Search Results for: Pakistan

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has warned of the major impact on British and other European Union (EU) knitwear companies, especially brands with integrated upstream fabric and finishing units, should the UK quit the EU as planned, on March 29, 2019.…

THE UNITED Arab Emirates (UAE) has long been a fertile ground for colour cosmetics brands thanks to its large young population (its median age is just over 30) and the presence of image conscious consumers. Despite the pressure of rising costs and fierce competition among brands, the country’s colour cosmetics market experienced moderate growth in 2017 compared to 2016, increasing an estimated 4% in value terms to reach Emirati Dirham AED1.1 billion (USD299.4 million), according to market researcher Euromonitor International.…

THE PAINT and coatings industry in south Asia maybe thriving, but regional trade between countries is not – being restricted to exports of pigments, resins, solvents and additives from India to its neighbouring countries. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan, as well as regional giant India, are all members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), but they import most of their paint and coating raw materials.…

TURKISH textile and clothing businesses hope to see increased commerce with Bangladesh buyers as the two Asian countries forge ahead with striking a free trade agreement (FTA). “We concluded an FTA with Karachi [Pakistan]. We are going to find the midpoint with Bangladesh also,” said Başaran Bayrak, a council member of the Turkish Exporters Assembly, an autonomous government body working under Turkey’s ministry of economy, that acts as a bridge between the government and the private sector.…

THE PAKISTAN textile industry is worried that a potential trade free trade deal with Thailand, now under discussion, may cause more harm than good to Pakistani manufacturers. Thai and Pakistan government negotiators are preparing for what maybe the final round of talks to forge a free trade agreement (FTA) between these two textile producing countries, with a deal potentially being signed in January.…

PAKISTAN’S new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has demonstrated a fresh willingness to help the country’s textile sector, amidst a continuing sharp decline in exports. Unlike the man he replaced, Nawaz Sharif, who lost his job over a corruption scandal in July, Abbasi has appointed a relevant minister for the textile sector (a portfolio Sharif kept for himself).…

TEXTILE mill owners in Pakistan have expressed doubts over their government’s apparent enthusiasm to develop joint ventures (JVs) with their Chinese counterparts to boost dwindling export levels.

Pakistan’s textile minister, Pervaiz Malik, said at the 18th Textile Asia International Exhibition in Lahore recently that his government wants JVs with the Chinese textile sector and for his country to become a textile business hub for the Middle East, central and south Asia.…

RESTRICTIVE quotas limiting European Union (EU) sugar production to 13.5 million tonnes have finally been scrapped, freeing producers to hit market demand. The abolition of the quotas from October 1 sees European Commission officials predicting that EU sugar production will increase 20% and reach 20.1 million tonnes for the next harvest.…

A KEY European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) committee has ruled that the common whitening agent titanium dioxide should be recognised as carcinogenic within the European Union (EU) when inhaled. A formal recommendation that this health risk should be noted in an annex to the EU’s classification, labelling and packaging regulation (CLP) will come later this year.…

A MAJOR international anti-counterfeiting action ‘Operation Renegade’ did not just seize more than 70,000 counterfeit auto spare parts, oil and air filters, grills, and fuel pumps, and nearly 600 cylinders of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants, it yielded valuable anti-smuggling and counterfeiting information.…