Led by a pick-up in growth in India, which accounts for about 70 per cent of regional output, South Asia’s economic growth is set to reach a four-year high in 2015, according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 (WESP) report. According to the report, the average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of South Asia accelerated from 3.7 per cent in 2013 to 4.9 per cent in 2014, and is projected to strengthen further to 5.4 per cent in 2015 and 5.7 per cent in 2016, wi

Etur Textile, one of the largest textile factories operating in Ethiopia, located in Addis Ababa, is set to export its products to markets in Europe and US, according to Ethiopian media reports. According to Adil Basoglu, board member and executive director of Etur, the factory has fully embarked on production and it will soon start export into the larger overseas markets.Basoglu said the textile factory aims at becoming the biggest exporter in the country, and has plans to become more producti

The Rs 2 lakh-crore apparel sector is under strain, with prices of raw material falling sharply while demand is low. Organised retailers are currently sitting on three to four months of inventory and smaller ones are not able to pay manufacturers. Organised entities are prolonging their discount sale season, with inventories at a higher level than in a long while, with consumer spending not picking up after Diwali. Retailers have had to give big discounts (as much as 70 per cent) and were

C&A Textiles is set to make its share trading debut on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges today. The company, which raised Tk 45 crore through the initial public offering, will be the 38th firm to trade in Dhaka Stock Exchange's textile category, which accounts for around 5 percent of the total market capitalisation. The export-oriented knit composite textile company will float 4.5 crore ordinary shares of Tk 10 each to raise funds for machinery purchase, building construction an

Germany's textile machinery industry shows interest in tapping the huge Asean markets which are attractive because of the huge business potential inherent in the region besides focusing on China and India due to the sheer size of these two markets, said Elgar Straub, managing director of the German Machinery Manufacturers' Association. Germany's sewing and garment technology exports worldwide in 2013 amounted to 466.26 million euro (RM1.9 billion) and were the third largest supplier of sewing

Pakistan, the fifth largest global cotton grower and third largest exporter of raw cotton, is among the major growers of cotton in the world. Today, Pakistan is one of the largest exporters of cotton yarn and fourth largest consumer of cotton, which makes cotton crop significant for Pakistan’s economy. As environmental experts regard high carbon footprint of cotton a significant threat to the environment, as it’s a water intensive crop. Measures are being introduced to reduce high carbon footpri

Chinese demand is an important factor for determining market prices of raw cotton and lint. Due to a fall in Chinese demand, cotton prices have touched the minimum support price of Rs4050 a quintal in India, bringing tough times for Vidarbha farmers. According to the trade representatives attending the Textile Association-India (TAI) conference in Nagpur, Vidarbha cotton growers likely to face another year of recession as China, the major consumer of Indian cotton, plans to keep imports of th

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho has set to earn 118 million USD from selling garments abroad in 2015, up 2.7 percent over last year, thus bringing total exports of the city for the whole year to over 1.45 billion USD. As part of efforts to fulfil the goal, the city will raise the rate of domestic materials in garment products to 55 percent, while investing more in modernising garment production to increase quality of products, said Duong Nghia Hiep, Vice Director of the municipal Department

About 1,000 workers at a Takeo province garment factory who have been on strike since Monday are due to return to work today after negotiations between union representatives and the factory wrapped up successfully Tuesday. As workers rallied outside the gates of the Chinese-owned CS Gold Way Textile (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. on Tuesday morning, factory management agreed to all of their 29 demands with the exception of a $15 monthly transport allowance and $20 attendance bonus, which they set at $9

The number of covered vans carrying readymade garment products to the Chittagong port for shipment halved in the last 13 days due to a countrywide nonstop blockade being enforced by the BNP-led alliance. A survey conducted by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association showed that 3,480 covered vans transported RMG products to the Chittagong port for shipment under police protection in January 5-17, while 2,810 covered vans carried goods for the apparel sector from the port