Search Results for: Pakistan

PAKISTAN’S textile exporters have urged their government to speed up and

enhance a tax incentives package if they are to kick

start the country’s ailing textile sector.

The government has rolled out a series of incentives over the past year, including the abolition of a 4% customs duty and 5% sales tax imposed on import of raw cotton announced on January 5 (in force on January 8), meeting a long-standing demand of the textile sector. …

High on the agenda of Dr Oetker India managing director and chief executive officer Oliver Mirza is making India a major production hub, not just for manufacturing packaged foods scoring sales in India’s growing markets, but also for exports.

In a wide-ranging interview with just-food on the sidelines of the India Food Forum, staged in Mumbai last month (January 17-19), Mirza said that by 2020, Dr Oetker India was targeting sales of Indian Rupees INR10 billion (USD155 million) of which its sub-brand FunFoods will account for INR5 billion (USD 77.50 million).…

PAKISTAN’S economy is growing and becoming increasingly formal, with banking rates on the rise, so groundbreaking micro-finance is a key part of this economic modernisation.

The Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company (PMIC) is part of this change – it not a standard micro-finance lender: it finances other micro-finance organisations.…

THE SECURITIES Commission Malaysia (SC) has issued Guidelines on Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) Funds to boost the growth of green investments in the country. The advice follows Malaysia issuing in July the world’s first green sukuk (Islamic bond).

The new advice applies to conventional as well as Islamic sustainable finance, including unit trust funds, real estate trust funds, exchange-traded funds, and venture capital and private equity funds.…

It has been weeks since quotas limiting European Union (EU) sugar production were scrapped on September 30, and while its impact has yet to become clear, experts agree that EU output will rise, at least in the short term. The EU executive, the European Commission is predicting that EU sugar production will increase 20% in the coming year.…

With its mega shopping malls, opulent standards of living and investor-friendly climate, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has always been a strategic market for international beauty brands. The small nation of 9.27 million was ranked as the seventh biggest consumer of beauty products in the world by research firm Euromonitor International, with a per capita spend of around USD239 in 2016.…

African clothing exporting countries are banking on rising costs in China and changing consumption patterns worldwide to attract buyers to the continent to take advantage of lower production costs.

Major hurdles abound, but manufacturers are hopeful that clothing facilities built from scratch that abide by international best practices will help the continent’s apparel sector develop.…

THE EGYPT government and leather industry is planning to boost the country’s leather exports by 80%, to USD1 billion by 2020, through modernising the sector and developing dedicated manufacturing hubs. The Egyptian leather sector took a major hit in terms of lost sales and output during the political and economic instability following the 2011 revolution, and there has been no major investment for the past 15 years to upgrade facilities and improve output.…

PAKISTAN’S Punjab provincial government, with the assistance of US firm Monsanto, is to introduce new climate smart and high yield cotton seed varieties, aiming at increasing the per hectare yield in the province. However, the country’s textile industry and farmers’ representatives are concerned that this and other initiatives will only make a difference if government officials work harder to ensure new seed is delivered to growers.…

CHINA’S imposition of temporary safeguard duties to protect its sugar industry have been challenged at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), with sugar giant Brazil arguing Beijing’s tariffs break global commerce rules. In a signal that Brazil might be considering launching a disputes case against China, diplomats for the South American country told a WTO safeguards committee meeting that the duties broke the WTO agreement on safeguards and the general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT). …