfiger, G-Star and others. The award-winning global not-for-profit organisation, Made-By, which acts to improve environmental and social conditio

Courtesy: Pexels In the six-month April -September mini budget this year, earnings from export of cut-make-pack (CMP) garments in Myanmar was around $2.2 billion, which was around $1 billion more than the figure in the same period last year, according to the commerce ministry. The European Union (EU) had doubled its order for Myanmar's CMP garments this year. The EU order was worth about $90 million last year compared to $180 million this year, said Khaing Khaing Nwe, secretary of Myanmar G