The following is a round-up of apparel and footwear news from the world’s local media. just-style has not checked these stories so cannot guarantee their accuracy.

  • Seven Cambodian garment workers are in a critical condition and a further 47 are injured after the vehicle in which they were travelling, overturned on 11 October. This is the third such road accident this year involving Cambodian garment workers being transported to their factories. 660 NEWS

  • South Africa has pressed for the revival of negotiations for the proposed preferential trade agreement between India and five-nation Southern African Customs Union (SACU). South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, said both sides have their “sensitivities” but the effort should be to expedite the negotiations, which he said are on a “very slow track”. The SACU consists of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland. The proposed agreement aims at reducing tariffs or customs duties on certain products. BUSINESS STANDARD

  • China aims to achieve average annual output growth of 6-7% in its textile industry for the 2016-2020 period and for the industry to become more environmentally friendly, according to a new development plan. Exports will constitute a stable share of the global textile market during the five-year period, but they will be of better quality. An 18% reduction in the industry’s energy intensity and a 10% drop in pollutant emission have also been targeted. CHINA DAILY

  • The International Labour Organization (ILO) has set a target to bring an additional 127 garment factories under its Better Work (BW) programme by next June, to ensure greater social compliance and workers’ rights. In Bangladesh, 120 factories have been brought under the programme so far and 98 are registered. BANGLA APPAREL

  • The government of Lesotho has launched a campaign to localise its textile manufacturing industry, which produces 100m garments per year but remains dominated by foreign-owned firms as a result of preferential trade regimes such as AGOA. The Minister of Trade and Industry, Joshua Setipa, has promised to provide subsidised factories and credit lines for local manufacturers. SABC

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just-style has not checked these stories so cannot guarantee their accuracy.

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