The National Board of Revenue on Wednesday lowered tax at source on export of all items for the next 14 months. The revenue board issued a statutory regulatory order reducing the tax at source on export of readymade garment items to 0.30 per cent from 0.80 per cent and that on export of non-apparel items to 0.60 per cent from 0.80 per cent. The waiver will remain effective up to June, 2015, the SRO signed by NBR member Syed Aminul Karim said. According to the SRO, exporters of knitwear

The European project ‘TEX-MED Clusters’, which aims to improve the global competitiveness of the textile and clothing industry in the Mediterranean countries, was recently launched at the Technopole Monastir Science and Technology Park, in the Tunisian city of Monastir, reports TAP news agency. The project, funded under the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) Cross Border Cooperation (CBC) in the Mediterranean (MED) countries, also known as the ‘Mediterranean Sea Basin Pr

Brazil’s Mato Grosso state is likely to end cotton year 2013-14 with a 58.2 percent rise in inventory compared to the last season, according to a press release issued by the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (IMEA). Between July 2013 and June 2014, Mato Grosso would have a total raw cotton supply of 1.011 million tons, about 13.9 percent more than the last season, says the IMEA report on cotton supply and demand estimate in Mato Grosso for 2013-14 season. The closing stock of

The Long An Provincial People’s Committee has approved in principle Huafa Company (Hong Kong) last week to invest in a coloured spinning plant (including cotton dyeing, spinning) in Thuan Dao Extension Industrial Zone (Long Dinh commune, Can Duoc District). The plant, which covers 20ha, has total investment capital of US$136 million. This project aims to build a cotton dying and coloured spinning plant to produce high quality fibre to meet domestic and export demand. Source: VNS

Despite its venerable position on the fashion scene, the French apparel and footwear market has not escaped the country’s poor macroeconomic environment, with value sales contracting by 1.3 percent in 2013. Against this challenging backdrop, price polarisation has become salient. While high tourist inflows have kept the luxury segment afloat, domestic consumers are driving growth at the economy end of the market. Penny-pinching pushes prices down French consumers have become increasingly c

The exports of textiles and apparel from Pakistan increased by 7.99 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of the financial year 2013-14 that began on July 1, according to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Pakistan exported textiles and garments worth US$ 10.384 billion in July-March 2013-14, compared to exports of $9.616 billion made during the corresponding period of 2012-13, PBS data showed. While most of the categories showed improvement, exports of c

Apparel makers have demanded duty-free import of safety equipment required for making their factories safe and environment-friendly ones. The demand was made at a press conference held at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Saturday. “The import of sprinkler, fire door and other safety and environment-friendly equipment should be made duty-free ones. We’re requesting the government to take steps to that end,” BGMEA President M Atiqul Islam said. He

Bangladesh is well known for producing low-priced apparel items across the world. But just being price competitive is not enough to win the hearts of the European consumers, especially after the fire at Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza building collapse that took the lives of at least 1,247 workers and injured more than 2,000. The local clothing sector requires continual improvements to ensure workplace safety and better living conditions to avert the risks of losing customers in Europe. Mi

Vietnam earned EUR268.5 million from shipping 27.7 million pairs of shoes to Spain last year, ranking it second among footwear suppliers to this South European nation. Spanish Footwear Producers Federation (FICE) statistics show Vietnamese footwear exports to Spain increased 11% in volume, but decreased 1.1% in value compared to 2012’s figures. Over the years, Vietnam has been one of Spain’s leading footwear exporters, second only to China, except for 2011. Last year, Spain imported 329

Scores of foreign invested enterprises in the textile and garment sector are looking to expand their presence in Vietnam, the Vietnam Investment Review said. In late April or early May, Venture International JSC from the Netherlands plans to start construction on a new factory in the central province of Nghe An. The 10 million USD factory has a designed capacity of 150,000-210,000 jackets and 2 million shirts a year, and would provide jobs to about 1,000 workers. Venture dropped anchor