A programme aimed at promoting and supporting sustainable production of garments in Myanmar was launched at the first-ever meeting of the EU-Myanmar Task Force, held in Yangon. The ?2 million SMART Myanmar project aims to boost competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by building their capacity and increasing their skills and knowledge in partnership with local organizations, Myanmar Times reported. The 3-year (2013-2015) SMEs for Environmental, Accountability, Responsibility

Vying for a bigger share of the Vietnamese market, Indian cotton textile companies met with Vietnamese businesses yesterday in HCM City to promote the benefits of enhanced trade. At the meeting were representatives from more than 20 companies from India, one of the biggest cotton textile manufacturers in the world. Manikam Ramaswami, chairman of India's Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, said that in most markets the council had been able to reach a respectable level of trade fairly

India has gained high bilateral trade turnover in the garment industry with most countries, but its textile trade value with Vietnam remains low. The President of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (Texprocil), Manikam Ramaswami, made the statement at an exchange between Vietnamese and Indian textile makers in Ho Chi Minh City on February 18. Ramaswami said Indian cotton textile only accounted for 1.59%, cotton fibre for 16.5% and cotton fabric for 0.58% of

Workers at the Duc Giang Garment Corporation's Factory 4 back to work after the Lunar New Year holiday (photo: Thanh Chuong) Vietnam’s textile industry has targeted export revenue between US$22-23 billion in 2014 as it expects to benefit from a global economic recovery, increased demand for clothing and an enhanced production capacity. Output acceleration Output and export acceleration in the textile industry has been seen from the first days of 2014. After the Lunar New Year holiday,

Labor federation Trade Union Congress of the Philippines welcomes the move by Senate and House of Representatives to support a bill that raises the tax exemption ceiling on 13th month pay, bonus and other worker’s benefits. TUCP Director for Education Rafael Mapalo said if the current tax ceiling on those extra income mentioned is amended, it would result in bigger take home pay for current minimum wage earners. However, he said the government must also look at improving the daily wage rate.

In January, according to Customs, export value of apparel totaled 110.56 billion Yuan, 13.4% up over the month; textile export value totaled 64.44 billion Yuan, 11.7% up over the month. During recent two years, most domestic textiles adjusted product structure, put effort on R&D, and improve administration level to respond to the economy slow down, RMB appreciation and large cotton price domestic and abroad. In January, textile export remained at high level, and the finished product inventor

Shandong Ruyi Technology Group Co Ltd, one of the top ten Chinese enterprises in the textile industry involved in textile and clothing, cotton textile, cotton printing and dyeing, knitting, fiber, and jeans, is going to buy 80 percent stake in Huddersfield, UK-based Taylor & Lodge, reports Yorkshire Post. The remaining 20 percent share in the company would be owned by British firm Bulmer & Lumb Group, according to the report. Taylor & Lodge is reputed for producing finest luxur

Allocation for skill development and integrated textile parks has gone up in the interim budget presented by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday. Textile industry sources here told The Hindu that the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (which has given a boost to modernisation of the textile industry) had an allocation of Rs. 2,300 crore last year. It was revised to Rs. 1,956 crore later. For 2014-15, the allocation is Rs. 2,400 crore. In the case of skill development, the bu

Department of Environment on Monday fined 42 dyeing and washing factories in Dhaka district Tk 1.26 crore for polluting the water of the Buriganga River. After a hearing at DoE’s Dhaka headquarters, its director (monitoring and enforcement) Mohammad Alamgir fined the factories for operating without effluent treat plants (ETPs) which led to the discharging of huge effluents into the river. The DoE ordered the representatives of the factories to immediately install ETPs and the failure of wh

Safety experts hired by Western retailers such as H&M and Benetton will begin a mass inspection Wednesday of clothing factories in Bangladesh, nearly a year after 1,135 garment workers died in a building collapse. Dozens of fire officers and structural engineers will begin inspecting more than 1,500 plants and then recommend safety improvements in an exercise that is expected to last until September. Bangladesh is the world's second biggest clothing manufacturer and the sector is the m