Archive for October, 2007
Bangladesh garment exports fall sharply
Daily Times, Pakista
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s garment exports fell sharply in the first two months of its financial year, official figures showed Tuesday, amid continued fallout from political turmoil and past labour unrest.
Bangladesh exported garments worth 1.55 billion dollars in July and August, 14.3 percent less than the same period a year ago, the government’s Export Promotion Bureau said.
Garments accounted for three quarters of Bangladesh’s $12.18 billion of exports in the year ended June. The country’s more than 4,000 garment makers employ around 40 percent of the industrial workforce. But the sector has yet to recover from labour unrest in the summer of 2006 over low wages and poor working conditions. It was also hit by months of violent street protests and nationwide strikes over vote-rigging allegations late the same year.
The violence, which continued until an emergency government took over in January, claimed at least 35 lives with major businesses, factories and ports forced to close for weeks, hitting buyer confidence, an industry official said. afp
October 31st, 2007
US garment bill and our interests
The New Nation, Bangladesh
A NEW bill that will be soon proposed in the US House of Representatives, seeking extension of the US Generalised System of Preference (GSP) and allowing duty-free import of garments from all least developed countries, will not have the same benefits for Bangladesh that will be enjoyed by other LDC countries. According to newspaper reports, the bill tentatively titled the New Partnership for Development Act, and currently being developed by the Ways and Means Committee’s member Jim McDermott, also proposes that GSP programme should extend indefinitely beyond its scheduled expiration after December 2008. The proposed bill especially offers duty-free GSP eligibility to apparel, and possibly footwear from all least developed countries. Currently such tariff preferences are limited to African and Andean countries under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.
As reported by quoting one of the BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) senior leaders, ’some clauses’ in the proposed bill will make certain things ‘difficult’ for Bangladesh. But knowledgeable sources were quoted by the report as saying although the proposed bill brightens the possibility of duty-free access of most products from all least developed countries, garment from Bangladesh and Cambodia will face difficulties in getting free entry to the US market. The BGMEA has already received reports from the analysts in Washington with the explanation regarding the ‘critical clauses’ in the proposed bill that has darkened Bangladesh’s prospects. In the draft, the bill proposes tariff quotas on sensitive categories of apparels from Bangladesh and Cambodia and proposes that only the amount of garment exported in the year 2007 would get duty-free access for the next 10 years. Any amount over that quantity will not get duty-free access. The bill, however, proposes that the duty-free amount of garments should be increased by 15 per cent annually if there is effective enforcement of labour rights, which will be judged by the US Department of Labour.
The bill, according to analysts, will suggest that a proposed office of ‘director of competitiveness for LDCs’ will have to be assured that the beneficiary country has a market-based economy, promotes the rule of law, adheres to political pluralism and the protection of human rights. In view of the situation, the BGMEA president urged the government and other stakeholders to put strong efforts in persuading the US authorities and lawmakers to ensure proposed benefits from the bills meant for all LDCs to Bangladesh. Meanwhile, a BGMEA delegation led by its chief left for Washington with a mission to plead Bangladesh’s case. Garment factory workers recently also urged the US authorities through a press conference in Dhaka to consider the desperate condition in Bangladesh and not to respond to any plea from interested quarters to cancel the GSP facilities for the country. The workers’ leaders fear that withdrawal of preferential market access to Bangladesh garment in the US market would result in the ruination of the garment industry and cause huge job loss.
October 30th, 2007
Garment workers urge ‘Living Wage’ in face of rising cost of living
Sunday Times.lk, Sri Lanka
By Dilshani Samaraweera
Garment sector groups have launched a campaign for an immediate salary increase and a ‘sector specific’ living wage for garment workers.
ALaRM, a coalition of NGOs and trade unions in the garment sector, launched a campaign last week asking the Board of Investment (BOI) and garment factories for an immediate salary increase of Rs 2,500 for garment workers.
“The main objective of the campaign is to demand a salary increment of Rs. 2,500 from the forthcoming BOI salary increments in November for 2008, and to ensure the payment of the minimum wage of Rs 5,000 and the budgetary relief allowance of Rs.1,000 to each and every employee in the sector,†a statement from ALaRM said.
ALaRM is also asking for a minimum ‘living wage’ of Rs 12,504 per month, for an 8 hour work day, for garment workers in the free trade zone, and a living wage of Rs.10,183 for garment workers employed outside trade zones. The current minimum basic salary is only Rs 6,000. ALaRM says that most garment workers earn less than a living wage right now, even by working over time, working on holidays and with other benefits. The group says the present income of garment workers is not enough to lead a decent life given the cost of living in Sri Lanka.
ALaRM has already conducted a research into the cost of living of garment workers to arrive at their ‘living wage’ ceiling and has also compiled statements from garment workers at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) highlighting worker concerns.
What garment workers say
Sri Lanka’s garment export industry is made up of over 80% women workers and most are from rural areas and from the youth category of below 30 years of age. Says Chrishanthi, a 23-year-old, who is working in a garment factory at the Katunayake trade zone;“We go home only twice a year. We live in a very frugal manner because we have to send some money home, bear the expenses on transport, boarding fees, etc. We have no leisure activities at all. Having earned for 4 years, I have not made for myself even a chain let alone a pair of bangles. We lead such a sad life.â€
“A coconut costs Rs. 30, a loaf of bread is Rs. 35. This month the grocery bill was Rs 3,888. Unless there is a salary increase by at least Rs 2,500, we will have to resign and go home,†she said.
Niduka, has been working for six years at another garment factory at the Katunayake FTZ she says,“My hometown is Galle. My father died recently. I go home very often to see my mother. Whenever I go home, I give her some money and other than that I do not send home money frequently. At present my basic salary is Rs. 7,200. With overtime and night shifts I earn Rs. 14,000-15,000 a month.†To earn this ‘good’ pay Niduka gives up her life to the factory and works like a machine. “We have no time at all to have contact with the outside world. Even if it is possible, we don’t feel like doing so because we are too tired. We need not exert ourselves so much if the basic salary is good,†says Niduka.Niduka says living expenses are higher for workers at trade zones because they are not living at home.
“Since we do not bring anything from home, we have to buy everything we need from here. As we cook our food using the kerosene oil cooker, more than Rs. 500 has to be spent on kerosene alone. Boarding charges too have been increased up to Rs. 2,000 now. So when all these things are considered, we cannot say that we have achieved a lot, being away from our parents. We do not get any money from our parents,†she says.
Another worker from Katunayake, Nishanthi, left her previous factory because her monthly income was too low to live on.“I am 20 years old. After completing my G.C.E. (O.L.) examination I came to the Free Trade Zone since there were no other job opportunities. Earlier, I worked in another factory for about one year.
The basic salary was Rs. 5,500 and the salary in the last month was Rs. 6,350. I said good bye to that job because there was little overtime work there,†said Nishanthi. Currently the garment industry records vacancies of between 15,000 to 30,000 and some factories are actually paying their workers to bring in new recruits.
Nishanthi says better wages to start with, would encourage more people to join the garment sector.“Money is given when we go home on leave to bring new workers. If a good salary is paid such crises would not arise. If our labour is given a value and the dignity it deserves, everybody will work happily,†says Nishanthi.Yamuna also points out large salary anomalies among new recruits and people who have joined the sector earlier.
“There is a very big difference between the salaries of old employees and that of the newcomers. The salary of those who have been working for 10 years is Rs.7,800. How can we be satisfied with the job when such a situation is prevailing?†says Nishanthi.
ALaRM says that although the garment industry has empowered women and generated employment, the industry needs to re-examine its salary structures to continue to provide large scale benefits for people in the country, given the current cost of living.
Earlier the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) - the industry representative body of the apparel sector - in response to the ALaRM living wage campaign told The Sunday FT that most garment factories could not afford the demanded wage increase. It called on the government to provide exchange rate stability and to control the rate of inflation, to hold down industry costs. The JAAF pointed out that containing the rate of inflation is the only solution to the cost of living problems faced by workers, as the industry is unable to raise wages at the rate of inflation.
October 29th, 2007
Garments glowing in the dark
ZDNet Blogs
Knitting specialists at the University of Manchester have developed high-tech battery-powered textile yarns that could be used to make clothing glow in the dark. These yarns could soon be integrated into clothing worn by cyclists, joggers, outdoor workers and pedestrians. These garments would be safer for users than current clothing used by emergency services which need external light sources to make them visible.
You can see on the left a EL yarn garment worn by a dummy close to a blurred person (Photo: Ed Swinden, for the University of Manchester). Here is a link to a larger version of this picture. This EL yarn has been developed at The William Lee Innovation Centre (WLIC) by a team led by Dr Tilak Dias, Head of WLIC and Senior Lecturer in Knitting, for the Intelligent Health Garment project. Dias is also one of the founders of Engineered Fibre Structures Ltd, a University of Manchester spin-out company established in 2001 and which “specializes in providing textile solutions for medical, healthcare, sportswear, personal protective equipment, industrial, engineering, aerospace, automotive and other technical applications.â€
So what is the real innovation behind this EL yarn? “EL yarn is a novel technology, which emits light when powered by a battery. Its development has been based on thin film electroluminescent technology. The yarn consists of an inner conductive core yarn, coated with electroluminescent ink — which means it emits light when an electric current is passed through it — and a protective transparent encapsulation, with an outer conductive yarn wrapped around it.
And how does this work? “When the EL yarn is powered with an inverter the resultant electrical field between the inner and outer conductor causes the electroluminescent coating to emit light. The emission of light occurs between the contact points between the outer yarn and the inner yarn.â€
So when will we see roadside workers equipped with this kide of glowing garments? Dias recognizes that there are still some problems associated with the flexibility of the garments, and said: “At the moment the EL yarn we have developed is less flexible than conventional yarns. But it is more flexible than current optical fibres that are incorporated within fabrics to provide illumination.â€
For more images of the EL yarn-based prototype garments, you can visit this WLIC page (links to images at the bottom).
Sources: University of Manchester, via EurekAlert!, October 26, 2007; and various websites
You’ll find related stories by following the links below.
October 29th, 2007
Rug merchant fatally shot at garment district shop
Los Angeles Times, CA
By Jill Leovy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 25, 2007
Ebrahim Torbati was a rug merchant. But at heart, he was a poet.
The 71-year-old shop owner was killed in an apparent robbery attempt Tuesday afternoon as he read a newspaper at the entrance to his store at 840 Santee St. in the downtown Los Angeles garment district.
The robber may have grappled with him briefly before shooting him about 4:15 p.m., Torbati’s neighbors said.
Police said the suspect pointed a gun at Torbati and reached into the drawer in his desk where he kept cash. Torbati tried to keep the suspect from getting the money. Police later found the cash, still in the drawer.
The bullet struck Torbati in the neck, and he died shortly afterward at County-USC Medical Center, said Los Angeles Police Det. Doug Pierce.
The suspect is described as a black man, 25 to 30 years old, slim, 5 feet 6, wearing a gray cap and shirt. He ran to 8th Street and Maple Avenue and then got into a white Toyota Camry with two women, police said.
Torbati was a bachelor, an American originally from Tehran, said fellow merchant Fred Refa. Like other Jewish Iranians of his generation, he left more than two decades ago at the time of the revolution to make a new life in the United States.
He was a rug merchant by necessity, Refa said, but he was also an educated man — a poet, who wrote books in Farsi. Torbati had attended a university in Tehran, and “only sold rugs because of his situation in life,” Refa said.
Torbati had “a good attitude” and liked to joke with his customers, flattering the women with impromptu proposals of marriage, Refa added.
Central Division has had very few homicides this year, and the broad daylight shooting jarred police and merchants alike in the normally quiet garment district. Pierce of the LAPD said his entire unit was working on the case.
Refa and Torbati’s co-worker, Abraham Rafy, were anxious that their friend be remembered, despite having few family members in the area. They produced his books of poems, and tried to translate them from Farsi, but gave up. “It is very beautiful,” Refa said, “but it cannot be translated.” Refa did, however, translate the title Torbati had given his book: “At Last, the Poem is Going to Kill Me.”
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call LAPD detectives at (213) 972-1254.
jill.leovy@latimes.com
October 26th, 2007
Textile, garment cities: Sindh cabinet approves land allotment
The News - International, Pakistan
By By our correspondent
10/25/2007
Briefing newsmen about decisions taken by Sindh Cabinet, Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim said on Wednesday that the cabinet has approved allotting 1250 acres and 300 acres of provincial land to Port Qasim Authority for the establishment of Textile and Garment cities, respectively, at a nominal rate of Rs one million per acre.
“The market price of the land is around Rs 2.5 million per acre but the provincial cabinet has approved the discounted rate to facilitate the projects. If the land will be used for other purposes then the deal would be cancelled,†Arbab Ghulam Rahim told newsmen.
He said the Sindh Cabinet has also approved leasing out a plot of Sports Complex located on M.A Jinnah Road to a private company for 30 years. “Sixty per cent of this plot would be used for sports activities and the rest 40 per cent for commercial purpose,†he said.
The provincial cabinet also decided to sell out the land of defunct Sindh Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) in entire Sindh to district governments, he said, adding that a committee comprising provincial secretaries Law, Finance, Local Government and Transport departments would evaluate the prices of the property.
The chief minister said that the money generated from the sale of SRTC land would be used for repaying World Bank loan and added that liquidation of Thatta and Dadu Sugar Mills was deferred for receiving lower than reserved prices.
Similarly, the provincial cabinet decided to provide 100 acres of land to City District Government Karachi (CDGK) for establishing a desalination plant, for which investment has been pledged by a foreign firm, he added.
He further said that enhancement of fine on the use of buildings declared as cultural heritage was, however, rejected by the provincial cabinet.
October 25th, 2007
Bangladeshis urged to invest in garment mill
Published: Wednesday, 24 October, 2007, 01:57 AM Doha Time
Gulf Times, Qatar
EKRAMUL Haque Chowdhury, chairman of the Al Watan Textiles Company Limited (AWTCL), has called upon Bangladeshi expatriates to purchase the company’s ordinary shares at the rate of Bangladesh Taka 1,000 per share and avail of the opportunity of safe and secured investment in the industrial sector in Bangladesh.
The company has begun the sale of 15,000 shares to Bangladeshis who have so long avoided interest-based investments on grounds of religious injunctions. Application forms listing terms and conditions can be had from Chowdhury (6644052), Joinal Abedin (5391509) and the company’s finance director Nazrul Islam ( 5609622).
Joinal Abedin Sarker, Mahmudul Haque, Hasibur Rahman and Jahangir Alam also spoke, highlighting the company’s activities. – MAM
October 24th, 2007
Garment trade fraying
ReportonBusiness.com, Canada
GORDON PITTS
Globe and Mail Update
October 22, 2007 at 10:51 PM EDT
For the past year, Winnipeg was revelling in the reflected glitter of tabloid celebrity. After all, this was where Victoria Beckham, the Spice Girl fashionista, had chosen to have her $250 to $300 jeans produced.
Now, the air has been let out of the balloon. Western Glove Works, the 86-year-old firm that had won the coveted Victoria Beckham jeans contract for its Winnipeg plant, has announced it is shifting this production to Asia, signalling the end of all garment making in its local factory
For a moment, Ms. Beckham had brought a measure of star power to Winnipeg’s downtrodden needle trade, which had suffered huge job losses in recent decades – most dramatically at Western Glove Works, whose work force had fallen to 225 from 1,200 in the past five years alone.
But in the end, even a jet-setting Posh Spice was no match for the global forces battering Canadian manufacturing, led by a rising Canadian dollar and the severe labour squeeze in the hot national economy.
“You get hit with two punches at once and you can’t remember which one knocked you out,†said Western Glove Works president Bob Silver, whose family company will shed 100 jobs involved in making Ms. Beckham’s jeans under the dVb brand she has built around herself and soccer superstar husband David.
There’s more beyond the profit squeeze he says forced him to subcontract the line. Mr. Silver insists the writing is on the wall for the entire Canadian industry if it cannot maintain the support industries for a viable garment trade.
“Twenty years ago I had people walking in every day trying to sell me buttons and threads and fabrics,†Mr. Silver said. “Today there is nobody to walk in the door.â€
With the final remnants of its manufacturing shifting to Asia, Western Glove Works will maintain logistics, distribution, marketing and design operations in Winnipeg.
But by March, the work force will be down to 125 people, a number that Mr. Silver insists he should be able to protect from further ravages.
Pwered by sales of its Silver and 1921 brands – as well as contract production that includes the high-end dVb work – the company’s annual revenue has grown to $100-million, Mr. Silver confirmed.
In the end, perhaps appropriately, it was Ms. Beckham’s ruthless pursuit of style that may have doomed the Winnipeg production unit. In recent months, there has been a shift in fashion that required even more aggressive prewashing of the high-end jeans.
This is a highly technical process that involves stone-washing or sand-blasting the jeans with chemical solutions. It’s known in the trade as laundering or wet processing.
Western Glove Works once had an ample supply of workers who were well versed in this art. When it approached 25 to 30 people whom it had previously laid off, they spurned the offer to return to their former employer.
“When you go back into a tight job marketplace, people ask how long you think this job will last and you tend to be honest.â€
When the skilled laundering workers wouldn’t come back, that was the final straw, he said. At that point, production in Winnipeg was not only unprofitable, but “it couldn’t be efficient because of not having the right staffing.â€
October 23rd, 2007
Tired at work? Your garment will massage you
Times of India, India
AHMEDABAD: Ever sat through a business meeting, dreaming of a relaxing massage to soothe your muscles? Ever had arthritic pain and wished buttoning up your shirt was easier? These may not remain mere wishes any longer, with students of the National Institute of Design (NID) creating special garments to make you feel better
Prasenjit Kundu, a second year student of the faculty of apparel designing and merchandising has designed a jacket which will “massage” you  right in the middle of your all important board-room meeting, while driving, or even during a movie. This innovation, made of brown corduroy, has vibrators at the back and shoulders. If a massage is not enough to relax you, your favourite music on the click of a button, will do the trick. The right pocket of the jacket has a plug to attach an MP3 player or an iPod, the ear piece of which comes out right next to your ears.
“This jacket gives a multi-sensory experience whi-ch will work as a stress-buster even if you are neck deep in work,” says Kundu. If Kundu’s garment is a stress-buster, another student Neelam Prahugaonkar, has come up with a garment for deaf children. “This garment has a detachable pocket with a built-in circuit. This circuit will record small audio text like the students’ name, school, teachers and address.” said Prabhugaonkar.
October 22nd, 2007
Garments, textiles nab top spot for exports
Viet Nam News, Vietnam
For the first time, textile and garment exports have exceeded that of oil. According to the General Statistics Office, garment exports reached US$5.8 billion in the nine month period ending September 30, up 31.6 per cent year-on-year. Crude exports on the other hand were $5.7 billion, down about 12.8 per cent.
Viet Nam News reporter Phuong Hoa talked with experts about the garment industry’s growth and future.
Le Quoc An, chairman of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas)
Did you foresee textiles and garments leading exports?
Of course, we predicted this would happen because the industry has a lot of potential for continued growth, not only for the next couple of decades but over the very long term.
Another bright spot has been the fact Viet Nam was recently listed among the top 10 garment exporters in the world by a delegation from the Italian Biella Commerce Chamber when they visited HCM City. Viet Nam was only ranked 13th in 2005.
Did you expect it would be these three quarters that garments would beat oil exports?
No. It was earlier than anticipated, and we hope to maintain the top spot until the end of the year.
We also believe the industry can keep the top spot in the coming years, considering annual growth should average about 18-20 per cent until 2010. After this period, growth should ease.
The US, the biggest single importer of Vietnamese textiles and garments, threatens to impose anti-dumping measures. What are your thoughts on the threat?
The anti-dumping measures can be regarded as an axe that may fall at any time. Anybody below it will of course feel fear.
However, we can confirm our average per unit price is double versus products from all over the world that are shipped to the lucrative US market.
There is no reason for the DoC (the US Department of Commerce) to conclude that Viet Nam dumps its garments into the US market.
The DoC has reported statistics for the first six months of the year. According to the department, the total volume of Vietnamese textile and garment exports increased only 18 per cent, while the value rose 20 per cent from a year earlier.
David Morton, deputy CEO of HSBC Viet Nam
Why did HSBC award medals to outstanding textile and garment companies earlier this month?
The textile industry is one of Viet Nam’s success stories, and your products have tapped into many corners of the world.
We think it is a good industry to support and are very proud of the 50 winners in this year’s event, 10 of which are our clients.
The industry may possibly hit over US$7 billion for all of 2007 with a growth rate of around 22 per cent year-on-year.
I would be very surprised if the textile and garment industry continues at a double-digit growth rate for long. It may reach $8-9 billion next year.
How do you feel about garment exports exceeding oil?
It shows a couple of things. It shows the Vietnamese Government has adopted the right policies in terms of opening up the industry and freeing up exports.
Next, it is only the first step. The way Viet Nam grows is not just in textiles, but also in other industries.
The Vietnamese textile industry will continue growing well and become more competitive in the world market because you have several competitive advantages.
You have good access to raw materials, as well good access to relatively less expensive labour. You are also very intelligent and hard working with a better educated and young population.
Can you comment on your loans to textile and garment enterprises?
It is a good industry, so the bank has been profitable because of them.
We have about 3,000 customers and 33,000 retail clients in this country, of which apparel firms account for 5 per cent of our total loans.
HSBC’s growth in revenue is some 30 per cent per annum in Viet Nam. — VNS
October 19th, 2007
Previous Posts