Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine June Issue 2018 | Page 50
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Pak Budget 2018: Textile industry on top priority
Textile industry will be on top
priority in Pakistan’s Budget
for FY 2018-2019. Pervaiz Malik,
Minister for Commerce and
Textile, affirmed this while
speaking at an International
Conference on ‘Textiles and
Clothing – Inspiring Change’.
The Minister further added that
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) will further bolster the
economic upsurge in Pakistan.
The partnership between both
the nations will extend beyond
transportation and energy sectors,
and will focus on textile that will
receive ‘top’ priority.
Pakistan Government has already
sanctioned Rs. 50 billion in
the present financial year for
the development of the textile
manufacturing industry. Notably,
the present financial year has
already witnessed a 7.17 per cent
surge in textile exports from the
textile hub.
The Commerce Minister also
remarked that the Pakistan
Government has reduced the
mark-up rate on Long Term
Financing Facility (LTFF) from
nearly 11.4 per cent to 5 per
cent for a period of 3 to 10 years.
This will further boost the textile
sector. Additionally, uninterrupted
supply of electricity and gas to the
textile sector, including spinning
and ginning industry in LTFF, are
some other initiatives adopted by
the Government. Pervaiz Malik
also stated at the Conference that
Technology Upgradation Fund
schemes for the period 2016-2019
have also been notified. Besides,
the textile machinery segment
will continue enjoying duty-free
import for the period 2017-2018.
The Minister further added that
under Prime Minister’s export
package, textile machinery was
made zero rated and this continued
for the period 2017-2018. According
to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, as
mentioned by the Minister, Pakistan
is all set to become one of the 20
largest economies worldwide by
2030 and the 15th largest by the
year 2050.
Vietnam's apparel industry feels the brunt of
high-quality manpower shortage: AGTEK
Strategies need to be framed soon
to address the issue of high-
quality manpower shortage in
the textile industry of Vietnam.
This was stated by Pham Xuan
Hong, Chairman of the HCM City
Association of Garment, Textile,
Embroidery and Knitting (AGTEK)
50 Apparel Online Bangladesh | JUNE 2018 | www.apparelresources.com
at an event organised in Ho Chi
Minh City, recently.
The textile manufacturing industry
in the country is a major ‘job
creator’. Currently, the sector has
around 2.5 million jobs. However,
the shortage of ‘skilled’ workers,
majorly in dyeing or designing, is
hurting the country. Hong further
emphasised on the need to have
strategies for developing high-
quality human resources ‘right
from now’. The absence of the
much-needed skilled manpower has
made local production of apparel
materials undeveloped, which
increases Vietnam’s dependency on
imported materials. Additionally,
despite being a global hub for
textile and apparel manufacturing,
the Vietnamese fashion brands
are yet to be recognised by
global consumers. Steps needed
to generate high added value
like designing products and
building brands are still limited
in Vietnam, and were majorly
highlighted at the event.
Out of 6,000+ textile-garment
businesses in Vietnam, only
around 30 per cent operate in
textiles, including weaving,
dyeing, printing and finishing
fabric. Majority of them serve
as manufacturers to foreign
fashion brands. Just a few
of them are able to create
their own products, from
manufacturing fabric, designing
to making apparels.