Apparel Online India Magazine December 1st Issue 2018 | Page 53

BEYOND INDIA
Pakistan approves cotton import from
Afghanistan, Central Asia
The Government of Pakistan
has allowed the import of cotton
from Central Asian countries
and Afghanistan – through land
– to meet its requirements for
the textile sector. The approval
was given by the Economic
Coordination Committee
(ECC) following the proposal
submitted by the Ministry of
Commerce and Textile. The
meeting, presided by Finance
Minister Asad Umar, approved the
cotton import through Torkham
border as the imported cotton
met sanitary and phytosanitary
regulations.
In a statement issued, the ECC
urged the ministries to coordinate
The ECC has urged
the ministries to
coordinate with the
textile industry and
set up a permanent
quarantine facility
for cotton imported
via land.
Afghanistan and Central Asian
nations are very cheap for
Pakistan compared to importing
from the USA. The Ministry
added that Afghanistan is the
with the textile industry and
set up a permanent quarantine
facility for cotton imported via
land. It is worth noting that
imports through land from
only route for importing cotton to
Pakistan and so pest scouting of
Central Asian states is necessary
to prevent the local cotton from
getting infected.
Japanese companies keen to shift production
from China to B'desh
Labour wages in the Chinese
textile and readymade
garment sector is increasing so
significantly that many Japanese
companies operating in China
are considering to shift their
production to Bangladesh.
“Garment sector wages of the
workers in China is four times
higher than Bangladesh, so Japan
wants to shift its companies
to other countries, including
Bangladesh,” maintained Country
Representative of Japan External
Trade Organisation (JETRO),
D Arai, at a press conference in
Dhaka recently, while adding
that Japanese investors are
showing keen interest to invest in
Bangladesh as the wages in the
country are the lowest among the
Asian and Oceania countries as
well. Japan Bangladesh Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (JBCCI)
organised a press conference
in this regard, titled ‘Current
Trend of Japanese Companies in
Bangladesh’.
Underlining the importance
of Bangladesh from Japan’s
perspective, JETRO Country
Representative maintained that
the 2016 Holey Artisan terrorist
attack (which witnessed many
Japanese citizens, working in the
country perish) failed to impact
the relations between the two
countries. “About 270 Japanese
companies are operating their
business in Bangladesh. Even
after the Holey Artisan incident
in 2016, no single Japanese
company withdrew business
from the country,” observed Arai
while adding that around 70 per
cent of the Japanese companies
in Bangladesh want to expand
their business in the next one to
two years as their confidence has
improved. Among others, JBCCI
Vice President Shariful Alam,
Director Masud Karim, Adviser
Akhtaruzzaman and Honorary
Executive Director Dr AKM
Moazzem Hussain, were present
at the press meet.
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