The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on November 15 jointly held a conference in Hanoi on the forthcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the engagement of Vietnam in the deal. MoIT Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Khanh, head of the Vietnamese delegation at the TPP negotiations, highlighted opportunities and challenges that Vietnamese businesses will face when the country signs the deal, while offering some proposals to make full use of the

The weather will always have an effect on retail and this year the long summer, which continued into autumn, saw sales volumes drop 0.7 percent in October. The mild weather has made it more difficult for retailers to shift winter clothing, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS). Despite the fall in sales, general volumes of clothing are still up 1.8 percent over last year, pointing to an economic recovery and greater consumer confidence. Retail sector is 5 percent of UK economy T

The Brazilian Government is examining the possibilities of creating a differential tax regime for textile and clothing sector of the country, especially in terms of the key proposal to include a ‘layette kit’, consisting of 39 products, which include bed, bath and home textiles, among the benefits of the federal program ‘Minha Casa Melhor’ (My Better House), one of the initiatives undertaken by Brazilian President Dilma Roussef, announced president of the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Developm

China's stable economic development in October strengthened economists' expectations of a "happy ending" to the year, with industrial and service sectors progressing amid moderate inflation. The National Bureau of Statistics reported on Saturday that October's industrial output reached 10.3 percent compared with 10.2 percent in September. The increase was higher than the market had expected and was led by manufacturing, which increased 11.4 percent from a year earlier. Retail sales of cons

Clothing giant H&M is testing the garment production waters by entering into exclusivity agreements with factories in Cambodia and Bangladesh, according to a report from Bloomberg News yesterday. This means that Sweden-based H&M would buy all of the factory’s output. H&M, it seems, would still be free to source from other producers in Cambodia. Anna Gedda, H&M’s social sustainability manager, told Bloomberg the initiative would allow the company to “try different things” o

India's cotton exports are expected to drop by 9 per cent to 9 million bales in the 2013-14 marketing year on sluggish demand and high prices compared to the global market, a report said. India had shipped 9.9 million bales in the 2012-13 marketing year (August-July), it added. One bale contains 170 kg of cotton. "The 2013-14 export estimate is unchanged at 9 million bales. Indian prices have been high relative to international prices over the past few months... Demand from China has also

Global demand for naphtha will expand faster than any other light products through 2020, spurred by rising needs of the petrochemical industry in Asia, as per the latest report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). According to the 7th edition of the annual World Oil Outlook 2013 report of OPEC, the naphtha use in the Asia-Pacific region will grow by 22 percent to 4.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in this period, with China accounting for more than a third of the increa

Cotton imports in Turkey has been on a continuous rise, owing to the absence of any measures against the import of cotton in the country, said Turkey Union of Chamber of Agriculture (TZOB) chairman, Shams Bayraktar. According to a statement issued from TZOB, the chairman said the country imported 613,000 tons of cotton in 2012, which is a 442.5 percent increase compared to the 113,000 tons of cotton imported in 1995. Mr. Bayraktar said the cotton sector is one of the most strategic sectors

Chairman AEPC Dr. A Sakthivel has welcomed the exports growth of 13.47% for the month of October 2013. Speaking on the export growth Dr. A Sakthivel stated that, “ With the stabilization of rupee and structural changes in the competing markets India’s garment exports has significantly improved, our performance is reflected in the stronger order book visibility for this season. "Our exports have also grown because of tapping of new markets like Middle East, Latin America, Japan, Russia and Aus

The BGMEA has taken all the necessary measures to send readymade garment products for shipment through Chittagong port. Arrangements for extra security on the highways for transportation of export goods to Chittagong during hartal got lukewarm response from apparel makers, who still do not dare to take products out of factories and send those to port by road. Despite the ongoing hartal, apparel makers have started sending goods from Dhaka to the Chittagong port with the help of a highway p