India is planning to revive its ancient Indian Ocean pathways in an attempt to counter neighbouring China’s maritime ambitions. As Beijing is trying to fulfill its maritime ambitions through the silk route, New Delhi is considering introducing a cotton route that will help India shape its economic and strategic partnerships with other countries in the Indian Ocean region.

The Chinese initiatives, launched in 2013 would connect only coastal countries in south Asia whereas the Indian initiatives could increase New Delhi’s economic co-operation and strategic partnerships with almost all the countries in the region.

India’s Project Mausam will be implemented mainly to revive India’s ancient maritime routes and cultural linkages with neighbouring countries. The Modi administration has given a special emphasis on cotton as India exported the item to foreign countries for the first time way back in the first century AD. Since then, the South Asian country has emerged as a leading global supplier of garments made of top quality cotton.

It is evident in various archaeological discoveries from sites at the Red Sea ports of Berenice and Myos Hormos that India used to export cotton to a number of Central Asian countries via the ancient silk route.

A new range of inner wears for women developed out of Eri silk using knitting technology will soon be rolled out by the Central Silk Board (CSB) in association with Tirupur-based NIFT-TEA Knitwear Institute. According to Shankar Kotrannavar, Assistant Director of CSB, the technology to make the product has been evolved during a research conducted to bring out innovative products using silk with knitting as the base. Till now, clusters like Tirupur are predominantly into cotton-based knitwear products, he said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Board and NIFT-TEA Institute at Sripuram.

The new set of lingerie developed out of Eri silk is comfortable, light and has good thermal properties for winters and coolness in summer. Kotrannavar also hinted that the joint research being conducted by the Board with NIFT-TEA Institute would be soon developing more diversified silk-blended products that could be manufactured with knitting technology. Even though the Board usually promotes products with pure silk as raw material, it is trying to come out with products made of silk blended with other natural fibres such as cotton, modal and bamboo only based on the industry demand that was based on the trends, he said.

Fabric made of pure silk was little more expensive and hence, the industry was looking for blended products to cut down cost at the same time could offer the consumers the luxury of silk.

Smaller markets such as Orlando and Washington, DC and not the largest US markets like New York and Los Angeles are the top markets driving both growth rate and dollar volume increases for the apparel industry, says global information company, The NPD Group

New York and Los Angeles are the largest US markets in terms of apparel sales. These two top markets had strong performance across in-store and online channels. Among the top 25 designated market areas (DMA) in the US, online dollar sales of apparel increased for most, but only a handful grew in-store sales in the 12 months ending February 2015.

According to chief industry analyst of The NPD Group Inc, Marshal Cohen, the big regions were no longer leading apparel industry sales growth. “When New York and Los Angeles don’t even make it into the top 10 list of DMAs driving apparel growth, we have a big opportunity gap in the market. We need to understand the cause in order for the apparel industry to regain traction moving forward.”

Cohen further added that impulse purchases were the big growth driver. The strategy of driving traffic to websites needs to exist in tandem with efforts to drive traffic to the stores.Regardless of regional market size, or method of purchase, the apparel industry needs to engage consumers with something new and different – something they can’t find everywhere, he pointed out.

Online sales of apparel tell a different regional story. Overall, this segment, which now accounts for 17 per cent of industry dollars, increased 19 per cent in the 12 months ending February 2015.

At a meeting organised by Canada Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CanCham) titled ‘RMG Meet UP’ to discuss ‘Journey to the Next Milestone: Strategy for the RMG Sector’, North American buyers expressed keen interest in working with apparel makers from Bangladesh. They said they want to work together with the country's apparel makers to boost sourcing.

The CanCham has decided to organise such informal meeting every quarter between the country's apparel makers and its North American buyers to identify and address the challenges faced by the industry to boost RMG exports. The inaugural meeting was attended, among others, by Canadian high commissioner to Dhaka Benoit Pierre Laramee, local representatives of some leading RMG buyers in North American countries, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Md Atiqul Islam and CanCham President Masud Rahman.

The issues discussed during the meet included infrastructure, power, eco-compliance, working condition, traffic jam, especially from Dhaka to nearest apparel belts like Gazipur, training to the mid-level management, product diversification and publicity of country's green and clean RMG factories.

Bangladesh's export to US totaled $5.4 billion in 2013, a 9 per cent increase from 2012 and up 158 per cent from 2003. Since January 2003, Canada allowed duty-free access to Bangladeshi products, due to which the country's exports, especially garment items, have seen a steady rise. Of the total exports from Bangladesh to Canada, 96 per cent are apparel items. Bangladesh exported goods worth $1.1 billion to Canada and imported goods worth $585.5 million in fiscal year 2013-14. www.canchambangladesh.org