The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a consortium of North American apparel retailers and buyers has claimed that 68 per cent of all necessary repairs across Alliance-linked factories have been completed till date. It also says 60 per cent of Alliance linked factories had completed their corrective action plans to a great extent.

As per James Moriarty, Alliance Country Director the Alliance has helped transform what was once one of the most dangerous industries worldwide into one of the safest and as evidence; the number of fires and safety incidents was going down. The Alliance completes its pre-determined five year tenure in 2018.
 

Since its inception in 1995, Tex-Styles India Fair has emerged as an ideal forum for presenting the multi-faceted splendor of the Indian textile industry and established itself as the leading fair of its kind in south east Asia.

This is the only textile show in India which provides users a one-stop platform for purchase of every conceivable textile product produced by India i.e. furnishings, floor coverings, fabrics, garments, accessories etc.

Exhibitors will be companies in fields such as cotton, silk, wool, synthetics, power looms, jute, blended and other fibers.

A yarn and fabric show is being held in Bangladesh, February 15 to 18, 2017.

More than 180 exhibitors from six countries including China, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, and the host Bangladesh are taking part in the show to display state-of-art fabrics, garment accessories, fleece, fancy finishings, different types of yarn, weaving ribbons, denim, knitted fabrics, artificial leather, embroidery, snap fasteners, shoulder paddings, interlining, buttons, zippers, linen blends etc.

There are seven garment factories in Bangladesh that are placed in the top ten environmentally-compliant readymade garment factories around the world.

The country has a target of reaching 50 billion dollars in textile exports by 2021Currently Bangladesh imports viscose worth billions a year which can be easily saved by producing the product from its own raw materials. Production of viscose fiber has proved more profitable than production of readymade garments. Bangladesh has made a deal with China for building a plant to make viscose fiber from jute using Chinese technology and finance.

Chinese investment in Bangladesh has increased by 30 per cent in the last couple of years due to attractive schemes. China is the top exporter of apparel products in the world while Bangladesh is in second place.

With the Trans-Pacific Partnership fizzling out, Vietnam is turning to its Asian neighbors for trade pacts. The country is looking to increase exports to markets in the ASEAN and some countries where it has bilateral trade agreements, such as Japan. It will look at ways to boost exports to the EU.

Vietnam has nine free trade agreements, including deals with India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Seven more are being negotiated. The more free trade agreements Vietnam signs, the less it will have to rely on China and its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership for the benefits of international commerce. Vietnam is more active than other countries in forging trade deals, and that allows it to diversify its risk. Because of its export-driven economy, Vietnam probably would have benefited from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty more than any other nation. The TPP would have dramatically lowered or eliminated the tariffs the US imposes on Vietnamese goods. The US is the largest customer for the apparel, electronics, furniture, and shoes that Vietnam makes.

TPP was not only about market access. It was also a driving force for reform, for transparency and anti-corruption. Australia is interested in resurrecting some version of the TPP with Vietnam and other Asian countries.