A conclave on technical textiles was held in Coimbatore, April 24, 2019. The aim was to create awareness of the potential for technical textiles and attract more entrepreneurs to this growing sector. Entrepreneurs got first hand info about the industry and its potential. About 140 entrepreneurs from across the country took part in the event. The conclave provided the necessary inputs to plan for value addition or diversification. Eminent speakers from abroad, leading consultants, experts from DRDO, centers of excellence and TRAs and technical textile machinery manufacturers made presentations and interacted with delegates during the event.

The ability to add high value to products, create new, niche products and cater to the demands of sophisticated consumers makes players in this sector future champions of the textile industry. The growth of the technical textile industry in India has been rather slow, both in terms of manufacturing capabilities as well as the per capita domestic consumption of technical textiles. The Indian supply base has to grow tenfold to make some meaningful impact in the international arena.

The event was organised for the first time in Coimbatore to create awareness on the potential for technical textiles by the Indian Technical Textiles Association in association with the Indian Texpreneurs Association and the South India Mills Association.

Fashion companies constantly pressure Bangladesh’s garment suppliers to keep prices low and make clothing faster. This results in cost-cutting on safety and wages and mistreatment of workers. Fashion brands also fail to compensate factories for safety improvements. While factories have had to invest in safety measures, the prices they get have not gone up. As competing garment factories are pushed lower on price by global clothing brands, profit margins are squeezed and this leads to workers’ wages being cut or paid late, restricted break times, and rising production targets. This also leaves factories that had made safety improvements unable to compete or forced to push costs onto their workers by cutting wages.

Factories struggle to pay higher wages as they do not get a fair price from brands. In fact prices paid by brands have fallen despite big investments by factories to improve conditions after the Rana Plaza collapse. The collapse of the factory in April 2013 killed more than 1100 workers, placing scrutiny on major brands and sparking demands for better safety in the world’s second-largest exporter of readymade garments.

One way out is for factory owners to work together in order to push back against brands that make unreasonable demands and request ever-lower prices.

As per OTEXA’s recent import data, denim apparel exports from Bangladesh to the US declined by 5.81 per cent during the Jan-Feb’19 period. The country exported denim apparels worth $ 64.78 million as against $ 68.77, in the corresponding period last year.

Bangladesh’s export in skirts and jackets went up. The major revenue earning categories, men & boys (MB) jeans and women & girls (WG) jeans, noted a downfall. Exports of MB jeans declined by 2.57 per cent to $ 35 million, while those of WG jeans tumbled by 13.46 per cent to $26.40 million.

Thes drop in denim apparel export can impact Bangladesh as its competitor Vietnam grew significantly by 35.85 per cent during the same period to touch $ 50.13 million.

The gap between Bangladesh and Vietnam, particularly in denim exports, is shrinking. Last year the difference between export of both the countries hovered around $32 million, while, in first two months of 2019, it compressed to just $12.56 million which is not at all a good sign for Bangladesh denim industry.

Bangladesh denim expo will be held from May 2 to 3, 2019 and will host 63 exhibitors. Bangladesh Denim Expo celebrates the country’s role in shaping the denim scene today. The expo’s objective is to showcase Bangladesh’s growth potential in the denim industry. Bangladesh is well-known for denim and jeans production, for both niche and mass markets. Buyers respect Bangladesh’s ability to offer great margins and high-quality goods.

The theme of the show is circularity, a concept on which both the future of the planet and the textile industry depend. The garment industry is among the leading contributors to the rapid deterioration of the environment. A circular business model can only be achieved by instigating change in the whole process of the supply chain.

The Bangladesh fashionology summit will focus on digitalization and highlight how digital and technological advances are impacting the apparel industry and how the entire business must act to respond to this changing landscape. In a scenario constantly looking for sustainable solutions, technology and digitalization are an important part of how circularity can be further developed. During the event, a digital tech runway show will showcase fashion and tech outfits created by designers from all over the world.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations expects to conclude negotiations for Asia-wide trade deal involving 16 countries by November 2019 although it does not expect the deal to be signed by then. The targets for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, being negotiated among the 10-member ASEAN, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, were discussed in two days of talks among ASEAN economic ministers on the Thailand’s Phuket.

The ministers of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam agreed to finalise the protracted RCEP negotiations by the time. When the 16 RCEP nations' leaders met last November, they resolved to reach a final agreement within 2019, after missing a year-end deadline amid disagreements over tariffs and other politically sensitive issues. RCEP talks began in 2013 and the initial goal was to wrap them up in 2015.

Covering a third of the global economy, RCEP will be one of the world's largest free trade zones. It will help boost the economic growth of the region and support the plan of ASEAN to double intra-ASEAN trade in 2025 from 2017's figure of about $590 billion.

Adidas, Reebok and Patagonia are three of the most transparent fashion brands on the market, says the 2019 Fashion Transparency Index.

The index rates 200 of the world’s top brands with annual revenues of more than 500 million dollars. Almost half the brands are publishing a strategy on sustainable materials or processes, but only 29 per cent are disclosing the percentage of their products that are made from sustainable materials. Further, 54 per cent of fashion companies are publishing goals on improving their environmental impact. However, only 19.5 per cent disclose carbon emissions in the supply chain, which is responsible for more than 50 per cent of the industry’s emissions.

Several brands showed large improvement over last year’s survey. These include: Dior (22 per cent), Nike (21 per cent), New Balance (18 per cent) and Marc Jacobs (17 per cent). Brands are highlighted in the report for their willingness to publicly disclose a wide range of human rights and environmental policies, commitments and impacts, as well as key information about governance, supply chain traceability, supplier assessment and remediation. The 2019 index marks the first time since its inaugural publication in 2016 that brands have scored higher than 60 per cent on the transparency scale.

Archroma has entered a partnership with the National Textile University in Pakistan. The partnership will explore innovations in textile research with futuristic visualization to help the textile industry align with the fast pace of global requirements and evolutions. Another important aspect of this collaboration will be research in the field of unsaturated polyester resins in establishing quality and accessible product lines in non-conventional technical textiles. Both partners will jointly hold sessions to prepare students for the challenges of the textile industry through in-house training sessions, developmental projects, research in textile applications and process innovative methodologies by pioneering value additions. The partnership is expected to add value in the textile segment, from education to R&D development, and have an impact on textile research. NTU students will also be able to join internship placement programs at Archroma’s Center of Excellence in Karachi. The training, internships and working sessions are expected to benefit them in their career development. The National Textile University has already collaborated with Archroma on projects that involve the textile industry.

Archroma is a global leader in color and specialty chemicals toward sustainable solutions and believes in continuous improvement and challenging the status quo, leading to enhanced sustainable growth especially in its product lines that create value for stakeholders.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics will be held in China, September 25 to 27, 2019. Despite global trade concerns, the fair has proved itself time and time again as the ideal place to make valuable connections and capture new potential in the market. The fair’s international aspect welcomes opportunities from all around the world, while its location offers the chance to take advantage of China’s strong economy and apparel industry. There is a place for every apparel textile product at the fair. The spring edition in March saw a 15 per cent increase in visitor numbers.

The fair will host a comprehensive fringe program for visitors and exhibitors to enhance their trip with latest market information and opinions. Visitors can discover a new season of inspiration, for both international and domestic autumn/winter 2020-21 trends. Intertextile Apparel also aims to foster innovation and creativity at the China International Fabrics Design and Fabrics Creation Competition. The fringe program will also include seminars and panel discussions covering key industry topics, as well as product presentations from leading exhibitors. To meet flexible sourcing needs, the fair will offer a database of exhibitors offering small-order and product-in-stock services. The business matching program will arrange onsite meetings between exhibitors and VIP buyers, with interpreters available.

Risks to global economic growth are aplenty. A potential slowdown in China, trade wars, destabilization in the euro area, central bank liquidity traps and an unexpected rise in inflation are pointed out as the top five risks by asset managers. Most asset managers find the current global macroeconomic and investment environment to be slightly less supportive now than a year ago.

A global slowdown is imminent, feel experts. This bearishness isn’t surprising considering the deteriorating economic indicators across the world. The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) readings for developed economies present a disappointing picture. The American economy is fast losing momentum. What’s more, the new export orders components of manufacturing PMIs remain very weak. Clearly, this does not bode well for global trade. Global central banks are expected to come to the rescue in the event of a major downturn. Global policymakers are expected to respond to the next economic downturn with more monetary stimulus.

Despite the odds, global equities are drawing comfort from renewed optimism around the US-China trade deal. But sentiment may turn sour if the deal fails again. Also, an economic slowdown will become difficult to ignore for equity markets as it starts reflecting in global corporate earnings, hurting overall returns.

Pakistan organised the second edition of Textile Expo (TExpo) in Lahore from April 11 to 14. Hundreds businesspeople and foreign delegates from nearly 50 countries were invited to support market expansion plan. Through the exhibition, Pakistan expected to expand its exports to new markets, including Asian countries, mainly Japan and Indonesia.

Known as one of the biggest textile exporters, Pakistan plans to further expand its markets to the European countries, the United States and other Asian countries, including Indonesia. At present, the country exports most of its textile and garments to European countries and the US.

The world's fourth-largest cotton producer, Pakistan has the potential to become a leading nation in the textile business, although such potential has yet to be optimally explored, The country is the eighth-largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia, with exports growing to $13.85 billion in 2017-2018. The country aims to raise the figure to $26 billion by the end of 2019 by expanding into non-traditional markets such as Indonesia.

Pakistani textile products are considered to be of better quality compared to products from other countries. Many of the country's diaspora are also known for their involvement in running textile businesses in their respective countries.