FW
As Britain prepares to expand its commercial reach once it has left the European Union, the UK and South Korea are set to sit for regular trade talks with luxury brands a particularly promising topic. A working group of ministers from the two countries will meet as many as four times a year to discuss removing barriers to commerce and prospects for future, ambitious trade opportunities after the UK exits the EU, a British government statement read.
After Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to make the UK a leader in liberalising trade around the world. Yet the country is unable to strike its own free-trade deals or even being formal negotiations while still a member of the EU.
The pending talks with South Korea follow similar dialogues the UK has opened with Australia, China, the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, New Zealand and Norway in the six months since voters chose to leave the EU in a referendum. Trade and investment between the UK and South Korea is worth about 10.9 billion pounds ($13.6 billion) a year, according to British estimates. The UK is the fifth-largest foreign direct investor in South Korea. The same statement of the UK government read that South Korea is an especially promising market for luxury brands such as the Burberry Group that has 70 stores in the country and high-end automakers Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley.
Tapan Chowdhury, chairman of Square Group, has been re-elected as president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) for 2017 and 2018, the association said in a statement. The trade body also elected Mohammad Ali Khokon, managing director of Maksons Spinning Mills Ltd; Hossain Mehmood, managing director of Anwar Silk Mills Ltd; and Abdullah Al Mahmud, chairman of Mahin Group, as its vice presidents for the same period. The election took place at the association's 33 annual general meeting at Unique Trade Centre in Dhaka on December 24.
In its new 2016-2020 plan, China has said that it will encourage labour-intensive manufacturing industries located along the eastern coast to relocate inland. The government has also urged industries to develop the economy of its western region.
The country's cabinet, the State Council, approved the western development five-year plan last Friday, according to a notice published by China's official government. China's rapid economic development over the past four decades has been skewed heavily towards the eastern coast. Beijing has been trying to correct the imbalance not only in order to promote growth in politically crucial and energy-rich western regions such as Xinjiang and Yunnan, but also to ease environmental pressures in eastern regions, including the congested and polluted Yangtze and Pearl river deltas.
Prime minister, Li Keqiang, who chaired the cabinet meeting, said China would continue to implement measures aimed at reducing the tax burden in the west to cut the cost of doing business. He also maintained that the West must promote new forms of urbanisation and industrialisation and pay attention to protecting the environment, particularly its scarce water supplies, which have constrained development in large parts of the region.
DuPont Industrial Biosciences has been honoured by Henkel with the ‘Laundry & Home Care Sustainability Award’ for unparalleled enzyme technology. The award presented to DuPont’s Home & Personal Care business was announced at American Cleaning Institute’s Annual Meeting & Industry Convention, in Orlando, Florida. DuPont provided Henkel with a high-performance enzyme for best-in-class wash results in a wide range of detergents. DuPont’s enzyme technology outperformed all other products in the market as well as permitted Henkel to reduce the dose needed in their detergent formula.
Better-performing enzymes means fewer materials used, lower costs and less time needed in the production process of Henkel’s detergent. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum, Corporate Senior VP, R&D Laundry & Home Care at Henke said, “DuPont’s innovative enzyme technology exhibits superior efficiency at comparably low dosage. This saves material, time and money and is a perfect example for sustainability contribution.” William F. Feehery, President, DuPont Industrial Biosciences said, “Our goal is to offer innovative, bio-based solutions to meet the needs of a growing population, while protecting our environment for future generations. Advanced enzyme technology, applied to industrial processes and included in household products offers businesses and consumers unparalleled opportunities to reduce costs and save energy without compromising on performance.”
Asia Pacific dominates the textile printing worldwide. This region is anticipated to witness considerable market growth in the future mainly owing to financial stability and governmental support. Furthermore, Europe is the second largest market due to the rapidly developing industrial network.
Additionally, North America is moving forward to gain highest market value. Further, increasing disposal income of the people in this region will contribute to the market growth.
Emerging countries such as India and China will show significant growth in the textile printing globally in the near future. The demand by domestic people in India and China will contribute to the growth of the textile printing market.
Some of the major key competitors in the global textile printing market are Digitex India Inc., AM Printex, Dazian LLC, AGS Transact Technologies, JV Digital Printing, and Dickson Coatings. Other major players influencing the global market are Glen Raven, Inc., Mehler Texnologies, Fisher Textiles, Inc., and China Dyeing Holdings, Ltd.Textile printing is used to design or colour a fabric in a definite pattern.
Textile fiber binds the fibers together in order to reduce friction within fibers. Textile printing is associated with dyeing where the whole fabric is uniformly covered with single color. In order to use one or more colors, defined patterns are required.
Textile printing includes engraved plates, wooden blocks, rollers, stencils and others to color fabrics. Colorants include dyes that thickened color to avoid spreading through capillary action beyond the certain limit in definite patterns. The aim of textile printing is to create attractive designs and distinct patterns for attracting the customers. Earlier, textile printing was traditionally used in India and it has evidence of using wooden blocks for printing.
The demand for the textile printing is anticipated to increase globally and this, in turn, will drive the market in the coming future. The increasing popularity of textile printing throughout international market will foster the market growth in future. People moving towards more artistic and royal choices will also positively influence the textile printing market.
The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and High Commission of Pakistan Malaysia jointly organised a seminar on ‘Doing Business with Pakistan on 21st December in Kuala Lumpur. The seminar saw participation of over 200 Malaysian companies and Pakistani businessmen.
Speaking at the seminar, the High Commissioner of Pakistan in Malaysia, Syed Hassan Raza said that both countries are negotiating to further reduce duties on existing and additional tariff lines to facilitate businesses under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The High Commissioner highlighted the investment opportunities and trade potential in Pakistan and informed the participants that there were numerous opportunities for the companies in both countries, having FTA since 2008.
The current trading basket of both the countries is limited to Palm oil, fibre board, rubber electrical and electronic equipment from Malaysia while from Pakistan main items exported are cotton, textile, rice, maize, vegetables. On investments, Raza mentioned that present investment regime is the most liberal in the region. Foreign equity could be 100 per cent owned by foreign investor and there were no restriction on repatriation of profits/royalties almost all sectors are open for investment and one-window facilitation were some of the highlights of new policy. He emphasized that Pakistan was a stable, peaceful and welcome foreign investors to visit any part of the country.
As it faces immense pressure from developed countries to start a discussion, India has started framing its position on new issues including on ecommerce, small and medium enterprises and investment at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The WTO ministerial meet will be held in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires in December 2017.
Until now, India has vehemently opposed the inclusion of new issues in the multilateral organisation unless the existing one related to food security and special safeguard mechanism (SSM) are resolved. At the last ministerial meeting in Nairobi, developed countries were successful in clinching the deal away from India by allowing new issues to be taken up in the WTO’s mandate.
Developed countries including the US have been pushing for cooperation, information exchange and capacity building for small and medium enterprises. On fisheries, they want to prohibit subsidies granted for illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and a strict mechanism to assess fish stocks which is not easy for developing countries like India. India’s concerns on investment becoming part of the WTO agenda pertain to the definition of investment and the investor dispute settlement mechanism.
E-commerce is the first among the new issues that the developed countries have been pushing to be included in the WTO’s agenda for the next ministerial. Although India has not favoured e-commerce discussions till now, it has begun studying papers submitted to the WTO on the issue to understand the various views.The government is consulting e-commerce companies operating in the country, but the views emerging from these talks are divergent.
Trends come and go, but there’s something endlessly chic and timeless about the colour black. Keeping in mind the hottest fashion trends, Wrangler -the classic American denim brand has launched its all-new Black on Black collection.
This collection ranges from stylish biker-inspired jackets to classy black denims. The Wrangler’s all new Black on Black Collection is the new black, and it’s all about enduring style.
When it comes to party season, suave and stylish is definitely the way to go. All-black and monochrome ensembles look super-slick and will instantly take any casual look up a notch.
The all-new Black collection from Wrangler is a must-have in one’s wardrobe this season. Essential designs from this collection include Indigo Demins with Black Pigment Spray, Washed Black Denims, Black-on-Black trims and branding, Biker-inspired jackets, Cut and Sew Fabric Variations and long-length top wear silhouettes. This collection is a perfect blend of style, comfort and hygiene.
In order to set the next course of action on achieving $50 billion export target by 2021, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is on course to organise the second Dhaka Apparel Summit on February 25 next year. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the single-day largest expo on the $28 billion apparel industry.
The summit will also showcase the progress of initiatives taken to improve the safety standard and condition of the workers in the RMG sector following the factory disaster in 2013. The day-long event will be attended by representatives from buyers, brands, university scholars and workers’ representatives who will focus on possible road map to the achievement of $50 billion export target. As a sequel to the success of first Dhaka Apparel Summit, BGMEA will hold the second summit of its kind on February 25, next year, it is understood.
Bangladeshi exporters have taken Brexit as a grave concern as it has already started affecting the country’s trade with the UK where the country’s exports achieved spectacular growth in last several years. Local readymade garment (RMG) exporters feel that policy support including cash incentive would help them cope with the impacts anticipated to be caused by the exit of UK from the European Union (EU), the world’s largest trading block. The UK is the third biggest export destination of Bangladeshi products after the US and Germany. Bangladesh enjoys the balance of trade in its favour with the world’s fifth largest economy.
According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data, Bangladesh exported goods worth $3.81 billion to the UK against its imports of $276.60 million in the fiscal year 2015-16 posting a trade surplus of $3.53 billion. Whereas in the last fiscal (FY 2014-15), the country fetched $3.2 billion from exports to the UK and imported goods worth $330.20 million registering a surplus of $2.87 billion.
Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Siddiqur Rahman has rued that the Brexit process has started and it is affecting the trade between Bangladesh and the UK. He claimed that Bangladesh’s export market in the UK is worsening due to the influence of Brexit process. The price fall of UK pound has caused losses to us and it is speculated that the situation will further worsen in near future.
