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When we discuss the source of apparel textiles, the two countries that come to mind are India and China. For an outsider it might appear that the two countries are competing with each other for the same market share globally only on the cost base. This is only partially true. While the products are similar in many cases, yet in terms of business flexibility, nimbleness, versatility and similar convenience, many international apparel brands
Foreign investors invaded Cambodia with cash to establish a thriving textile industry in the 1990's. The jobs in the clothing factories helped to bring many Cambodians over the poverty level.
Now with the global recession slowing down demand for clothes, many jobs in Cambodia are being lost. Some factories are shutting down while owing their workers back pay.
From this exaustive Reuters story on textiles in Cambodia, writer Ek Madra shows us the impact on the nations poverty line.
The sector represents about 16 percent of Cambodia's GDP, so the factory closures will hurt, with a ripple effect in the countryside as the money sent home by garment workers dries up.
The International Monetary Fund says the economy could shrink 0.5 percent in 2009 and the garment trade slump is a big factor.
But Kang Chandararot, director of the Cambodian Institute of Development Study (CIDS), said even if the double-digit growth of recent years was out of reach, 4 or 5 percent may be possible thanks to a bountiful rice crop in 2008/09 and the record $950 million in aid pledged by international donors for 2009.
"Cambodia could use the aid of nearly $1 billon to invest in infrastructures to stimulate its economy," Chandararot said.
People surviving on less than $1 a day are deemed to be living in poverty. Garment workers earn on average $2.7 a day so the loss of these jobs will hurt.
"More people will be pushed into poverty," said Huot Chea of the World Bank in Cambodia.
Historical data is lacking in Cambodia, but the World Bank says 45 to 50 percent of the people lived in poverty in 1994. Prime Minister Hun Sen says that was cut to 30 percent by 2008 thanks to the garment sector, tourism and agriculture.
Import quotas don't just raise prices for consumers. They make planning complicated for businesses that need imported goods as inputs--even, it turns out, when the quotas are about to end. Furniture Today (I love trade magazines) reports on the end-of-the-year mess created by protectionists concerned that textile importers might jump the gun on the end of quotas:
Here at home, 2004 brought us politicians shamelessly plucking the broken heartstrings of unemployed textile workers. It would have made sense for politicians to help the industry get ready for this day – it was 10 years coming, after all – but the horse was out the barn before the election year began. If they could feel shame, they’d be feeling it now.
There are still issues with China, certainly, and no one can blame the domestic textile industry for trying to get some relief from the government. But we certainly cannot blame China for a directive issued Dec. 13 from the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements calling for U.S. Customs to hold fabrics that entered U.S. ports near the end of the year in excess of quotas.
In years past, fabric that was over quota near the end of a year was counted against the next year’s quota. But since the quota is now gone, the committee felt that some importers might deliberately ship goods in excess of quotas limits, expecting that the goods would be released on Jan. 1.
This decision has created trouble and expense for some upholstery fabric importers. Their goods, ordered in good faith in October from mills that held valid quotas, were declared to exceed quota limits when they arrived in December. Obeying the directive from CITA, Customs put the goods into bonded warehouses where they will stay until Feb. 1. At that time, they will be released in 5% per month increments of the amount over the base quota.
Textile lobby groups such as the American Manufacturing Trade Action Council applauded the decision. “It was the very least the government could do,” said a spokesman, adding that that the embargo “should be a lesson to people about the risks of doing business with overseas companies.”
A spokesperson at the United States Assn. of Importers of Textiles and Apparel countered that the action was action “pointless, without merit and just plain mean.”
Since most imported textiles are apparel, a lot of upholstery fabric suppliers felt confident in late December that the embargo would not impact their business, stating that they typically have some goods held at the end of the year, which then are released on Jan. 1. Some of these companies were surprised to learn when they arrived back at work after the holiday last week that the goods had not been released on Jan. 1 but will be held till Feb. 1 and then trickled out incrementally over a period of months.
Today's post is very important for those who are just fed up with the time that windows XP takes when booting up the computer. I have seen computers having Windows XP which takes more than 1 or 2 minute to boot up. I can't hold myself that long. So here I am sharing a tip to reduce the booting time of your computer which can reduce system's booting time to almost half that it used to take before.
Priority routing is now available to all Oracle Database customers only. This is cool. Most, if not all, customer SR profiles haven’t been updated in years.
Very good Speed and unbelieveable performance and The Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor 5100 series is ideal for intense computing environments,
