Bangladesh is missing out on the opportunity to earn foreign currency from the export of diversified jute products, industry players said.India, on the other hand, is taking advantage of this opportunity by investing in new mills and research and development in line with global demand, they added. “A ban on the use of plastic bags in different countries — from the US to Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia — has opened new opportunities to export diversified jute products,” said Rashedul Karim

Despite a sizeable leather shoe exporting country, domestic producers still heavily depend on material imports as they fail to find out quality supplies in the nation. Lien Anh Co. Ltd. in Binh Duong Province has suffered a damage of US$100,000 for importing a batch of substandard leather. However, it still has to import another leather batch for production as domestic material supplies have poor quality. Depending on material imports is not a wise solution, so the enterprise has plans to

The European Union (EU) is hoping to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Vietnam as early as by late 2014, European Commission (EC) Vice President Antonio Tajani has said, according to a statement from the Vietnam’s Embassy in Belgium. Mr. Tajani said this during his meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Ha Noi earlier this month, the statement said. Mr. Dung said he was delighted at the developments in the bilateral ties between the EU and Vietnam, as the two-way tr

H&M, the world's second-largest retailer, said Monday it plans to pay 850,000 textile workers a living wage by 2018. Above, an H&M store in Germany. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg / October 1, 2013) Swedish clothing retailer H&M on Monday said it is developing a plan to ensure about 850,000 textile workers earn a "living wage" by 2018. Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second-largest clothing retailer, said it will begin its pay strategy with three factories -- two in Bangladesh an

Releasing the apparel exports data for the month of October 2013, Dr A Sakthivel Chairman AEPC stated, “Apparel exports were to the tune of USD 1190 million in October 2013-14 with increase of 30.91 per cent against the corresponding month of last financial year. In rupee terms, the exports have increased by 53.3 per cent in Oct. 2013-14 over the same month of previous FY.” Export in dollar terms for April-Oct. of the FY 2013-14 has increased by 15.5 per cent over the same period of previous

Bangladeshi garment workers returned to their factories Thursday, where they stitch clothes for Western retailers, after the prime minister demanded an end to days of protests over a new minimum wage. "All the plants have reopened today and the workers have joined duty," said Reaz-Bin-Mahmood, a vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, which presents 4,500 factories. "We hope the worst part is over, but now we have to make up for lost time," Mahmood

Footwear has turned out to be one of Viet Nam’s leading exported items, making its presence in many markets all over the world, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. According to the General Department of Viet Nam Customs, export value of footwear surged from US$6.55 billion in 2011 to US$7.26 billion in 2012. Of the figure, US$1.7 billion came from domestic enterprises and the remaining US$5.56 billion were made by FDI enterprises. As by October 15, footwear export value reache

M&G Chemicals announces today its decision to construct a second-generation bio-refinery in the region of Fuyang, Anhui Province of China for the conversion of one million metric tons of biomass into bio-ethanol and bio-glycols. The project is expected to be realized through a joint-venture with Chinese company Guozhen which will make available one million metric tons of straw biomass and use the lignin resulting as a by-product from the bio-refinery to feed a 45 MW cogeneration plant wh

Some 50 people, including three firefighters and cops, were injured in clashes erupted after thousands of Bangladesh garment workers attacked a fire station in Savar on the outskirts capital Dhaka on Sunday morning. Eyewitnesses said the unruly workers vandalized 10-12 vehicles. The workers went berserk following a brawl with some firemen, they said. According to police and eyewitnesses, a bus carrying garment workers of factory rammed in to a footpath in front of the fire service offic

The textile exports from the country increased by 7.55 percent during the first four months of current fiscal year against the exports of same period of last year. On year-on-year basis, textile exports during October 2013 increased by 0.40 percent when compared to the exports of October 2012. The overall textile exports during July-October (2013-14) were recorded at $4.69 billion against the exports of $4.361 billion during July-October (2012- 13), according to Pakistan Bureau of Statisti