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Cambodia has launched the Cambodia Garment Training Center Institute (CGTI) for workers in the garment and textile industries to gain intensive skills for the development of productivity in the sector. The garment industry has been growing for decades and employs almost one million people while contributing to the country’s economic growth. With more than one million workers there are 1,168 factories and enterprises in Cambodia.
With a soft loan from the French Development Agency (AFD), CGTI has been built by the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia. Andrew Tey, Director of CGTI, points out Cambodia’s garment and footwear industry is facing many challenges and competition, while wages are set to be reviewed and will increase year-on-year, this requires better quality of production.
Right now Cambodia lacks a soft training institute, that’s why GMAC is pitching in to improve productivity. Else Cambodia will lose business to competitors countries like Vietnam, while Myanmar. The CGTI in cooperation with Singapore-based TaF.tc is providing Singaporean trainers and setting up courses for its first three years to train locals to become next batch of trainers.
Tey says the institute has already held its first class in mid-July, which comprised 43 students from three garment factories who are now working as assistant supervisors and team leaders
Cambodia feels the GSP granted by the US doesn’t go far enough. Cambodia has duty free and quota free status from the US for 82.6 per cent of its products. The country feels this does not cover products with potential which it can produce and export to the United States. Instead, Cambodia says its main products including luggage and leather goods are charged duty. It wants the United States to consider offering duty free preference to such commodities under a system that will ensure that Cambodia will truly benefit from exports to the US and have more market access to the US.
Improving working conditions in factories was one of the main criteria set by the US when it granted preferential trade treatment. And Cambodia says it has performed well in improving conditions of garment workers who are now paid decent salaries, allowing many families to get out of poverty. Cambodia’s garment and footwear sector exports rose by 7.2 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015. The country gets 100 per cent preference from Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland and 99 per cent preference from the EU under the Everything But Arms clause.
The Nitol-Niloy group of Bangladesh is keen to invest in the textile sector in India. The diversified group has business interests in automobile and engineering and is planning a spinning mill project in West Bengal to convert cotton into yarn, which will then be exported to Bangladesh for consumption by its large garment industry.
The group is eyeing a joint venture and an investment in the project of around Rs 300 crores. The group is also eyeing projects in the specialised garments segment with retail chains across the country. Among Bangladeshi investors, the Bashundhara Group plans to invest in a paper-based industry, while the Pran group, an FMCG leader in Bangladesh, has already started selling its products in eastern India.
Nitol-Niloy is developing a special economic zone in Bangladesh and eyeing investments from Indian companies. The SEZ will have around 80 to 100 plots spread across an area of 103 acres and the focus is on automobile assembly, ancillary industries as well as engineering equipment.
Indian industry has invested around $3 billion in Bangladesh. Leading players such as Tata Motors, Hero, Sun Pharma, Airtel and Aditya Birla Cement have invested in the country. Anil Ambani-run Reliance ADAG and the Adanis have announced plans to invest in the energy and port sectors. ONGC is set to invest in two shallow-water oil and gas blocks.
Bangladesh has created a fund for the garment industry which will be used to compensate workers or their children in case of injuries or death at the workplace. Garment factory owners have been urged to keep workers’ welfare in mind and give them a share of the annual profits as workers are the main instrument to keep their business operational.
Labor laws have been amended for the welfare of workers. Safety and security measures in garment industries and factories have been beefed up. Wages of workers in the readymade garment sector have been raised. Advance tax for readymade garment industries has been reduced to 0.70 per cent.
The income tax rate for green industries has been reduced to 10 per cent from 20 per cent, and 12 per cent from 20 per cent for other industries. The import tax on raw materials of prefabricated building and fire extinguishing equipment has been reduced to five per cent.
Bangladesh set a target of earning $50 billion from readymade garment exports by 2021. The readymade garment sector is vital for Bangladesh economy as it contributes immensely to the country’s export earnings, employment generation and value addition.
"As per Euromonitor International’s baseline scenario, global apparel sales are forecast to rise by $156 billion from 2016 to 2019 (measured in current prices), provided economic growth evolves. This essentially means that in three years, global sales are set to rise eight times the annual turnover of the world’s largest apparel corporation, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, which generated $19.8 billion in sales in 2016. However, global growth is unevenly distributed. Only six countries will account for two-thirds of the forecast global growth, namely China, the US, India, the UK, Russia and Mexico."
As per Euromonitor International’s baseline scenario, global apparel sales are forecast to rise by $156 billion from 2016 to 2019 (measured in current prices), provided economic growth evolves. This essentially means that in three years, global sales are set to rise eight times the annual turnover of the world’s largest apparel corporation, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, which generated $19.8 billion in sales in 2016. However, global growth is unevenly distributed. Only six countries will account for two-thirds of the forecast global growth, namely China, the US, India, the UK, Russia and Mexico. Furthermore, focusing on cities – i.e. at even more detailed geographic level – may further narrow the list of locations with the best potential for new stores. While the global apparel sales growth forecast is impressive, two-thirds of the total growth will take place in only six countries around the world, including four emerging markets.
Emerging cities with growth potential
Apparel retail sales in China are expected to rise by an impressive $60 billion over the forecast period. Focussing on key cities in China may help capture most of the growth at minimal costs. While China’s six megacities with over 10 million people account only for 7.2 per cent of country’s population, they will account for 19 per cent of total growth of consumer expenditure on clothing and footwear.
India’s growth outlook is also very promising. However, India is less urbanised in comparison to China and accessing significant share of the Indian apparel market would require coverage of a larger number of Indian cities. The six most rapidly growing cities in terms of consumer expenditure on clothing and footwear include Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad. However, all of them combined will account for only 10 per cent of total forecast growth of consumer expenditure in India. To capture one-fifth of the growth of apparel sales (which required being present in six major cities in China), investors would need to carry out activities in at least 40 major Indian cities.
Mexico and Russia are two other promising markets for apparel retailers. They rank among the fastest emerging markets for apparel, even if their total market size will grow by relatively modest terms in comparison to India or China – namely, $4-5 billion in each country over 2016-2019. Geographically, investment should be even more concentrated in Russia and Mexico in comparison to China or India. Both countries are dominated by their key megacities, Moscow and Mexico City, respectively, which will account for 31 per cent and 15 per cent of total consumer expenditure growth. Growth in Moscow, given the relatively stable forecast of the Ruble’s exchange rate, would be at par with major Chinese metropolitan areas in terms of expected consumer expenditure growth.
Patagonia has sued an e-commerce company called Dazzle Up for selling product through its Simply Southern brand that allegedly infringes on Patagonia's Fitz Roy trademark.
Patagonia has alleged that Dazzle Up’s brand, Simply Southern, has been selling tees with graphics that look like copies of the outdoor brand’s registered mark.
Patagonia is claiming trademark infringement and dilution. In its complaint, it alleges that consumers would be confused about the origin of the products being sold on Dazzle Up. Patagonia is protecting its mark which it claims has enormous goodwill among consumers both in the US and globally.
Patagonia originally put the Fitz Roy mark into use in the seventies when the company formed. It gained official protection in 1984 and has subsequently registered two updates to the mark in 1989 and 1993. Patagonia also holds a copyright to the image.
Patagonia further argues in its complaint that Simply Southern copied all elements of the Patagonia logo including the font. The complaint points out that even the intentional design elements in Patagonia's mark such as uneven spacing of the color bands and the silhouette of the mountains are copied in the Simply Southern graphic.
Patagonia is asking the court for an injunction to prevent further sales of the designs.
A report on the first half of 2017 by real estate consulting firm CBRE recently showed investments in India’s retail market by private equity firms and wealth funds touched $200 million.
During the first six months of the year there were 70 new entries or expansions by global and domestic brands across also seven new global brands entered India during the period, including apparel names like Kate Spade and Scotch & Soda.
The report also showed that India overtook China to top the Global Retail Development Index in 2017 with a market attractiveness of 63.4 per cent and retail sales of about $1 trillion.
Anshuman Magazine, CBRE’s India and South East Asia chairman mentioned that with several legislations and policies in implementation mode, there has already seeing an increase in consumer and investor confidence. This will have a cascading effect on the retail segment. Overall, retail real estate will continue to grow and witness healthy demand across tier I and II cities.
Many retail developments were completed across select cities and resulted in about 1.5 million square feet of fresh supply entering the market. Demand for quality retail space was strong during the first six months of the year with a majority of the supply concentrated in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.
According to the report the supply pipeline for the rest of the year is also healthy and is led by Hyderabad and Bengaluru, adding that demand for quality space will remain strong in the fast fashion, department store, sport and leisure segments.
Rental growth in most high streets across key cities will be limited since rents in these locations have already peaked and the completion of infrastructure initiatives will decide the rental trajectory for markets.
Most essential items are exempt from tax, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are in the 5 per cent tax bracket, restaurants are in the 18 per cent slab and some items–ranging from luxury cars to movie tickets priced over a certain amount–are in the higher 28 per cent bracket after there has been implementation of the goods and service tax (GST).
The International Labor Organisation (ILO) has launched the Global Commission on the Future of Work.
The organisation will work on a report examining the future of work, which intends to provide an analytical basis for the delivery of social justice and fairness.
The commission, composed of 28 members, including ILO director general Guy Ryder, and Philip Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union, will focus on the relationship between work and society, the challenge of creating decent jobs for all, the organisation of work and production, and the governance of work.
Members of the commission will produce a report to be submitted to the centenary conference of the ILO in 2019.
IndustriALL, a global player representing the interests of 50 million industrial workers in the world, welcomes the launch of the ILO initiative. It expects this initiative will help it on how to achieve fairness and justice especially in countries where workers’ conditions are still at the level of Industry 0.4 in terms of precarious working conditions.
Just Transition, a tool from the trade union movement aimed at securing jobs and livelihoods during the shift towards more sustainable production, is one of the answers to challenges faced by people of labor in the fast changing work environment.
Global footwear exports have witnessed 25 per cent growth in volume terms over the last 10 years, reaching 13.9 billion pairs, an increase of 78 per cent in sales terms, or $122 billion says the 2017 edition of the World Footwear Yearbook.
On the other hand, exports dropped in value and volume over the last two years. Since 2010 Asia, which remains the global leader in footwear exports, has seen exports fall 2 per cent while for the same period, Europe has gained three points and now accounts for 13.5 per cent of world exports. A trend, which potentially indicates, renewed interest in European production, lead by Italy, Spain and Portugal. China, meanwhile, still represents 67.35 per cent of global shoe exports, followed by Vietnam with 7.5 per cent of the market share.
As for imports, Asia has seen an increase of 5 per cent over the last 10 years. This figure sits just ahead of North America with 23.9 per cent of the import market. Accounting for 36.9 per cent of global imports, Europe remains the leading import market for shoes. However, country wise the United States accounted for 19.6 per cent of imports in 2016, a figure on the decline.
Finally, the average price of an export is $8.84, a decrease in price of 2.3 per cent. A decline over the last two years, which is partly due to a growing interest in sneakers and casual shoes, and a decline in leather footwear production, which are more expensive.
CENTRESTAGE, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), will be held from 6-9 September, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The event will feature more than 210 fashion brands from 22 countries and regions. About 40 fashion events will be staged, including CENTRESTAGE ELITES, the opening gala fashion show, some 20 fashion shows, as well as designer sharing sessions, an industry forum, trend forecast seminars and networking activities.
HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau noted that the inaugural CENTRESTAGE served to spotlight fashion brands and designer collections and reaffirmed Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s fashion capital. It was a delight that the first CENTRESTAGE received such widespread and enthusiastic support both at home and from overseas, says Chau and this year’s show will feature spectacular activities, attracting more than 210 fashion brands presenting designs from all over the world.
CENTRESTAGE will also host the finals of The Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest 2017 (YDC). Designers and guests who attended today’s preview included designers Fiona Lau and Kain Picken of Hong Kong brand, FFIXXED STUDIOS; Felix Chung, Chairman of the Steering Committee of Fashion Summit (HK) 2017; artiste Vincent Wong, other exhibiting designers, fashion brand representatives and partners.
In addition, the Knitwear Innovation and Design Society will organise the Knitwear Symphony 2017 and the seventh Hong Kong Young Knitwear Designers’ Contest, while the fashion environmental NGO Redress will stage the grand final show of The EcoChic Design Award 2017. The Hong Kong Footwear Design Competition, organised by the Federation of Hong Kong Footwear and co-organised by the HKTDC, will also uncover more local design talent during CENTRESTAGE.
CENTRESTAGE will become “OPENSTAGE” on 9 September, the closing day and it will welcome public visitors aged 12 and above free of charge. The event will allow members of the public the chance to experience this major international fashion event and to check out the latest designs from leading brands.
