TEXTILE BRIEFS

1The government will soon unveil an ambitious Textile and Apparel Policy 2020-25 as consultation for finalizing the policy has almost been completed. The proposed policy is aimed at increasing the textile and clothing exports from $15.7b to $20.8bn by the end of the year 2025.

2Pakistan and Uzbekistan have recently agreed to finalize the bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) within three months to further boost bilateral trade volume. In this, both sides agreed to form joint working groups on textile, agriculture, information technology, education, and mineral sectors to boost cooperation, said a news release.

3According to statistics shared by an industry official, Pakistan's textile and apparel sector holds a 60% share in total exports and contributes 8.5% to the gross domestic product (GDP). The country’s textile industry makes up 46% of the total manufacturing sector and employs 40% of the total labour force.

4Pakistan’s exports of textile and clothing sectors posted nearly 19 per cent growth in the 11 months of the current fiscal year (11MFY21) compared to the same period a year ago, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

5Minister Syed Fakhr Imam has said the Cotton Productivity Enhancement Program (CPEP) helped Pakistan import more than 5,000 cotton accessions from the United States for screening against the cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV).

6Pakistan’s cotton imports hit $2.3 billion, an increase of 44 per cent during July 2020-May 2021 (11MFY21) compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year.

7The value of textile and garment exports from Pakistan increased by 22.94 per cent year-on-year in dollar terms in fiscal 2020-21 that ended on June 30. During the period, Pakistan earned $15.400 billion from textile and apparel exports, compared to exports of $12.526 billion last year.

8The advisor Razzak Dawood said that during July, Pakistan's exports grew at 17.3% to $2.35 billion as compared to $2 billion in July 2020.

Textile Briefs International

1According to statistics, the exports of garments, footwear and travel products and other finished textile goods from the Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia in the first half (H1) of 2021 increased by 0.9 per cent year-on-year.

2The US Senate recently passed legislation, the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act, to ban the import of products from China's Xinjiang region. Passed by unanimous consent, the bipartisan measure would shift the burden of proof to importers.

3A team of scientists from China has designed a smart metafabric that can cool human body down by approximately 4.8°C. Through scalable industrial textile manufacturing routes, the metafabrics exhibit mechanical strength, waterproofness and breathability for commercial clothing.

4Khyaati Leather Innovation Bd Limited, an India-Bangladesh joint venture (JV), will set up a garment accessories and bags manufacturing unit in Bangladesh at an investment of $2.95 million.

5Based on a positive performance for orders coming in from abroad as well as from domestic Italian market, the index of orders intake for textile machinery during the period January-March 2021 was up by 66 per cent compared to the same period for 2020, as per data compiled by ACIMIT.

6Jordan’s garment industry did not witness the pandemic’s worst impact, proving to be ‘relatively’ resilient in its adaptability to new trends. The country’s garment industry has only had a 15 per cent reduction in exports and a full rebound is expected by 2021 end.

7The apparel exports of Sri Lanka are expected to rise to reach prepandemic levels by the end of this year due to efficient vaccination, efforts of industry personnel and strong

government initiatives.

8Bangladesh recently lost its rank as the second largest apparel exporter to Vietnam, according to the latest data released by the WTO. Vietnam sold $29 billion worth of apparel merchandise to the world in 2020, while Bangladesh’s garment exports were valued at $28 billion.

9BGMEA recently urged global buyers to nominate more shipping lines and private docks to help ensure timely shipment of export containers.