PR Resource – Muarateweh.net

Export companies complain that now they cannot enjoy any preferences for exports after the Decree 24 guiding the implementation of the Corporate Income Tax was promulgated.

Under the WTO commitments, Vietnam must remove the direct support given to export companies, but it still can apply other kinds of allowed support and preferences.

Preferences for exports on the wane

Generally, once a new decree is promulgated to replace a previous decree on the same issue, it always maintains the tax incentives stipulated in the previous decree. However, the Decree 24 does not preserve the preferences stipulated in the Decree 36 from 1997.

Under Decree 36, foreign invested enterprises (FIEs), that make investment in industrial zones (IZ), would enjoy the preferential corporate income tax rate ofಊ% (during the whole life of (continue reading…)

LONDON: Oil fell below $96 a barrel on Tuesday as investors bet that the OPEC exporter group will boost supply for a second time this year at a meeting next week to cool near-record prices. US oil dropped $2.15 to $95.55 a barrel. London Brent crude fell by $1.84 to $93.48. Technical factors were also pressuring the market after prices surged to a record of $99.29 a barrel last week, traders said. The Saudi oil minister said the kingdom, the world’s top exporter, had raised production to 9 million bpd, slightly more than its target under an OPEC deal to boost output from Nov 1. Naimi declined to comment on what the group will do next week in Abu Dhabi. OPEC member Indonesia said it would support a supply boost. OPEC ministers will weigh the risks of a credit slump and potential recession curbing demand in top consumer the United States, against concerns of a supply shortfall during the peak winter demand season. Consumer worries over dwindling stockpiles, an influx of financial funds and the unprecedented weakness of the US dollar have driven oil to record highs near $100 in recent weeks. Prices could rebound on expectations of cold weather in the United States that would draw down heating fuel stocks.

The onset of colder weather in the US Northeast, a major consumer of heating oil, has also bolstered prices as traders bet that higher winter demand will strain inventories. US distillates (continue reading…)

With rupee appreciation adversely affecting apparel export, the second largest employment generator, the textile sector, which employs 25 million workers, has started cutting back on jobs and laying off workers to contain costs.

“The total job loss for the textile industry for this year touched five lakh and about 35,000 jobs have been lost in April alone due to an 18.25 per cent decline in exports because of sharp appreciation in rupee,” says P D Patodia, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.

According to industry estimates, textiles exports have declined by 6.8 per cent during the April-May period of 2007-08, while cotton yarn has seen a negative growth of 9.9 per cent. India’s textile exports amounted to $19 billion last year and the target for this fiscal was set at $25 billion.

“We have demanded an increase in duty drawback rates, reduction in interest rates for pre and post shipment credit as well as exemption from service tax. The export target of $25 billion set for the current fiscal is unlikely to be achieved with this growth,” Patodia adds. (continue reading…)

Govt on Thursday cut import duties on some textile fibres and offered to pick up a greater share of the interest burden on loans to help exporters squeezed by a jump in the value of the rupee this year.

Finance Minister Palaniappam Chidambaram told parliament the customs duty on polyester fibres and intermediaries would be trimmed to 5 per cent from the present 7.5 per cent, and that on man-made fibres to 5 per cent from 10 per cent.

“The sharp appreciation of the rupee over the last several months has put pressure on the export sectors, particularly those with low import intensity such as leather, textiles, handicrafts and marine products,” Chidambaram said.

There will be no change in the customs duty for nylon chips, nylon yarn, rayon grade wood pulp and acrylonitrile. Chidambaram said the rupee had surged in value against the dollar by 15.1 per cent since October 2006, and that reflected the strength of the Indian economy. (continue reading…)

STRUGGLING clothing and textile exporters have received some relief, with the government extending the export incentive programme until the end of March 2009, while a review of the programme is imminent.

The extension of the duty credit certificate scheme (DCCS), intended to strengthen the export competitiveness of the industry, will bring certainty for clothing exporters. Thousands of workers have been laid off, as doubts about the future of the programme forced companies to cancel export contracts.

Similar to the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), the textile programme has never enjoyed the high profile of the MIDP. Whereas a review of the MIDP was begun five years ahead of its expiry, the DCCS has continued on an ad hoc basis since its expiry at the end of April, making it impossible for the industry to plan ahead.

The situation has been particularly acrimonious because the beleaguered textiles and clothing (continue reading…)

EVANSTON, Ill., — /PRNewswire/ — Minasian Textile Arts has opened”Wrapped in Beauty: The Allure of Antique Shawls” at its gallery space at 1244Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Running through January 26th, this exhibitionfeatures antique shawls of a wide range of designs and types from Kashmir,Persia and Europe. All of the pieces on display are well over 100 years oldand display dazzlingly intricate patterns, deep rich colors and incrediblyfine workmanship.

As exhibition curator, renowned textile expert Joseph W. Fell has selectedfine antique pieces from the Minasian Textile Arts inventory and from privatecollections, including his own. In the 19th century, fashionable women of theupper classes wore these shawls on any and all social occasions, weatherpermitting. Indeed, so common were shawls at many gatherings that shawlsoften displayed embroidered identifying marks in order to avoid mix-ups andconfusion over who owned which shawl. In the present day, these symbols ofluxury and prestige are an almost vanished art form — that makes them a rareand undervalued “find” in the textile and decorative arts marketplace.
(continue reading…)

China’s most important toy manufacturing base has seen exports soar ahead of the Christmas retail season despite a spate of safety-related recalls this year, state media reported Wednesday.

The value of toys exported from the southern business hub of Guangdong province jumped 27.6 percent in October after slipping 5.4 percent in the previous month, the official Xinhua agency reported, citing local customs data.

The increase was spurred by strong demand for the holiday season, indicating that the litany of recalls over China-made toys have had a limited impact, the report said. Hundreds of toy factories in Guangdong had their licenses revoked in October after a safety sweep aimed at rejuvenating the damaged “Made-in-China”. afp