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Speaking at the event on Friday (Feb 17), Mark Carney, UN special envoy for climate action and finance, and former central bank governor for the UK and Canada, said of the baseline: “It’s critical. You need compatible information.”  

Mr Carney stressed ongoing discussions between the ISSB and major jurisdictions, such as the EU (European Union), the USA and Japan, about the need for regulatory harmony.…

INTRODUCTION 

ACCOUNTING used to be restricted to financially measurable matters of profit and loss; expenditure and revenue; taxes and subsidies; investment and liabilities. But the mathematical and statistical skills underpinning a solid set of books and filed accounts are today increasingly being used to measure the environmental and social sustainability of a product, input, production process and supply chain.…

Universities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Madagascar, Nigeria and Yemen have been highlighted as institutions where academics or students were killed because of their beliefs or activism in the past academic year, though a report from campaign group Scholars at Risk (SAR).…

Higher education institutions are being warned they could be a target for money laundering, with fees being financed by the proceeds of crime, including corruption, which might also buy property, cars and other items for students.

The problem has been highlighted in a series of reports.…

A former DEA agent who laundered money undercover to attack the Medellín and Cali cartels has called for a root-and-branch reform of AML, so that its vast resources target the most suspicious transactions and the professional launderers who facilitate them. Speaking to MLB, Robert Mazur, who offered ML services to drug kingpins such as Pablo Escobar in the 1980s and 1990s to undermine their criminal networks, said that many laundering techniques used then are still in use today.…

The new National Security Law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong last June (2020) (1) has added a new dimension to money laundering requirements in the special administrative region (SAR), as banks and other institutions now find themselves required to flag cash movements by figures deemed as ‘secessionist’ under the new law.…

Halal food exports from India are growing fast, according to a key Indian certification organisation, with domestic consumers among India’s 200 million Muslims also being increasingly demanding about halal standards.

According to Faiyaz Khan, the master technologist in food technology, of certification body the Jamait-Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust, the volume of halal certified exported food products sold from India have grown by more than 50% over the past two years.…

South Africa has a lot to do to improve its regulatory oversight and more effectively tackle money laundering, which its FIU, the Financial Intelligence Centre, readily admits, as the country addresses shortcomings highlighted in its latest Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mutual evaluation report (MER).…

With its complex supply and distribution chain, the international knitwear sector fosters innovation, with commercial partners cross-fertilising technical and design ideas that span digitisation and mechanical smarts, as well as consumer-focused creativity.

One key area of innovation in the past year has been warp knitting – for instance by leading northern Italian warp seamless knitwear manufacturer Cifra (1), which last December (2020) launched an innovative and sustainable garment concept for women, spanning beachwear, athleisure bodywear and lingerie.…

The huge offshore finance leak unveiled yesterday (October 3) by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its media partners has highlighted the pressures AML reporters face in complying with increasingly tough beneficial ownership transparency laws.

Reports generated from 2.94 terabytes of data within 12 million documents leaked to the ICIJ from the confidential records of 14 offshore service providers have been analysed by 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries.…

The Bangladesh innerwear industry has been witnessing robust growth in the past decade and this outsourcing hub is now competing effectively with its major rival China. The production value of the country’s intimate wear jumped from US216 million in 2012 to US1.078 billion in 2021, according to a report from data service Statista (1).…

As the global clothing industry is reviving from Covid=19 slump, Bangladesh apparel manufacturers are at last reaping the benefits, industry is also bearing the fruit. In an exclusive interview with Just Style, the new president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Faruque Hasan noted that the Bangladesh clothing industry suffered a reduction in its exports of USD6 billion from USD34.13 billion in financial year (FY – July-June) 2018-19 to USD27.95 billion in FY 2019-20 and a year-on-year drop of clothing exports worth nearly USD1.5 billion in financial year (FY) 2020-21 (July 2020 to June 2021) (1).…

Curbs introduced by the Chinese government on the use of electricity within the country have been significantly disrupting the textile supply chain, creating anxiety among garment manufacturers even beyond China’s borders. 

These challenges have unfolded after the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on September 16 unveiled a plan stipulating that China will firmly control energy-hungry and high-emission industrial projects.…

Ethiopian textile and clothing managers and workers are worried that the USA may expel their county from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade access, as armed conflict continues in Tigray.

The US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has said America would “soon” decide on Ethiopia’s status under AGOA, which gives its clothing and textile exporters duty-free access to the United States.…

The Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO) after it spread from Wuhan, China, across the globe. As yet, the world does not know for sure how and why the virus was released.…

INTRODUCTION

The concept of bespoke tailoring and couture has long been regarded as the apex of clothing and textile making, given that it matches a garment closely to its wearer and intended use. Until now, such personal apparel has inevitably been expensive, given runs are individualised – indeed, bespoke has been the antithesis of mass-produced fast fashion.…

More than two decades have passed since the first 3D body scanners were developed for the apparel industry, but technologists and designers continue to find new ways to hone the systems in response to rising demand among brands and manufacturers for direct-to-consumer sales.…

A recent warning by the US government against investing in Hong Kong because of the strengthened Chinese security presence may weaken Hong Kong’s standing as a major centre for sourcing clothing and textile goods from mainland China, observers in the Special Administrative Region say.…

For evidence that China’s nationalistic ‘guochao’ consumer trend is gathering pace in the personal care product sector, look at the country’s powerful e-commerce sector. In February 2021, the turnover of cosmetics on China’s Taobao platform was Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY14.7 billion (USD2.3 billion), a year-on-year increase of 11%, with the top brand in sales being the guochao-oriented personal care product brand Hangzhou-based Florasis Hua Xizi.…

China’s ‘guochao’ trend is picking up ever more steam, and observers warn that it might push foreign clothing brands’ China sales out of the comfort zone before long.

Guochao, which literately translates into ‘national tide’, is mainly captivating China’s Generation Z, whose expenditure accounts for 13% of average household income, compared with 4% in France and Germany, according to a survey cited by the South China Morning Post in April.…

INTRODUCTION

Graphene has been hailed as a wonder material by its promoters – and for once in the tarnished history of scientific hyperbole – these claims seem to have significant merit. The reality is that graphene does not only offer textile manufacturers the ability to improve the functionality of their products, it helps them achieve this in an environmentally sustainable way.…

KNOW Your Customer (KYC) maybe a key building block of AML/CFT, but undertaken periodically, it is expensive, can be difficult to manage and can annoy customers, eroding cooperation and hence effectiveness. That is why perpetual (or continuous, or ongoing) KYC has become an attractive option.…

THE GROWING popularity of cryptocurrencies has stoked concerns that they offer a haven for money launderers. The concern focuses on the risk that crypto can be used anonymously to buy goods and services, without them being converted into fiat currencies through exchanges that are a key focus of emerging AML/CFT controls.…

Obliged entities following the risk-based approach of calibrating AML/CFT controls lodging suspicious transaction reports must rely on solid knowledge about their customers and partners. But to be comprehensive in assessing risk, obliged entities must know something about their customers’ customers.

That is the underpinning of ‘know your customers’ customers’ (KYCC) systems that are increasingly being touted by vendors.…

China’s digital textile printing sector has significant growth ahead of it – but it is expanding. Data from the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, in Shenzhen, shows that the output of digital inkjet printing in China currently accounts for approximately 11% of total output of printed fabrics, far from Europe’s ratio of 80%.…

Apparel and footwear brands, especially those in the United States, may come under increasing distribution strain as an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the Chinese clothing and textile manufacturing hub of Guangdong exacerbates already fraught global logistics.  The southern Chinese province recorded 135 total infections over the period June 10–23 and a seven-day average of nine new cases as of June 23, according to data from the USA’s Johns Hopkins University.…

A PUBLIC inquiry in British Columbia, Canada, has increased concerns about how auto dealers maybe exploited by criminal networks to launder dirty money. Purchasers can be prepared to pay high prices for vehicles in cash, with dealers struggling to identify the source of these funds.…

The world’s clothing and textile sector is keeping a close eye on China’s National People’s Congress, which congregated in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People last Friday (March 5) in a ‘Two Sessions’ event to review and ratify the draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).…

Environmental regulation is becoming increasingly tight for textile companies and this of special concern for the higher-tech side of the industry where new fibres, chemicals and processes are delivering a cutting edge. This is especially the case for innovative segments such as performance and outdoor materials.…

A MAJOR gambling complex in Sydney, costing Australian dollars AUD2.2 billion (USD1.7 billion) to build, should not be operated by its owner Crown Resorts because of AML weaknesses, a New South Wales (NSW) regulator has concluded.

A major inquiry by the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has concluded that neither Crown nor any close associate is currently “a suitable person to continue to give effect to the Barangaroo restricted gaming licence”, covering the new casino, which is ready to open.…

In 2021, when the UK has thrown away its most precious diplomatic asset, its membership of the European Union, for dubious democratic gains, burning major European civil rights enjoyed by Britons and causing likely economic long-term damage, it is maybe time to recall when Britain followed more enlightened international policies.…

In 2021, when the UK has thrown away its most precious diplomatic asset, its membership of the European Union, for dubious democratic gains, burning major European civil rights enjoyed by Britons and causing likely economic long-term damage, it is maybe time to recall when Britain followed more enlightened international policies.…

Asian clothing manufacturing associations, including major knitwear outsourcing hubs, are jointly developing ‘red line’ standards for sales to buyers, covering payment and delivery practices, planning and information exchanges and third-party negotiations.

The STAR Network of nine Asian federations has established five working groups to make detailed proposals as early as March.…

The boom in online fraud through the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time when new fintech is being rolled out, has grown demand for anti-fraud professionals.

The latest assessment released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) (published in December 2020), based on responses from 1,712 anti-fraud professionals, (49% of whom were in the USA and Canada), said that 41% of organisations (public and private sector) are planning to increase their overall anti-fraud budget in 2021.…

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic sparked predictions that the shift of textile industrial capacity from China to lower cost neighbouring countries could intensify, but analysts talking to Twist International say the trend may have stalled in the past year. While production capacity of China’s textile industry has indeed in recent years shifted to south and southeast Asia, some of these transfers have not run smoothly.…

WITH market researchers such as Polaris predicting that the global vegetable-based meat product market will generate USD35.4 billion in sales by 2027, major and small food tech companies are working hard to tap this growing niche. Polaris predicts that the segment will expand with a compound annual growth rate of 15.8% between 2020 to 2027, so there is space now for innovative products to attract market share.…

From sustainability to flammability, anti-viral protection to anti-corrosion, the potential applications of nanocoatings in the aerospace industry are “nearly endless,” say researchers who have noticed a sharp uptick in their use. This is particularly in relation to space missions and technologies.…

Data released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia on September 11 shows that while the country’s industrial production growth returned to positive territory in July for the first time since February by booking 1.2%, the textiles, apparel, leather and footwear sectors were still suffering.…

TEXT fraud is maybe more dangerous that email fraud, given the tendency for mobile phone users to respond to texts swiftly and without careful thought, cyber-security experts warn.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also created opportunities for fraudsters using texts and messaging services such as WhatsApp to launch fishing and other attacks on the unwary.…

GRAPHENE, a form of carbon, formed into a single layer of atoms arranged in two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, has been hailed as a super-material – highly conductive (heat and power), strong, stable, and absorbent of light and liquid. It is the latter quality that has caught the eye of the petroleum sector, with graphene being used to help clean up oils spills.…

HONG Kong textile industry observers are confident that an announcement by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that imported goods produced in Hong Kong must from September 25 be marked as ‘made-in-China’ will not significantly harm clothing traders and manufacturers operating from the territory.…

Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal is one of the largest ever embezzlement and money laundering cases, with Malaysian courts considering how at least USD4.5 billion was stolen and then spent or laundered from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has now been convicted of charges associated with the scandal.…

As the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) prepares to review India’s compliance with its AML/CFT recommendations during 2021, government authorities in New Delhi are confident of a positive resulting mutual evaluation report (MER).

According to Pawan Singh Tomar, former Principal Commissioner of Income Tax at India’s Income Tax Department, government official claims are not based on hubris.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is funding an international research project that is developing new fast ways of making colloids – mixtures of one substance comprising insoluble microscopic particles suspended in another substance – the building blocks of most coatings. It is the nature of paints and coatings are that they are colloids – liquids that contain ingredients that give paints and coatings their colours, textures and functional abilities.…

THE ASIA-Pacific region, even one-party states such as China, have developed legal protections for whistleblowers, although the comprehensive protection more commonly found in Europe is still usually absent.

South Korea is one jurisdiction leading the pack on developing robust whistleblower protections.…

THE ASIA nonwovens sector has been reaping the benefits of booming demand for protective medical materials during the Covid-19 crisis. But like the pandemic, this roaring demand will end, and nonwovens producers need to ready to a post-Covid-19 market.

This will mean reining in growth, but as David Price, founding partner of US-based management consultancy specialising in nonwovens Price Hanna Consultants, said, with regional nonwovens sales per person still low in global terms, the “market penetration for disposable and durable nonwovens in southeast Asia and China” is likely to grow regardless.…

With China turning from capital inflow to outflow amid Chinese companies’ global expansion programs, Chinese financial institutions are facing closer anti-money laundering scrutiny, as they, too, expand globally. Indeed, China’s top five banks had 1, 270 overseas branches at the end of 2017 (according to FATF (the Financial Action Task Force).…

TEXTILE and fibre innovators worldwide are seeking to tap growing demand for antimicrobial, virus and bacteria killing fibres and fabrics generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, encouraging clothing and fabric-makers to develop groundbreaking new technology.

Indeed, for companies such as HeiQ Materials AG – a Switzerland based textile innovation specialist – the pandemic has “opened a whole new chapter for the development of antimicrobial surfaces and textiles”, its co-founder and CEO Carlo Centonze told just-style.…

HONG Kong textile industry leaders have tried to reassure clothing traders and manufacturers operating from the territory they will not face serious harm by any change of diplomatic recognition prompted by the passage of a new HK security law. Speaking to just-style, Louis Chan, assistant principal economist (global research), for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), claimed that sourcing offices in HK would continue to operate smoothly: “As long as the subject merchandise is not made in Hong Kong, the possible revocation of the special trading relationship or any suspension of HKCO (Hong Kong country of origin) recognition should have little or even no direct impacts on HK’s re-exports (of those items),” he argued.…

Supermarkets and convenience stores in Taiwan are making room for an expanding and dizzying array of fresh milk products and with some of the highest consumer milk prices in the world and local dairy farmers struggling to meet demand, especially in the peak summer months, this is good news for exporting overseas producers.…

New aspiring entrants to the AML/CFT and other compliance sectors will be hard hit regarding available jobs and related pay and conditions by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, according to international recruitment agency Randstad. Its Hong Kong director banking and financial services Rick Chung warned: “Similar to what we have witnessed during the global financial crisis, it will be challenging for fresh graduates to secure jobs during these extraordinary times.”…

THE COVID-19 pandemic has proved a mixed blessing for Hong Kong-based garment supplier Esquel. While export earnings have plummeted, Esquel has pivoted by adding non-medical use face masks to its product line, which it will sell under the company’s own label Determinant – boosting its profile.…

With many brands and manufacturers unable to visit factories due to travel bans and lockdowns during the Covid-19 crisis, experts have told just-style that there are numerous ways they can still proceed with responsible sourcing, using trusted local representatives. Hervé Ostrowski, chief operating officer at Hong Kong-based supply chain compliance solutions provider QIMA, advised that “brands must have reliable boots on the ground…who can still carry out onsite audits when possible.”…

The Covid-19 pandemic has given email fraudsters an opening to increase the effectiveness of their duplicitous communications and sharpen the harm that they cause to companies and individuals receiving these malicious messages.

“All forms of cyber fraud are way up,” said Mason Wilder, senior research specialist at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).…

THE CHINESE government has announced that it will add another 46 cross-border e-commerce pilot zones in the country, bringing the number to 105, according to the State Council, effectively mainland China’s cabinet. The move is designed to help revive China’s export industries, which have been damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.…

INTRODUCTION – SERIES

A series of reports from WTiN is exploring the need for the textile and clothing sector to protect itself against attacks from cybercriminals as it invests in new transformative Industry 4.0 technologies – extended reality, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.…

GERMANY’S strong paint and coatings industry is facing a significant loss in sales because of the global Covid-19 pandemic – Germany expects a fall in economic output of up to 20% in 2020. Industry experts expect that the country’s coatings and paint industry will suffer accordingly.…

• 1MDB SCANDAL IN MALAYSIA SEES USD BILLIONS STOLEN AND HIDDEN

Malaysia 1MDB scandal is one of the largest money laundering cases ever, worldwide, with Malaysian courts considering charges over how at least USD4.5 billion was stolen and then spent or laundered from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad by former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his associates.…

Joe O’Regan is a busy man, and busier than ever because of Covid-19, the novel coronavirus that has upended global life on an unprecedented scale.

“These past few weeks have been a complete game changer for all of us,” says O’Regan, FCCA, the director of Harvard University’s Global Support Services (GSS), a relatively new organisation within the university that supports students, faculty, and staff overseas — from responding to overseas emergencies to repatriating university affiliates in times of crisis.…

HONG Kong listed companies have been given an additional 60 days to file annual reports because of the Coronavirus pandemic, with the HK Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) saying additional delays maybe approved on a case-by-case basis.…

With the Korea Cosmetic Industry Institute (KCII) estimating there were USD11.7 billion’s worth of South Korean-made personal care products (‘K-beauty’) sales in 2019, including nearly USD6.49 billion in exports, and more than 16,000 individuals and businesses officially licensed to provide cosmetic products and services, South Korea’s cosmetic industry has the innate strength it will need to cope with the Covid-19 crisis.…

MALAYSIA’S new United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)-dominated government has announced a Malaysian Ringgit MYR250 billion (USD57 billion) spending package to help the economy withstand the Covid-19 epidemic. This includes paying a monthly wage subsidy of MYR600 (USD137) for three months for employers with a 50% drop in business since January 1 for workers with monthly salaries below MYR4,000 (USD915).…

THE USE of paint and coatings by airlines is far more than the choice of an elegant trip for tail fins and fuselages. High tech coatings help aircraft operate efficiently and play an increasingly important role in helping planes fly smoothly, reducing drag and hence carbon emissions.…

As paint company conferences go, the Sankeshu Paint Co’s annual Chinese New Year gathering was special. A room of sales executives wearing matching blue suits and red ties were serenaded with ‘Zui Mei de Shen Hu’ – ‘The Most Beautiful Shenzhou My Home’),” sung by a soprano before chairman Hong Jie strode on stage to rally his assembled ranks to shout in unison company slogans, such as “Full product range!…

THE MALAYSIAN government has issued a Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIB) Framework, which tells financial institutions of importance to Malaysia’s wider economy to hold minimum levels of reserves to protect themselves against troubled times. Mandatory ‘higher loss absorbency’ (HLA) requirements for listed systemic banks, ranging between 0.5% to 1.0% of risk-weighted assets, will come into force from January 31, 2021.…

AN INDONESIA-based fabric and yarn innovation centre has hailed success in developing wood-based cellulose fibres that it says are set to drive business in the multibillion-dollar Asian ethnic wear market. The ‘Lenzing Centre of Excellence’ (LCOE), operated by Austria’s Lenzing Group in Purwakarta, West Java, Indonesia, has just completed its first year of operations, with its R&D focus ranging from Indonesian batik to Muslim hijabs and Indian saris.…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are being touted as game-changing solutions to improve the detection of financial crimes, including AML/CFT, but despite some promising results there are obstacles to roll-out, not least regulators’ ability to green-light new technologies as well as effectively utilise the data they produce.…

ITALY’S cosmetic and personal care product market remained strong through 2019, with major players in the industry focused on strengthening digital retail and production strategies to further connect with consumers, while deepening their presence in foreign markets, particularly in Asia. 

The year 2019 was also dynamic in terms of acquisitions, with a handful of Italian BPC (beauty and personal care) companies buying businesses that specialise in new and different products to extend their reach in new product categories, both domestically and abroad.…

HONG Kong has signed an avoidance of double taxation agreement with its neighbour Macao, designed to boost trade and investment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area of southern China. The deal will ensure that any Macao tax paid by Hong Kong residents earning income from Macao will be a tax credit in Hong Kong and vice versa for Macao residents.…

The US-China trade war that has been hindering commerce since 2018 has hit the Chinese clothing and textile export sector severely, but companies that have invested in manufacturing sites outside China have been better protected, Esquel CEO John Cheh has told just-style.…

A queue formed at the L’Oréal stand at November’s China International Import Expo fair, in Shanghai: the French firm had set up photo opportunities to appeal the ‘Da ka’ set – Chinese slang referring to generation of selfie-taking youths who seemingly live to photograph themselves at important landmarks.…

In every industry, including the clothing and textile sector, sustainability often means huge amount of long-term investment – be it new sewage processing systems or recycling technology. But how to get rewards from these investments? At the Integral Conversation conference held by Hong Kong-based shirt manufacturer, Esquel, in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on November 8, companies in the fashion industry were exploring solutions.…

THE INLAND Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has for the first time used powers of arrest, in October and November raids, holding 10 suspected members of a crime syndicate, suspected of operating a GST carousel fraud. Chains of sales and purchases have ended in goods disappearing or being exported, with dishonest participants claiming input tax for GST, which is ultimately never paid to the government.…

A MAJOR textile and clothing exporter in Vietnam hopes that it is influencing the country’s growing fabric and apparel industry to become more sustainable – telling WTiN.com of its good environmental practice.

Delman Lee, president and chief technology officer of Hong Kong-based TAL Apparel Ltd, which produces shirts and polo knits at two factories in Vietnam’s Vinh Phuc province, north of Hanoi, exporting mainly to the USA, claimed the company has been improving its sustainability for more than a decade.…

Aggregated data on shared utility platforms operating across global financial services would “remove banks’ fiefdoms, internal silos that stop them from making the KYC process more informed” and “reduce the risk of bad actors entering the financial system through a weak link,” a report from financial services technology providers Celent, in Boston, USA, has claimed.…

THE NEW European Commission, which is now expected to assume office on December 1, is expected to push the further harmonisation of European Union (EU) food labelling rules regarding nutrition. Incoming EU health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, of Cyprus, said she wanted to see the Commission act against pack claims declaring that products were healthy when they contained “a high level of sugar, fat or salt”.…

INTELLIGENT materials make for packaging with better functionality and security, and innovative producers worldwide are developing better protection for personal care products.

Market researcher Smithers Pira, in a January 2018 report The Future of Active & Intelligent Packaging to 2023, notes potential uses for cosmetics manufacturers includes greater levels of engagement with customers, more personalised products and enhanced security and tracking features.…

VIETNAM has been a major textile production hub for years and, as the country’s government pushes sectors to embrace technology associated with the Industry 4.0 movement, some companies are adapting advanced methods such as digital textile printing.

According to statistics from India-based Mordor Intelligence, Vietnam is the third-largest garment exporter in the world, with the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea serving as major destination markets. …

IRISH accounting executives are busy advising clients on how to benefit from a new wave of Chinese investment that is moving into Ireland. At a party staged at the Convention Centre Dublin this September to mark 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Ambassador He Xiangdong said Chinese investors “are in a good mood” about Ireland, with Chinese foreign direct investment into the Republic exceeding EUR128 million from this January-June, up 75% year-on-year.…

CHINA’S ministry of finance drafted regulations punishing accountants violating national accounting laws. Proposals under public consultation would include blacklisting accountants found guilty of fabricating, hiding or destroying financial reports, books and documents, or telling other accountants to undertake such malpractice. Accountants involved in embezzlement would suffer the same fate.…

HONG Kong’s government has released tax measures to support an economy buffeted by political protests, the US-China trade war and headwinds from a potential hard Brexit. Its financial secretary announced that 27 groups of government fees and charges would be waived for 12 months to benefit sectors including maritime, logistics, retail, catering, tourism, construction, agriculture and fisheries businesses.…

HONG Kong’s government has released tax measures to support an economy buffeted by political protests, the US-China trade war and headwinds from a potential hard Brexit. Its financial secretary announced that 27 groups of government fees and charges would be waived for 12 months to benefit sectors including maritime, logistics, retail, catering, tourism, construction, agriculture and fisheries businesses.…

CONTINUOUS dyeing technology is being refined and improved and offering finishers worldwide the chance to improve their output efficiency, while reducing chemical, water and energy usage. However, emerging markets finishers can struggle to find the investment costs required to install this top-line cutting edge dyeing machinery.…

WHILE the future of Hong Kong’s political stability hangs in the balance given the long-term protests that have been wracking the territory, its underlying economy seems to be just holding together, with DBS Bank, for instance, in August projecting zero economic growth.…

THE INTENSIFYING trade war between the USA and China has proved to be an opportunity for some larger Chinese clothing manufacturing firms, some of which had already built capacity overseas, notably in southeast Asia, and Vietnam especially. These companies have been able to adjust to the worsening tariff barriers to the US market for China-sourced exports, whereas smaller companies unable to afford new SE Asia operations have suffered.…

TEXTILE and garment-makers in Vietnam need to continue investing in new technology to remain competitive and make their ability to meet growing demand sustainable, exports say. And there is concern that the capital required may be tough for small-and-medium-sized manufacturers to source.…

WITH anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls becoming ever more comprehensive, strategic and widespread, the demand for trained AML/CFT professionals is growing. Salaries are increasing, as a result. This good compensation reflects the fact that AML work is becoming increasingly demanding because of regulatory requirements, said Michael Harris, director, financial crime compliance, at LexisNexis Risk Solutions.…

A MEMORANDUM of understanding (MoU) has been signed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) with China’s ministry of finance and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) boosting SFC access to audit working papers from audits of HK-listed mainland companies.…

WOLLASTONITE has been described by a Canadian producer as “a white mineral for a greener world,” and it seems governments, businesses and industries agree – with wollastonite is set to see increased market growth in its traditional uses plus a new focus on its powerful qualities to help tackle climate change.…

WOLLASTONITE has been described by a Canadian producer as “a white mineral for a greener world,” and it seems governments, businesses and industries agree – with wollastonite is set to see increased market growth in its traditional uses plus a new focus on its powerful qualities to help tackle climate change.…

AFRICAN swine fever (ASF) has been squeezing pork supplies in China to a point where the country’s political leadership fears upheaval, as reflected by the country’s government influenced social media restricting ASF-related discussion. Even academic articles, if ASF-themed, now require explicit regulatory approval before publishing, informed sources in China, who requested anonymity, told just-food.  …

This July is the 30th anniversary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which developed its 40 recommendations on anti-money laundering (AML) and nine special recommendations on combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) – but the jury is still out on whether the AML/CFT system it has created is really working.…

HONG Kong accountants may see an increase in demand for non-financial assessments, with the HK Stock Exchange consulting on proposed new environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. It is proposing introducing mandatory disclosure requirements to include board statements considering ESG issues; and what reporting principles are used to develop company ESG reports.…

Since China’s Premier Li Keqiang has announced his country’s ‘War on Pollution’ in 2014, the world’s main supplier of synthetic fibres and the second-largest supplier of cotton has consistently reduced its textile sector’s adverse impact on the environment.

The government has introduced a slew of new environmental controls and these continue to be introduced.…

THE INTERNATIONAL clothing industry needs to take a holistic and assertive approach to fighting intellectual property theft and counterfeiting, which while can be easier to detect today, because of advances in data analysis, still poses a significant threat, an expert USA seminar was told.…

THE INTERNATIONAL airport industry is assessing the potential impact of Airbus’ cancellation, from 2021, of its manufacturing programme for the wide-bodied A380 airliner – a plane that sparked multi-million dollar improvements to airports worldwide.

Faced with a reduction in orders from its key supporter, Emirates airline, of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Airbus announced when releasing its 2018 results on February 14, that its programme to build this ground-breaking large jet would be wound up.…

This year’s edition of Italy’s premier beauty trade fair, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna (March 15-18) and its packaging “show within the show” Cosmopack have showcased innovations that will help pull the global personal care product sector towards a more sustainable future.

The 52nd edition of the successful B2B platform drew over 265,000 cosmetic beauty professionals, boasting an increase in visitors from abroad by 10% compared to the previous year.…

EAST Asia’s two personal care product industry giants – Japan and South Korea – have long been competing for major slices of the regional and global beauty market. At present, however, Japan’s industry seems to be performing more solidly than its rival, which is struggling with the fall-out of diplomatic problems with Asia’s largest market – China.…

MALAYSIA has extended its grace period for taxpayers who have under-paid in the past, allowing for low penalties should undeclared income be filed on returns this year. This even covers taxpayers who have yet to register with the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia, and those who have registered but have not submitted ITRF/PRF/RPGTRF returns.…

THE HONG Kong government’s 2019 budget is to include a planned 75% reduction of profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the 2018-19 tax year, up to Hong Kong dollars HKD20,000 (USD2,547) per case. These breaks will cost HKD18.9 billion (USD2.4 billion), benefiting about 2.05 million taxpayers.…

Nuclear power industry executives, investors and officials in Beijing and abroad are watching a new atomic energy law winding its way through the Chinese legislative system. The ‘Draft Atomic Energy Law’ was first submitted to the country’s State Council (China’s cabinet) by the ministry for industry and information technology (which oversees the sector) in January 2015.…

TRADE-based money laundering (TBML) continues to be a complex typology that is tough for law enforcement to detect and ML regulators to control.

The risk is that with Iran being subject to new USA sanctions, the use of TBML is going to grow in the short term, warn experts.…

THE GLOBAL art trade’s exposure to abuse by money launderers is to come under scrutiny as the European Union (EU) countries have started adopting the 5th EU anti-money laundering directive (EU 2018/843 – 5AMLD), which brings cultural artefacts trading under AML controls.…

GOVERNMENTS can play a huge role in determining how, when and whether an airport is built – and freed from the market constraints that limit most businesses, these decisions can have big consequences – for good and for ill. When dealing with mega-projects costing billions of dollars, government airport constructions decisions can also have a lot of unintended consequences.…

THE SINGAPORE government is to phase out between 2020 and 2024 a ‘not ordinarily resident’ tax scheme, where talented overseas workers enjoy tax concessions over five years. This includes not being taxed on work undertaken outside Singapore and an employer’s contribution to a non-mandatory overseas pensions or provident fund being tax exempt.…

THE SINGAPORE government is to phase out between 2020 and 2024 a ‘not ordinarily resident’ tax scheme, where talented overseas workers enjoy tax concessions over five years. This includes not being taxed on work undertaken outside Singapore and an employer’s contribution to a non-mandatory overseas pensions or provident fund being tax exempt.…

THE DYNAMIC east Asian powerhouses of Hong Kong and Singapore are both models for good practice in anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) – sharing both an efficient and open UK-inspired legal system and a need for a clean image internationally that helps maintain their status as hubs of global trade and finance.…

A FREE trade zone system in Egypt, linking its businesses with Israeli suppliers, is being targeted by Chinese companies wanting to access the USA, as the Trump trade war risks exports to America through standard channels. The resulting investment has been welcomed in Egypt, but some clothing and textile industry commentators are warning that large Chinese firms could muscle out local players unless Egyptian businesses are given time to mature.…

Digital textile printing is a niche sector in Egypt but is expected to grow as demand for sports and active wear increases within its clothing sector, bolstered by government-supported initiatives to treble garment and textile exports by 2025.

Egypt has a long history of garment and textile manufacturing, but the sector’s strength has been in ‘cut and sew’ due to the country’s low labour costs, at between USD60 to USD100 a month.…

Considerable investments continue to be made in Italy’s beauty and personal care market continue despite this being a stagnant market, according to sector-specific and general economic data and forecasts,

Despite this, global retailers in the beauty and personal care (BPC) industry continue to eye up what remains one of continental Europe’s largest domestic BPC markets, knowing that consumer demand remains solid, even if not growing.…

THE CAMBODIAN government has good reason to be bullish about the potential loss of its European Union (EU) ‘Everything but Arms’ duty-free trade access – investment from China in its clothing and textile sector is booming. Prime Minister Hun Sen has threatened violence against Cambodian opposition leaders if the EU follows through on scrapping this trade preference.…

THE CAMBODIAN government has good reason to be bullish about the potential loss of its European Union (EU) ‘Everything but Arms’ duty-free trade access – investment from China in its clothing and textile sector is booming. Prime Minister Hun Sen has threatened violence against Cambodian opposition leaders if the EU follows through on scrapping this trade preference.…

The US and China at the G20 meeting in early December settled for a 90-day suspension of their bilateral trade war including a halt to any additional tariffs, but sourcing patterns are not going to become business-as-usual any time soon for China’s soybean sector.…

Malaysia’s money laundering regulation and policies may be on par with international best practice, but their implementation has been tested of late, experts say. These concerns have been sharpened by the scandal related to Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1 Malaysia Development Bhd or 1MDB, with Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak accused of channelling more than Malaysian Ringgit MYR 2.67 billion (USD700 million) from the fund to personal bank accounts.…

With manufacturing technology advancing at an ever-faster pace, sports apparel companies need to constantly look for ways to embrace new techniques to compete in a constantly changing landscape, an international industry meeting has been told.

Sustainability, blockchain and Industry 4.0 are three of the most important trends being considered by brands and their suppliers, and they were focal points at the sixth World Manufacturers Forum (WMF), organised by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from December 11-12.…

It is hard to avoid either a cosmetics store or an advertisement for one in Chinese cities today. A mind-boggling wave of new retailers set up by investment firms to cash in on the cosmetics and personal care boom are eagerly seeking franchisees around the country.…

FINANCIAL institutions and other anti-money laundering reporting sectors within Vietnam have had to grapple, since January 1, with a revised Penal Code, which has changed how money laundering is defined in criminal law.

In its 2018, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), the USA State Department notes that this “revises the money laundering offence and adds criminal liability for legal persons involved in money laundering.”…

The Philippines’ latest national trade data, published on October 10, has suggested that a recent slump may be over for this southeast Asian country’s troubled garment export sector. It was considered a sunrise industry during the 1990s but has since fallen far behind its Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian counterparts.…

Already a world-leader in terms of knitted products for the sports clothing and outdoors-wear sectors, Japan’s Descente Ltd this July opened a state-of-the-art research and development centre that the company anticipates will help it create “the world’s fastest high-performance wear”.

According to the Osaka-based company, the new initiative is built on the concept of being “fast”.…

AFRICAN garment and textile manufacturers have a long way to go to increase capacity, develop the supply chain and diversify overall production away from North Africa, an industry conference staged in Cairo has been told. But while north Africa accounts for more than USD10 billion out the continent’s USD13.54 billion in clothing and textile exports (during 2016, according to international trade data), the much discussed potential of Africa as the world’s next sourcing hub is starting to materialise.…

AFRICAN garment and textile manufacturers have a long way to go to increase capacity, develop the supply chain and diversify overall production away from North Africa, an industry conference staged in Cairo has been told. But while north Africa accounts for more than USD10 billion out the continent’s USD13.54 billion in clothing and textile exports (during 2016, according to international trade data), the much discussed potential of Africa as the world’s next sourcing hub is starting to materialise.…

COUNTERFEIT foodstuffs were the most common fake good seized by European Union (EU) customs in 2017 – making up 24% of the total – as fakers increasingly look the Internet to sell their illicit wares. Keith Nuthall unpicks the latest EU data on pirated products.…

THE NEW Malaysian government has released its first budget – for 2019 – reducing corporation tax for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 18% to 17% on their first Malaysian Ringgit MYR500,000 (USD119,484) of taxable income. It has also tightened rules on companies transferring up to 70% of their losses to the balance sheet of a related company – limiting such transfers to three years’ contiguous tax returns, there are currently no time limits.…

THE HONG Kong government has responded to European Union (EU) concerns that its tax system unfairly benefits offshore investment funds by offering them profits tax exemptions. HK is proposing these breaks also apply to onshore funds. The EU had identified these offshore rights as a potentially harmful tax practice, threatening to add HK on its list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, potentially sparking financial sanctions.…

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has released proposals to expand the China special administrative region’s politically exposed person (PEP) controls to cover senior officials within international organisations.

The SFC has said that these expanded AML/CFT controls would also apply to customers of a licensed corporation in HK entrusted with a prominent public function by a foreign government and an international organisation simultaneously.…

With traditional universities increasingly using web-based learning as a way of recruiting students world-wide, University World News spoke to the head of Italy’s top online university to see how it has developed a successful model for international higher learning

Enrollments for the 2018-2019 school year at the Rome-based International Telematic University, Uninettuno, have exceeded expectations, university rector Maria Amata Garito, shared with UWN: “I can confirm that enrolments have jumped quite a bit this year – up by circa 200% compared to last year,” said Garito.…

THE SECURITIES and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has announced a strategic framework to develop green finance. A priority will be to enhance listed companies’ consistent and comparable disclosure of environmental information, emphasising climate-related risks and opportunities. The SFC will also help asset managers clarify how and to what extent they factor environmental criteria into their investment processes and risk assessments.…

CHINA’S State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) aims to between 2016 and 2020 double domestic sales of premium cigarettes whose retail prices exceed Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY200/carton of 10 packs (USD29.10), or CNY20 per pack, (‘category one’ in Chinese language), compared to 2011-2015 sales.…

A SALES and Services Tax (SST), replacing Malaysia’s now abolished goods and services tax (GST), has come into force (from September 1), via the new Sales Tax Act 2018 and the Service Tax Act 2018. The SST is a single-stage tax, a sales and services tax imposed on manufacturers and service providers rather than end customers, as with the 6% GST.…

Cryptocurrencies have made a big splash across Asia, and governments have taken very different regulatory approaches to curb associated financial scams and money laundering.

While there is one group of countries that has banned the operation and use of cryptocurrencies entirely, including China, India and Vietnam, a second category spans countries that see cryptocurrencies as potentially boosting their own financial sectors.…

Taiwan has become the top importer of Japanese beef, less than one year since lifting a ban on the product. The 16-year ban was put in place following outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease in Japan in 2001 but was lifted in September 2017.…

A new report from Transparency International has found that only 11 major exporting countries in the world significantly punish companies that pay bribes abroad. The report, called ‘Exporting Corruption’, also found that more than half of world exports come from at least 33 jurisdictions, including several European Union (EU) member states, where companies that export corruption along with their goods and services face weak consequences. …

The UK and Australia are poles apart geographically but share the aim of becoming leaders in using or selling hydrogen for energy. The scheduled unveiling in November (2018) of a conceptual design to convert an eighth (8.3 million) of the UK’s population to 100% low-carbon hydrogen gas between 2028 and 2035 matters.…

A SALES and Services Tax (SST), replacing Malaysia’s now abolished goods and services tax (GST), has come into force (from September 1), via the new Sales Tax Act 2018 and the Service Tax Act 2018. The SST is a single-stage tax, a sales and services tax imposed on manufacturers and service providers rather than end customers, as with the 6% GST.…

THE MALAYSIAN government has approved a new minimum wage of Malaysian Ringgit MYR1,500 (USD368) for the private sector, but the new wages floor will be phased in gradually.

“If we push for higher minimum wages, cost of production will go up and we will not be competitive,” Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad told the country’s national news agency, Bernama, today.…

Signs of an accelerating relocation of garment investment from China to the Philippines are emerging, amidst the US imposing an additional 10% duty on textile and some clothing products from China. The Chinese government retaliation of an additional 25% duty on US cotton imports making raw material sourcing for China-based manufacturers more expensive has also raised the cost of doing business in China.…

Seeing strong growth in China’s adult-targeted, ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereals sector, global cereals manufacturers are speeding up new product launches in China to stay competitive. Nestlé, for example, introduced Fitness Granola into China last May (2017), initially via its online stores.…

China seems to have given the world nuclear industry back its mojo this summer with two big moves: the signing in June of an order for four Gen 3+ VVER-1200 reactors from Russia’s Rosatom. This certainly got the bubbly flowing at the World Nuclear Exhibition, in Paris, in late June, following two years of sluggish investment in this globalised industry.…

With a historic heat wave plaguing the Korean peninsula since the middle of July, killing at least 29 people and hospitalizing 2,300 others with heat-related illnesses, it is little surprising that suncare product sales have been booming in South Korea.

And while traditional sun protection products such as parasols and straw hats have sold well – July sales up 83% and 37% year-on-year respectively, according to local e-commerce website Auction, (www.auction.co.kr),…

Japan’s personal care sector experienced continued growth in 2017, with shipments surpassing Japanese Yen JPY1.6 trillion (USD14.34 billion) during the year to record a new record high. Virtually every sector recording an increase in sales on the previous year. Figures for the January-April period of 2018 suggest that this positivity is being carried over into this year, boding well for Japanese personal care product companies.…

ENVIRONMENTAL enforcement and product safety improvements were top priorities for China National Coatings Industrial Association, president Sun Lian Ying, when addressing her organisation’s annual summit, held in March (2018) in Jiangsu province. The meeting launched a ‘Green Development – Six Actions of China’s Coatings Industry Plan’ for the industry, which included pledges to pledges to reduce pollution in production plants while increasing the industry’s range of environmentally-friendly, highly innovative products.…

THE OUTLOOK for European Union (EU) beef, sheep and goat meat imports looks bleak, with sales tumbling, according to an EU agricultural markets 2018 and 2019 forecast released by the European Commission.

Beef exports started falling by December 2017, and this has continued into this year, with exports almost 15% lower in the first four months of 2018 year-on-year.…

AFTER sending its first batch of heat-treated pork products to China last month, Denmark’s Danish Crown is optimistic about generating as much as EUR25 to EUR50 million (USD29-58 million) in export sales to this key market, within a few years.

In February this year, meat processor Danish Crown subsidiary, the Tulip Food Company received permission from China regulators to export heat-treated meat that included ham, sausages and pepperoni.…

THE EUROPEAN car industry has welcomed a commitment by the European Union’s (EU) executive body, the European Commission’ – in a policy paper (called a ‘communication’ on automated mobility) – to have all new vehicles connected to the internet by 2022.…

THERE are growing calls for Hong Kong-based recruiters to re-think and speed up their hiring processes, after a latest study found that they are losing the best talent to unnecessary HR decision delays.

More than 72% of 500 Hong Kong job seekers have taken a second job “because their preferred employer took too long to give them an answer,” recruitment specialist Robert Half found in a study published last month (May 17).…

INCREASINGLY tough anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes is increasing demand for AML/CFT compliance staff. And with financial institutions and non-financial AML reporters having to convince regulators that they take AML/CFT compliance seriously these professionals are needed: their salaries are rising as a result.…

The new realities of accelerating wage growth and the global shift towards placing smaller orders needs to be answered by Vietnam-based garment-makers by embracing technology-driven automation, according to ThreadSol, an India-based technology company. It supplies leading manufacturers in Vietnam with production software driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data.…

THE SINGAPORE government has released an accountancy roadmap, enabling the profession in the city state to grow 5.6% annually to generate Singapore dollars SGD2.03 billion (USD1.48 billion) in nominal value-added income, creating 2,000 new PMET (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) jobs by 2020.…

SPAIN’S personal care product market is continuing to grow after years of post-financial crisis weakness. Spain’s skincare, cosmetic and perfume industry continues to mature, and has turned in solid sales figures for 2017, reflecting the optimistic mood of the economy after the ‘lost’ years of the recession.…

A EUROPEAN Commission plan to identify online and physical marketplaces outside the European Union (EU) where counterfeiting piracy or other forms of intellectual property (IP) abuse are common practices has brought hope to the cosmetics sector. Continuously confronted with counterfeit and black-market goods, the legitimate industry sees the EU’s upcoming ‘Counterfeit and Piracy Watch-List’ as a way to minimise financial losses from pirates and smugglers.…

THE MALAYSIAN government has effectively scrapped the country’s Goods & Services Tax (GST) reducing its rate from 6% to 0%, effective June 1. The move follows the election of a new administration under former opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan, defeating the incumbent Barisan Nasional.…

CHINA’S State Council has announced reductions in mainland VAT, with businesses being saved Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY400 billion (USD62.8 billion) in this year alone, it has said. Rates have been lowered (from May 1, 2018) from 17% to 16% for manufacturing and other industries, and 11% to 10% for transport, construction bills, standard telecommunications service, and direct farm output purchasers by consumers (12% when these goods are bought by manufacturers for onward processing).…

THE CANADIAN fur industry is adapting to changes in consumer demand by looking to new uses of pelts, including fur yarns that can be knitted or weaved, as well as the use of fur for trimming. The resulting product lines are intended for a broader target market, including clothing and accessories that will appeal to a new generation.…

WITH growing digitalisation set to transform 79% of Hong Kong jobs by 2021, according to a new Microsoft study, industry experts have called for a shift in HR thinking to consider “every company as a digital company”.

Microsoft Hong Kong and Macau general manager Cally Chan told People Management she would like to see HR departments start “creating a digital culture” in their organisations – encouraging the use of data across all work and processes within a company.  …

Taiwan’s first national risk assessment (NRA) report on money laundering has identified domestic banks and domestic banks’ offshore banking units (OBUs) as being very vulnerable to dirty money flows. The detailed study has been compiled ahead of an Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) meeting in November in which Taiwan is scheduled to undergo its third round of mutual evaluations.…

THE HONG Kong-based shirt producer Esquel Group has been bedding in operations of a new ground-breaking manufacturing facility launched in March. Based in the Jiumeiqiao area, Guilin, Guangxi province, in southern China, it is part of a Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY2 billion (USD313.3 million) Esquel sustainable manufacturing investment project called ‘Integral’.…

Wagyu beef produced from olive-fed cattle on a remote island in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea is experiencing exponential demand at home and abroad thanks to its healthy fats and ‘umami’ (savoury) flavour.

The meat, which was first produced in 2016, gained national recognition last year (2017) at the Wagyu Olympics, Japan’s premier beef show, where it received a ‘fat quality award’.…

Prospects for US beef sales in Taiwan are looking rosy, buoyed by a good economy and greater demand from Korean BBQ and hotpot restaurants sourcing high quality cuts, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF). Joel Haggard, the association’s senior vice president of its Asia-Pacific office, in Hong Kong, told GlobalMeatNews: for the past year or so “there’s a kind of a ‘meat boom’ happening; what we’re seeing is more outlets trying to do business with beef on their menus,” and adding that a “robust” economic growth was fueling diner interest.…

THE ORGANISERS of Italy’s premier beauty trade fair, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, are claiming a record number of visitors and international buyers attending this year’s 51st edition of the event from March 15-19. Exceeding the 250,000 visitors from last year’s Cosmoprof, attending foreign buyers, distributors and retail representatives grew 11% in 2018, year-on-year.…

THE SOUTH Korean cosmetics market, currently evaluated by Frost & Sullivan at USD12.4 billion and growing at 7% year-on-year, is leaving behind the negative effects of a de facto boycott by Chinese tourists. The travel freeze, sparked by Seoul’s decision to install a US-made anti-missile system to protect itself from North Korea, has been in place since early 2017.…

For the first time since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, the African country’s tobacco selling season opened on March 21 this year with long time ruler Robert Mugabe no longer in power.

Former President Mugabe resigned last November (2017), faced with impeachment proceedings from Zimbabwe’s lawmakers, with the country’s generals and his own ZANU-PF party having turned against him.…

DEFERRED Prosecution Agreements (DPAs), that allow companies and individuals that admit to wrongdoing and cooperate with investigators and avoid prosecution, are becoming increasingly common worldwide, including for money laundering offences. The systems are particularly useful sticks to force erring financial and other corporate institutions to improve their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism systems (AML/CFT), with prosecuting agencies deferring criminal cases on condition of sustained AML/CFT reforms.…

HONG Kong’s Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) has released a detailed risk-based action plan for boosting the ability of the special administrative region (SAR) to fight money laundering and terror finance (ML/TF). A risk assessment report has concluded that this key Asian financial centre’s banking sector faces “high ML/TF risks”, including fraud, tax evasion, corruption and sanctions evasion, with private banking, trade finance, international funds transfer, and retail and corporate banking all vulnerable.…

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) conference in Washington DC, on April 25, has heard how the clothing sector needs to boost innovation to sharpen its competitive edge in commercially uncertain times.

Whether creating prototypes from designs within minutes through 3D printing, fabrics being dyed as completed pieces and introducing wearable technology throughout wardrobes, speakers stressed how new concepts could all become mainstream in the clothing industry’s future.…

International activity to understand and potentially extract natural gas from methane hydrates has intensified since 2010 with the continuation and launch of new research and development (R&D) projects and field production tests offshore and onshore, as shown in a new overview by Carolyn D Ruppel, chief of the gas hydrates project at the United States Geological Survey (USGS).(1)…

Workplace automation, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, is expected to surge significantly in the next three years in companies throughout Asia Pacific, but companies and HR departments need to do more to address the transformation, warn experts.…

LOCAL human resources experts have given a cautious welcome to a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) plan to attract more foreign labour as part of a solution to dealing with its ageing workforce, but warned further measures are needed to tackle the problem long term.…

Asian companies are more likely to lose senior management staff after mergers and acquisitions (M&A) than their western counterparts, a study has found. This, say HR experts in Singapore and Hong Kong, emphasises the need for more sophisticated talent retention strategies in the region.…

Brussels South Charleroi Airport has has to rethink its development plans after a January 25 ruling in the European Union’s (EU) General Court forced a 500% hike in its concession fee.  The court (part of the European Court of Justice) threw out Charleroi’s challenge to the European’s Commission 2004 decision that the EUR3 million annual concession fee that Belgium’s Wallonia Region was charging the airport was an illegal subsidy under the bloc’s state aid rules.…

StarLux Airlines, a Taiwanese premium carrier now under development, that hopes to start operations by 2020, is to focus first on short-haul flights to airports in northeast and southeast Asia, the company told Jane’s Airport Review. “We are evaluating all sort of possibilities for the choice of route for the first flight,” it said.…

Japan is now the United States’ leading export market for beef, in value and volume, and largest market for pork exports in value, according to 2017 trade data released by the US department of agriculture (USDA).

In the past calendar year, Japan imported 307,559 metric tonnes of US beef, an increase of 19% year-on-year, worth USD1.89 billion, which marks a 25% increase in value year-on-year from 2016.…

BELGIUM must act as soon as possible to restore consumer confidence in the meat it buys from supermarkets following a meat fraud scandal involving Belgian meat trader Veviba, the national Belgian federation of slaughterhouses – FEBEV, the country’s farmers’ union, its meat industry and retailers are saying.…

THE HONG Kong financial secretary has proposed a 75% reduction of profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the 2017-18 assessment year, up to Hong Kong dollars HKD30,000 (USD3,820) per case. In his annual budget speech, Paul Chan also proposed widening tax bands, adding one more (HKD150,000 to HKD200,000); adjusting marginal tax rates for salaries tax; introducing a personal disability allowance; increasing basic, additional child allowances, dependent parent/grandparent allowance and additional allowance.…

THE UK and the European Union (EU) have started debating in detail future cooperation on fighting cross-border crime following Britain’s formal exit from the bloc on March 29, 2019. The European Commission, has released a draft withdrawal agreement – the focus of subsequent talks, sparking another details paper indicating what Britain has signed up to, and what it still under discussion.…

HONG Kong tertiary education suppliers are recognising the need to ensure vocational skills are integrated into their courses, as the territory faces up to a skill shortage “epidemic”, highlighted by employment surveys.

One – released last September (2017) by Hong Kong based think tank, the Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, that polled 2,493 parents and students, found that a high proportion of university graduates did not match the labour market needs.…

JAPAN’S long-standing exposure to organised crime groups such as the Yakuza means that however effective the country’s anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems maybe, they will continue to face sophisticated challenges.

Despite enhanced criminal and civil legislation targeting Japan’s underworld groups, such as the February 2000 Act on the Punishment of Organised Crimes and the March 2007 Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds (See part 4 at https://www.npa.go.jp/sosikihanzai/jafic/en/maneron_e/manetop_e.htm),…

JAPANESE wagyu beef exports to Taiwan are set to soar as meat producers tap into demand following the lifting of a 16-year ban on the product, while riding on the tailwind of a Japanese government promotional campaign.

The ban on imports of Japanese wagyu, imposed after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease in Japan in 2001, was lifted by the Taiwan government last September (2017).…

SINGAPORE is to levy good and services tax (GST) on imported services from January 1, 2020, to help city state e-commerce service providers compete with foreign suppliers. B2B imported services will be taxed via a reverse charge mechanism. The move was announced in the government’s 2018 budget, that was announced on February 19.…

FINANCIAL crime experts are urging Indonesia to step up its war on terror financing and money laundering highlighting the south-east Asian nation’s vulnerability to these threats. The USA state department’s 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) noted these threats are significant despite Indonesia neither being a regional financial centre nor an offshore financial haven.…

SINGAPORE’S Accounting Standards Council (ASC) has issued the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (International) (SFRS(I)s), the city state’s equivalent of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). This new set of rules will cover Singapore-incorporated listed company accounts for annual periods beginning January 1, 2018, and onwards.…

MERGERS and acquisitions are always motors of change in the beauty and personal care product sector, and 2017 saw some significant shifts in the key Italian industry. Important acquisitions designed to extend product portfolios and boost market share included the move by Lombardy-based global leader in colour make-up and skincare Intercos to acquire leading contract manufacturer of skin-, hair- and body-care, Cosmint.  …

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.…

*The European Union (EU) Council of Ministers has published a blacklist of jurisdictions it thinks do not cooperate sufficiently with international efforts to reduce tax evasion. They are American Samoa, Bahrain, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, South Korea, Macau, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Palau, Panama, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers today (December 5) adopted a money laundering blacklist, bringing widespread criticism because the listing – designed to prevent tax fraud and evasion – only covers countries outside the 28-nation bloc. Despite the European Commission screening 92 jurisdictions worldwide, the final list of non-cooperative jurisdictions in taxation matters only contains 17 jurisdictions: American Samoa, Bahrain, Barbados, Grenada, Guam (another US territory), South Korea, Macau (a China special administrative region), the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Namibia, Palau, Panama, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).…

China appears to be stepping up a gear regarding its fight against money laundering, judging by the propaganda campaign ongoing across the country this winter. Uniformed staff of the Postal Savings Bank of China have, for instance, been out on the streets of the city of Jian in Jiangxi Province, handing out leaflets to pedestrians warning about the dangers of money laundering.…

NEW Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signal a promising outlook for the Vietnamese textile industry with tariff concessions providing the biggest stimulus to figures, according to the country’s trade officials.

Attendees at the 17^th Vietnam International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition, held late last month (November 22-25th) in Ho Chi Minh City, heard the deals will impact significantly on the national textile sector.…

The programme called ‘”From School To Work” Buddy Programme’, initiated by the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management (HKIHRM), is set to be rolled out in January 2018 – marking the institute’s 40^th anniversary.

The six months long programme will offer “one-on-one, peer-to-peer mentoring and coaching for HR students in their final year of study in universities and academic institutions about career aspirations and goals,” HKIHRM president David Li said.…

THE HUMAN resources sector has been urged to put pressure on governments and investment fund managers in Asia to strengthen pension provisions as they deal with the consequences of rapidly aging populations.

And HR and economics experts have warned that corporate HR teams have a critical role to play in educating the workforce about the extent, however limited, of their pension provision and working with company bosses to strengthen policies within their organisations to compensate for the lack of robust schemes in existence.…

EMPLOYERS in Hong Kong should find it easier to recruit staff with the right skills according to the latest labour participation rates for the city, which indicates there is an increasing number of potential workers available to fill posts.

Hong Kong – with a population of seven million and a workforce estimated at just under four million, split almost equally between male and female – has had to face up to a diminishing talent pool in recent years, partly due to emigration and partly due to a fluctuating birth rate.…

WITH east and southeast Asia’s labour market tightening, companies and governments are developing innovative schemes to entice a key resource into their workforces – returning professionals, who have taken a break from their careers.

Morgan Stanley through its Return to Work 2018 programme aims to lure such “experienced” workers to restart their lives as employees at this global financial firm through a 12-week paid internship in the company’s Hong Kong offices.…

Consumers in the home of cosmetics, France, appear to be combining the long-established traditions of French-made products with the ultra-modern twist of Korea-inspired ‘K-beauty’ items in their latest personal care trends.

Traditionally, mention France and cosmetics in the same breath and an image of class and sophistication is brought to mind.…

HONG Kong regulators have laid down binding rules on financial institutions insisting that they practice effective cybersecurity management. The special administrative region’s (SAR) Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued ‘Guidelines for Reducing and Mitigating Hacking Risks Associated with Internet Trading’ requiring all licensed or registered internet traders to implement 20 steps to reduce cyber-attack vulnerabilities.…

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.…

A LONG-TERM supplier for global big names such as Lacoste and Hugo Boss, Hong Kong-based shirt manufacturer Esquel is testing a new territory as it broadens its horizons sustainably – e-commerce clients who sell direct to consumers.

Earlier this year, it entered a partnership with NetEase, a major Chinese internet technology company but is also known for its newly established e-commerce business ‘NetEase Selection’ (NS).…

THE HOLD that ethical sourcing and sustainability has over the US fashion and apparel industries is not necessarily being cemented by customers, a major American clothing conference has heard – but by changing investor requirements.

Zeke Hart, director of sustainability services for accounting firm PwC, said at a presentation during the 29^th Annual Apparel Importers Trade and Transportation Conference, held in New York City, on November 15:

“You don’t want to rub it in the face of your consumers that they need to buy a more ethical pair of jeans.”…

With its history of currency counterfeiting, drug trafficking, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the laundering of related proceeds and payments, there is surely no state worldwide that has a worse money laundering track record than that of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea).…

AS the gig economy or ‘open talent economy’, grows within the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) region, how will it impact the area’s HR jobs? Experts warn that the number of full time, traditional personnel jobs are going to be cut significantly and the role of HR is bound to be disrupted.…

HUMAN resources experts in Asia have challenged the widely-held belief that recruiting more and more younger ‘digital natives’ who grew up in the Internet age is the best answer to technological developments completely transforming traditional work environments.

Personnel specialists in the tech-innovation-driven economies of Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia believe that an older more experienced workforce might actually be more beneficial to organisations mastering digital development challenges.…

HUMAN Resources experts across east and southeast Asia need to rethink what can be overly-automated hiring processes, lacking in personal touch, say some experts. Indeed, there is a need to rehumanise the candidate experience, according to a new study which found that too much automation puts off prospective candidates rather than attracts them.…

INNOVATIVE schemes are required to beat workplace stress and challenge organisational culture if HR bosses are to prevent Singapore’s productivity levels being damaged by increasingly worrying wellbeing issues, experts have warned.

Singapore-based Centre for Effective Living (CEL), a company promoting the psychological wellness of organisations, said they have seen a 10%-20% rise in the number of clients from the public as well as private sector seeking their help.…

International police agency Interpol and its European Union (EU) counterpart Europol have
announced what they say is the biggest hit ever against online piracy with law enforcers
taking down more than 20,500 websites selling counterfeit goods seized in 26 countries.
Participating countries were Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Britain,
Colombia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Moldova, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine, the USA
and China special administrative region Hong Kong.…

Using simple automation or more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) – where machines can simulate human intelligence – to perform HR jobs such as hiring, developing and engaging workers, has resulted in massive productivity gains. Consequently, it has made HR decision making more data-based rather than intuition-based and “Asia has certainly embraced digitisation,” global law firm Evershed Sutherland’s head of Hong Kong and Asia Pacific employment practice Jennifer Van Dale said.…

THE HONG Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Chinese special administrative region’s (SAR) central bank, has proposed removing requirements for financial institutions to secure proofs of address from their customers and their beneficial owners.

In guidance issued on October 11, the HKMA said it was “taking into account feedback from various stakeholders about AML/CFT processes and industry developments” to justify the move.…

AS one of the world’s leading financial centres and a traditional bridge to mainland China for international business, Hong Kong has long been in the crosshairs of global money laundering investigations.

Hong Kong featured in the infamous ‘Russian laundromat’ scandal, uncovered by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), that saw USD20 billion moved out of Russia between 2010 and 2014 through a web of shell companies.…

IT would be hard to design a jurisdiction with a greater exposure to money laundering than Macao. A small autonomous Chinese jurisdiction, next to the populous province of Guangzhou, which relies on a huge gambling sector for its income, it is no wonder that Macao has come under pressure from international assessors to run a tight ship regarding anti-money laundering (AML).…

IF the future of beauty in South Korea has a face – then that could be male, say beauty experts. Indeed, market researcher Euromonitor International expects sales of genderless beauty products to grow strongly in this key market in 2018, including face masks, BB/CC creams, toners and mists, lip gloss and tints, as well as sun protection lines. …

COMMERCIAL motivation coupled with a desire to make a difference in people’s lives is driving a new wave of social entrepreneurs in Singapore.

While social enterprise start-ups in Asia have traditionally been non-profit non-government organisations (NGOs), the new trend is for tech-savvy millennials to launch innovative and profitable, but also socially-inclusive projects.…

CONCERN is growing over the ability of Hong Kong’s education system to produce graduates with the skills needed by the Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) economy.

Hong Kong children start school early. While there’s a well-established government-run education system, every parent who can afford the fees wants to send their children to a private school.…

SINGAPORE has released details of how it plans to insist that sellers of mobile phones, memory cards and off-the-shelf software pay VAT on the sale rather than purchase of such goods, to prevent tax fraud. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) says that this reverse charge system is designed to prevent black-marketers avoiding VAT payments, while customers lower down the supply chain continue to claim input tax.…

VIETNAM’S textile and clothing and textile sector is looking to sell more product into Asian markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan, while solidifying its traditional export bases like the US and EU, the latest trade data indicates. 

Last year, Vietnam exported USD2.28 billion’s worth of clothing and textiles to South Korea – a 7.45% gain compared with 2015, according to Vietnam customs data analysed by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). …

HONG Kong continues to be a thriving cosmetics and personal care market, with its local consumer base enjoying ample spending power and with traders benefiting from its strategic location as an import gateway to mainland China.  

GlobalData, a provider of business information and analytics, valued Hong Kong’s cosmetics and market at Hong Kong dollars HKD18.1 billion (USD2.3 billion) in 2016, largely dominated by imports.…

THE AUSTRALIAN cosmetic and toiletry retailing market has experienced modest growth amidst fierce competition over the past decade, figures reveal, with a constant stream of new products, many environmentally conscious, maintaining consumer interest in an otherwise saturated market.

According to California-based market research company IBISWorld, more than 18,000 people work in almost 4,000 businesses in the cosmetics industry in Australia, a country of more than 24 million people.…

THE IMPOVERISHED south-east Asian kingdom of Cambodia shares porous borders with the significantly more dynamic economies of Thailand and Vietnam, is notorious for corruption, has a large casino sector and generates significant earnings from illegal exports.

This precarious mixture of factors has since 2012 consecutively earned Cambodia a spot in the Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index (from the Basel Institute on Governance) top-10 risk jurisdictions for money laundering.…

AN ELDERLY person at home is like a living golden treasure. So runs an oft-quoted Chinese proverb – but Hong Kong is starting to ponder its worth in the wake of a warning that the city faces an “ageing tsunami” along with much of the region where innovative plans are being considered to tackle the looming crisis.…

MOST of East Asia’s dynamic economies have traditionally relied on expats and there are no readily discernible signs that this is decreasing.

In Vietnam, which has been benefitting from production lines migrating from China amid rapidly rising labour and land costs there, increasing the number of expats six-fold since 2004 to almost 100,000 in 2016, the shortage of engineers and managers can be seen throughout most sectors.…

THE EAST and south-east Asia HR sector is feeling the heat more than ever to plug the region’s gaping gender pay gap in the wake of a new initiative – launched on the fringes of the UN general assembly in New York last week (September 18).…

IMPROVING productivity and upskilling Malaysia’s public servants are key targets ahead of the country’s journey to a high-income nation by 2020, according to the government.  However, an HR expert urged the government to overhaul the national curriculum with public service improvements in mind for any meaningful skills improvements to take place.  …

CO-WORKING spaces (CWS) are taking off in Hong Kong, moving from beyond the start-up stage to a fully-fledged part of business life, figures reveal.

According to data from real estate services firm CBRE, CWS operators currently occupy 960,000 square feet of office space in China’s most prosperous Special Administrative Region and statistics indicate that slice of the office pie is about to get bigger.…

HONG KONG and Saudi Arabia has struck an agreement on avoiding double taxation so any Saudi Arabian tax paid by Hong Kong companies will be credited against tax payable on the same profits in the special administrative region. The same would apply to Saudi companies paying tax in Hong Kong.…

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.…

TAIWAN, a now a high-income economy with a population of 23.6 million and a per capita income of USD22,453 in 2016, (International Monetary Fund figures), has been witnessing robust growth in its cosmetics and personal care products manufacturing. In 2016, this grew by 5.99% year-on-year to Taiwan dollars TWD21.1 billion (USD700 million), according to an estimate by the Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center (IEK), a Hsinchu-based public-initiated think tank.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission is to hold a special meeting with European Union (EU) ministers and food safety authorities over the ongoing scandal about fipronil-contaminated eggs to gather information on how to manage such crises in future. The EU executive will stage the meeting on September 26, it told just-food today, allowing time for more information to emerge.…

AN IRON rice bowl – ‘tee farn woon’ – is how Chinese employees refer to a “job for life”. The implication is that whether you look after it or whether you treat it harshly, you can look forward to three square meals a day (and some added benefits) for as long as you live.…

Attention, Hong Kong bureaucrats! Study hard to become less bureaucratic!

When Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Chief Executive of the former British colony, announced she was mulling setting up a Civil Service academy, it wasn’t just Hong Kong’s public servants who sat up and took notice.…

SINGAPORE has been rated the best city in the world to live for professionals wanting to work in start-ups, according to a survey by furnished apartment web-rental platform Nestpick. The website’s researchers assessed 85 cities, looking at their start-up ecosystems. It assessed average salaries for entry level and experienced positions regarding project management, technology and marketing roles.…

IN east Asia’s complex ethnic mix of peoples, the need to avoid racial discrimination which may undermine social stability is understood clearly by governments and businesses. And while experts agree that progress is being made is tackling this potentially corrosive personnel problem, more certainly could be done.…

CHINESE customers bought 28 million vehicles in 2016, up 7.3% from 2015, which saw a year-on-year growth of 4.7%, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. However, such sales were largely stimulated by tax incentives released by the Chinese government in 2015 to encourage the sales of low-emission cars.…

For the past year, passengers flying out of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) have had to cough up a Hong Kong dollars HKD70-180 (USD9-23) Airport Construction Fee for the privilege. Should they want to see where their money is going, they need only look northwards from the glass-sided terminal to observe the construction of the hub’s third runway, which is due to be completed in 2024.…

Beijing’s new international airport, tentatively named Beijing Daxing International Airport, saw the steel structure of its terminal buildings completed on June 30, suggesting that its operations will begin in 2019 as planned.

Located 46 km south of the Chinese capital’s city centre, the airport is meant to take pressure of the Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA), which is reaching its capacity limits, and the project draws much additional rationale from the Chinese central government’s ambitious decision to build a new megacity at Xiongan in northern China, as announced in April.…

Nearly two years since Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) in September 2015 announced plans to build a fourth runway and a new air control centre by 2017 and inaugurate both in 2018, these projects are still not being materialized.

On January 17, the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee deputy director Wu Jianguo, for his part, revealed that the fourth runway is “brewing”, without however mentioning any timeline.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) meat industry has expressed disappointment over the decision by Russia to extend by 18 months its ban on EU exports of meat and meat products, but is optimistic that producers will continue finding alternative markets.

Leaders of EU farm industry association Copa-Cogeca and the European Livestock & Meat Trading Union (UECBV) stressed to GlobalMeatNews that the European Commission, food industry companies and EU member states had successfully adapted to Russia’s actions.…

THE OUTGOING director general of the European Union (EU) anti-fraud office OLAF has stressed how his agency will continue to proactively fight fraud once the new European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO) is established.

Giovanni Kessler, writing in the last OLAF annual report in his seven-year mandate, has stressed that his agency’s role will be important, now that just 20 out of 28 EU member states have decided to work with the EPPO.…

INNOVATIONS in boosting sustainability in the textile and clothing sector and beyond were highlighted at this year’s annual Integral Conversation conference, hosted again by Hong Kong shirt specialist Esquel in Guilin, between November 9 and 11.

Staged under the theme ‘Reimagining Health: Fostering the Health of the Planet and People’, its discussions focused on environmental and human health themes of critical importance to clothing manufacturers, with hundreds of globally prominent business leaders, influential scholars and policymakers present.…

EMPLOYERS in Hong Kong should find it easier to recruit staff with the right skills according to the latest labour participation rates for the city, which indicates there is an increasing number of potential workers available to fill posts.

Hong Kong – with a population of seven million and a workforce estimated at just under four million, split almost equally between male and female – has had to face up to a diminishing talent pool in recent years, partly due to emigration and partly due to a fluctuating birth rate.…

WITH east and southeast Asia’s labour market tightening, companies and governments are developing innovative schemes to entice a key resource into their workforces – returning professionals, who have taken a break from their careers.

Morgan Stanley through its Return to Work 2018 programme aims to lure such “experienced” workers to restart their lives as employees at this global financial firm through a 12-week paid internship in the company’s Hong Kong offices.…

HONG Kong–based companies need try and stand out from its local counterparts in terms of what they offer to employees – going beyond just the salaries paid. Indeed, a greater focus is needed to develop a loyal breed of workers if HK companies are keen to rein in the special administration region’s worrying labour turnover, an expert argued. …

Hong Kong has long been used to stories about “brain drains” – talented youngsters lured to work abroad having had enough of the city’s overpricing, overcrowding and pollution. Montreal, Melbourne, Michigan, in fact just about anywhere looks better than somewhere like Mong Kok, a gritty section of Kowloon with a population of around 130,000 per square kilometre, where high-rises blot out the sun and there’s little in the way of open space.…

A GROWING trend of digitising HR – or simply put, developing human resources using machines – is sweeping Asia’s HR sector. And it has brought with it many challenges and risks that the industry need to take note of, experts warn.…

Donald Trump’s decision to pull the USA out of the Paris Climate Treaty has been universally viewed as a setback for moves to decarbonise the world electricity sector. Trump called for a new “fair” deal that would not disadvantage US businesses and workers and claimed that China and India had “no meaningful obligations” placed on them by the deal.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) projected comprehensive trade deal with Japan, agreed in principle at a July 6 EU-Japan summit in Brussels, will benefit exporters of Europe-produced non-ferrous metals, experts have told Metal Bulletin. Japanese non-ferrous metal exporters are more cautious about the potential benefits for their industry, however.…

A Taiwan-listed, Hong Kong-based electric vehicle startup – Thunder Power – today (Friday) proclaimed an ambitious goal for the future – to make the most desirable EV in China.

“An obvious difference between us and Tesla is we have the key technologies before actually investing in manufacturing,” Wellen Sham, Thunder Power CEO, told wardsauto at a launch event in Shanghai.…

IN HONG KONG, the average expatriate pay package for a middle manager has hit a five-year low – having fallen to USD 265,487 in 2016, from USD 270,618 in 2012. And this follows a dramatic increase in the number of workers (including expats) seeking to change jobs this year blaming low pay, industry experts warned quoting two separate surveys.…

How much dirty money can get into global property markets as a result of crooked or incompetent lawyers? While legal professions representative bodies say the problem is not widespread and lawyers take their conveyancing responsibilities seriously, the court record suggests there are rotten apples.…

China may have more coaches than ever, with the majority of them serving multinationals only, the expansion of the profession is still limited, a Shanghai conference has been told.

“China’s coaching industry will only take off when local companies embrace coaching, Garry Wang, CEO of the coaching service provider MindSpan, said at a two–day leadership coaching conference entitled ‘Leading into 2020’ held in Shanghai on June 22-23.…

Singapore will review its 80 bilateral agreements on avoiding double taxation to ensure they do not help companies avoid paying tax where relevant business activity took place. This follows its signing the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD)-sponsored Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.…

THE HUMAN resources sector has been urged to put pressure on governments and investment fund managers in Asia to strengthen pension provisions as they deal with the consequences of rapidly aging populations.

And HR and economics experts have warned that corporate HR teams have a critical role to play in educating the workforce about the extent, however limited, of their pension provision and working with company bosses to strengthen policies within their organisations to compensate for the lack of robust schemes in existence.…

Ethiopia airlines, the largest cargo carrier in Africa, is close to completing its cargo terminal expansion as part of a major infrastructure upgrade at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, serving the Ethiopian capital.

Ethiopian Airlines, with its fleet of two Boeing 757Fs and six Boeing 777Fs, requested the new facility to accommodate increased volume growth and transit traffic.…

While South Korea has not yet ratified the UN’s Paris Agreement dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, its important automobile industry has been making serious commitments to green practices, including the transition from solvent-based to waterborne coatings.

According to New Jersey, US-based coatings consulting firm Kusumgar, Nerlfi & Growney, the South Korean passenger car and light vehicle coating market involved supplies of 60,000 tonnes in 2016, and these are becoming increasingly environment-friendly: about one-quarter of basecoats sold are now waterborne.…

THE PLANNED introduction of mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR) by the South African Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) has sparked widespread dissention within the country’s business and accounting communities This is despite that the reform’s goal is to strengthen auditor independence and audit quality and that there are some calls for the move to be brought forward from the current introduction date of April 1, 2023.…

The old guard of the United States apparel and footwear industries better wise up to changes occurring all along the supply chain if they want to see their companies survive, the head of a leading Asian research center told a room of industry representatives in New York.…

Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has released a new Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG). This revised guidance encourages the development of corporate governance culture, not just within listed companies, but also state-owned enterprises, small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and licensed intermediaries. This code includes 36 practices to support strong board leadership; effective audit, risk management, and internal controls; and solid corporate reporting.…

THE INDONESIAN government must do better in controlling illegal imports of textile and textile products, Anies Soengkar, chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API – Asosiasi Pertekstilan Indonesia) branch Pekalongan, Central Java told WTiN.com.

This representative of a key textile production zone in Indonesia said that illicit imports are entering the country for distribution by door-to-door delivery networks.…

GOVERNMENTS in east Africa may have been passing legislation and regulation to control the tobacco sector, but these laws’ effectiveness is being weakened by lax implementation.

Kenya has been leading the local pack with controls, in 2007 enacted its first Tobacco Control Act, and in 2014 ratifying the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC).…

A case detected last May (2015) at Lisbon international airport, Portugal, says much for the worrying scale of the laundering of illicit funds from Europe into mainland China. A nondescript Chinese couple travelling from Lisbon to Shanghai via the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Dubai was stopped carrying more than EUR1 million in large denomination notes found elaborately wrapped in ‘danger, chemicals’ packaging within packets marked ‘FRAGILE’.…

Japanese food giant Nissin Food Holdings is to start manufacturing potato crisps at its China factory, aiming to leverage the popularity of its instant noodles range to score sales in this snacks segment.

The Osaka-based company already operates an instant noodles production facility in the southern province of Guangdong and is installing a new potato crisp line.…

The largest logistics facility in Japan employs around 2,000 people – but that is one-quarter of the manpower that would be required if Haneda Chronogate had not incorporated so much advanced technology into its design.

Located alongside the perimeter fence of Haneda International Airport, the busiest serving Tokyo, Chronogate has a total floor area of nearly 200,000 square metres and serves as the hub for mail for the metropolitan area and the surrounding Kanto region.…

Japan’s cosmetics and personal care market is holding steady, although there are concerns that stability is being supported by strong consumption by the burgeoning number of tourists visiting the country combined with a weak yen. USD1 bought Japanese Yen JPY117 in December compared JPY100 in July, although it has since recovered to JPY110 (April).…

HONG Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will ease listing requirements for certain infrastructure companies, notably those involved in projects aiding the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative. This aims to promote transport infrastructure helping move Chinese goods to central Asia, southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.…

China’s may have announced the launch of a second major national oil and gas trading centre – in the country’s south-western metropolis of Chongqing – but this new entrepot may take time to be operational. Indeed, while the Chongqing Oil and Gas Trading Centre was formally established in January, it may take until 2018 before it is operational.…

THE HONG Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) – the special administrative region’s central bank – has fined commercial bank Coutts & Co’s Hong Kong branch Hong Kong dollars HKD7 million (USD900,700) for breaching HK anti-money laundering (AML) and terror finance laws. The HKMA concluded following an inquiry that the private bank had breached five rules of Hong Kong Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance (AMLO) between 2012 and 2015.…

Brazilian overseas beef meat sales are set to grow in 2017, according to projections from the Associação Brasileira das Indústrias Exportadoras de Carne (ABIEC). “Our export forecasts for 2017 are USD5.5 to USD6 billion, said Antônio Jorge Camardelli, the ABIEC president.…

Experts have highlighted concerns over the exploitation of Syrian refugees working in the Turkish textile industry and called at a public forum in Hamburg for them to be registered to receive basic workplace protection. They urged the Turkish government and the clothing supply chain to work together to improve the plight of Syrians fleeing the war-torn country and seeking to establish a steady work life.…

WHEN China’s President Xi Jinping donned a red helmet and rubber boots to walk the construction site of Beijing’s new airport on February 23 (2017), he told the assembled engineers and workers that the airport was part of China’s plan to become a “powerful civil aviation nation.”…

THE cosmetics sector of South Korea, evaluated at USD12 billion in sales during 2016 by market researcher Frost & Sullivan, has been enduring a tough crash course in political risk since its government agreed to host the US missile-defence system Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD).…

THE ASEAN Audit Regulators Group (AARG) and the big-four audit firms have agreed a measurable goal to improve audit quality within south-east Asia. The project involves Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand; along with Malaysia’s Audit Oversight Board, Indonesia’s Finance Professions Supervisory Centre, Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission.…

AS the global clothing and textile industry looks towards a 2017 where trade relations are unpredictable, Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has been stressing the need to maintain stability on the factory front, by improving labour relations.

A recent conference hosted by H&M, in the key new emerging market and outsourcing centre of Myanmar, heard that while support for more sustainable labour practices is growing the clothing sector, the pace of actual reforms needs to intensify to secure more mature industrial relations within the industry, ensuring human rights and good working conditions.…

The Italian beauty and personal care industry has headed into 2017 with optimism, on the heels of a still slow yet solid recovery in the domestic market and the strengthening of its competitive edge in foreign markets. Although the most recent confirmed data goes back only to 2015, industry association Cosmetica Italia’s latest forecast for the sector, released in July 2016 and entitled, ‘Economic Forecasts, Trends and Investments in the Cosmetics Sector – July 2016’, gives a good idea on the 2016 year-end results we can expect from the Italian cosmetics industry.…

The South Korean coatings market, estimated by Kusumgar, Nerlfi & Growney Inc, a New Jersey, USA-based consulting firm for the polymer and chemical industries, at 840,000 tonnes worth USD3.5 billion in 2016, has been challenging for suppliers in 2016-17, as demand is affected by two opposite trends.…

HONG Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange have put listed companies on notice that they will closely monitor rights issues and open offers that substantially dilute the interests of non-subscribing minority shareholders.

In a joint statement, the SFC and the exchange have said they fear in some cases deals have been conducted without complying with requirements to give fair and equal treatment to all shareholders. …

CHINA’S central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBC), has issued a new anti-money laundering and terror finance reporting requirements for all financial institutions inside the country. The rules come into force July 1. They cover banks, brokers, foreign exchange, online and mobile payment systems and insurance companies, who will have to file reports to the central bank, via their headquarters or via representative institutions, if a client requires daily cash transactions exceeding Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY50,000 (USD7,261) or a larger amount of USD10,000’s worth in foreign currency.…

THE HONG Kong and Pakistan government have signed a comprehensive agreement on avoiding double taxation. Pakistani tax paid by Hong Kong companies will be credited against Hong Kong taxes on the same profits, with the reverse applying for Pakistan companies. Pakistan’s withholding tax rates for Hong Kong residents on royalties and fees for technical services (both currently 15%) will be capped at 10% and 12.5% respectively.…

CHINA’S textile sector is feeling positive about the Chinese government’s ambitious ‘Made in China 2025’ national strategy, hoping it will guide producers towards sustainable growth.

The policy was unveiled in May 2015 by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. It is designed to move the entire Chinese manufacturing sector away from low value-added activities to medium- and high-end operations in just 10 years’ time.…

Hacking and data breaches keep Asian IT departments awake at night, but many of the most serious cyber security incidents can be prevented with greater vigilance from HR professionals. Of course, there are a wide variety of risks being posed to companies from online environments, from denial-of-service attacks, to Trojan programmes that monitor computer use, and theft of identities and intellectual property.…

2016 – Winners and losers

RETAILERS & BRANDS

WINNERS

US-based sportswear brand Under Armour delivered its 26th consecutive quarter of 20%-plus revenue growth in the third quarter of 2016, with sales increases across all divisions. Net sales were up 22% in the third quarter to USD1.47bn.…

A long-held ambition by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to create an aerotropolis, or airport city, anchored around Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is taking key steps forward with a newly finalised master plan and a number of strategic partnerships.

The project, called KLIA Aeropolis, was announced in May (2016).…

PHOTOS posted on the Chinese microblog platform Weixin (commonly known in English as WeChat) from the Indonesian holiday island of Bali recently are emblematic of key trends in China’s cosmetics and personal care markets, notably booming ecommerce sales. Over 100 Chinese sales managers – technically self-employed and operating on commission – flew to Bali as guests of USANA Health Sciences Inc, which in 2010 acquired BabyCare Ltd, a China-based direct selling company that develops, manufactures and sells nutritional products.…

DENMARK’S organic meat exports to Asia, fuelled especially by sales to mainland China and Hong Kong, rose steadily in 2015 compared with the year before. This promising market now accounts for 4% to 5% of total organic meat exports from this key European meat producer, growng from zero in 2013, industry experts have said.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Confederation of European Beet Growers (CIBE) and the European Association of Sugar Producers (CEFS-Comité Européen des Fabricants de Sucre) have jointly called on the European Union (EU) to continue protecting producers with import tariffs, even as the EU negotiates 12 trade deals affecting the food industry.…

Vietnam’s upstream textile manufacturing sector remains hampered by lack of investment, poor infrastructure and personnel shortages, although government efforts are expected to ease some difficulties, a seminar at the recent VTG Textile & Garment Exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has heard.…

Central Bank theft – casino repercussions: the Philippines

The theft in February of $101m from the Bangladesh Bank account at the Federal Reserve Bank New York in an audacious hack of SWIFT codes saw funds flow to casino accounts at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation in the Philippines.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission’s pledge to put meat and livestock produce second in its 2017 European Union (EU) agri-food promotion campaign (making up 15% of the programmes) has been welcomed by the industry. The announcement came during the release of a EUR133 million marketing budget for EU agri-food producers for 2017, up from EUR111 million in 2016.…

Vietnam’ clothing and textile industry has been assessing the impact of losing an anticipated huge garment export boost under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) now that US president-elect Donald Trump has promised to sign an executive order pulling out of the 12-nation trade deal.…

THE MALAYSIAN government has released its 2017 budget with a pledge to reduce corporation tax by between 1% and 4% for companies with significant increases in taxable income during 2017 and 2018. The budget will also mandate a cut in income tax from 19% to 18% for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).…

The world’s leading sportswear brands and manufacturers are struggling to equip their factories with the robotic cyberphysical systems (CPS) element of Industry 4.0 processes, at least in the near term, a major international conference has heard.

Last week’s World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) Manufacturers Forum in Taichung, Taiwan, (held on November 15-16), played host to delegates from 20 countries representing brands such as adidas, Nike and Giant Bicycles, market-leading manufacturers such as Taiwan’s footwear specialist Pou Chen, as well as academics and Industry 4.0 experts.…

HONG Kong shirt maker Esquel has launched a new private brand Determinant, for men in mainland China who wish to buy an affordable, decent shirt, but CEO John Cheh insists that making shirts for major outside labels will remain the company’s priority.…

When British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver set his sights on opening a restaurant in Hong Kong, it wasn’t just about introducing a new style of dining. In a sub-tropical city where the corporate uniform is a pin-striped suit and formal job interviews are de rigeur, ‘Jamie’s Italian’ went to the opposite extreme, with a recruitment and training programme that was completely informal and utterly radical.…

When British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver set his sights on opening a restaurant in Hong Kong, it wasn’t just about introducing a new style of dining. In a sub-tropical city where the corporate uniform is a pin-striped suit and formal job interviews are de rigeur, ‘Jamie’s Italian’ went to the opposite extreme, with a recruitment and training programme that was completely informal and utterly radical.…

As China’s banks get bigger, they are also drawing the attention of global money laundering investigators. Eyes were certainly focused on Bank of China (BoC) earlier this year: the bank stands accused Florence police and public prosecutor’s office of funnelling EUR4.9 billion from Italy to China between 2007 and 2010 with Italian authorities claiming much of that figure was from the proceeds of crime.…

Shanghai-based Bright Dairy & Food Co, China’s third-largest dairy products maker, has announced plans to build a dairy plant in Chaozhou, Guangdong province, run by a new wholly-owned dairy subsidiary. The move is in line with Bright Dairy & Food’s aim to build factories in all major provinces and cities in mainland China.…

THE ASIA-PACIFIC region has been regarded as the workshop of the world for most of the 21^st century, and this is especially true for the technical textile sector, where output has continued to grow, partly fuelled by growing regional demand.…

SINGAPORE has signed deals allowing for the automatic exchange of financial account information with two key trade partners – Britain and Australia. The agreements were struck by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) with the UK’s Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).…

BRAZIL’S exports of pigmeat are booming, with over January to July, volume sales overseas increasing 42.2% year-on-year compared to the same time period in 2016. The Brazilian Protein Association (Associação Brasileira de Proteína Animal) says that from January to July this year (2016), 413,300 tonnes have been exported, be it frozen or processed meat, including sausages.…

Growing competition across the world for clothing outsourcing contracts, with China not only being challenged in Asia, but by sub-Saharan African and even Russian suppliers, is pushing Asian governments to sharpen their industrial policy to retain market share, a major international conference has heard.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) customs authorities seized five million more counterfeit products at the bloc’s borders in 2015 than the year before, with China the originating country for 41% of these fakes, the European Commission’s latest annual report on the problem reveals.…

Sri Lanka’s cosmetic and beauty product manufacturers are becoming increasingly anxious over the lack of sales regulations, promoting significant volumes of lower grade cosmetic imports, putting local manufacturers at risk. 

Until July 2015, there was a specific authority to oversee cosmetic products being imported as well as distributed in the country.…

SINGAPORE has signed deals allowing for the automatic exchange of financial account information with two key trade partners – Britain and Australia. The agreements were struck by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) with the UK’s Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).…

Although the economy of Thailand has been lacklustre amid serious political uncertainty following a military coup in 2014, the Thai personal care market has continued to display resilience. According to UK-based market researcher Euromonitor International, Thai retail sales of colour cosmetics in 2015 grew by 7.5% year-on-year to the equivalent of USD583.6 million, compared to 2.8% in the economy overall (following 0.8% in 2014).…

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Najib Razak has come under renewed pressure over allegations that he personally profited from a sovereign wealth fund, after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it would seek to recover more than USD1 billion in “misappropriated assets”.…

WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS

East Asia is a very varied region in terms of economic development. Take the 10 members of trade bloc ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations): with 632 million people, demographics greatly vary, from aging Singapore and Thailand, to the younger and emerging economies of Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.…

Ethiopia’s government is promoting what it says is Africa’s largest eco-industrial park dedicated to textile and garment production. The Hawassa Industrial Park (HIP), boasting state-of-the-art water recycling facilities, has attracted major textile producers from Asia and the US including American clothing giant Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH).…

WITH personnel managers in Britain and continental Europe worrying about the impact of the UK’s Brexit vote to quit the European Union (EU), human resources experts in the 10 country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc are facing the opposite challenge, an increase in freedom of movement of workers.…

The Philippines has been standing accused of passively aiding money launderers and terrorist financers ever since its Anti-Money Laundering Act in 2001 exempted local casinos from the duty of submitting suspicious transaction reports on their operations.. But pressures to revise that decision have been growing markedly since earlier this year Chinese cyber hackers managed to launder USD81 million through banks and casinos in Manila, with only approximately USD6 million of the booty recovered so far.…

INVESTIGATIONS into the health of pigs being exported from Jiangxi, eastern China to Hong Kong, is under investigation after Chinese authorities blocked the trade following a warning from Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD).

Pigs from Jiangxi make up around 20% of hogs imported into the special administrative region from the Chinese mainland, which supplies the vast majority of pigs slaughtered in Hong Kong.…

Thailand-based automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are set to benefit from the expansion of an existing auto tariff-free zone to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam in 2018. These would then join this ASEAN-linked trading zone’s member countries Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to forge an ASEAN-wide automotive market bloc.…

It has been a little over a year since China in April 2015 launched its comprehensive Water Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (called the ‘Water Ten Plan’), which has triggered profound changes within the country’s textile dyeing sector. Under the most stringent water policy to date in China, factories were given a maximum of three years to clean up and upgrade equipment for water recycling to avoid a shutdown by regulators.…

South-east Asia is a region that has sharp contrasts in economic development, from between the wealth of Singapore to countries such as Myanmar, where poverty is endemic and consumer markets are relatively undeveloped.

Such contrasts pose challenges for personal care product companies seeking regional strategies to tap the markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) 10 countries, whose cosmetics suppliers have to comply with the standards of the ASEAN Cosmetics Directive, which was modelled on European Union legislation.…

Business governance experts in Canada have told Board Agenda how they think companies can maximise the ability and performance of their non-executive board members.

Their comments come as concern about the effectiveness of non-execs in Canada has been piqued by media reports that Pierre Beaudoin, a director of Montréal-based comms and finance conglomerate Power Corp, had 20.28% of shareholder votes withheld at a director election in May – usually such elections proffer 100% support.…

SINGAPORE has promised that it will implement the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) has said it accepts profits should be taxed where real economic activities generating them are performed and where value is created.…

With earth movers set to move in on August 1, the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) plans to build an HK141.5 billion (USD18.2 billion) third airport runway at the city’s Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on Chek Lap Kok island. It is set to be the most expensive infrastructure project in the city since the 1997 handover from the UK.…

The brutal anti-crime crackdown promised by the Philippines’ President-elect Rodrigo Duterte may result in the European Union (EU) withdrawing its Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) tariff-reduction scheme from the country, weakening Philippines textile and garment exports. Duterte had in early June been subject of scathing criticism from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for endorsing killings of journalists as well as for offering large bounties to security forces and the general public to eliminate drug traffickers in extrajudicial killings.…

THE SINGAPORE Stock Exchange (SGX) has started negotiations with London’s Baltic Exchange, which could see Singapore Exchange Ltd obtain full ownership of The Baltic Exchange Ltd, which operates this UK-based international freight derivatives market.

The Baltic Exchange and SGX will now meet with Baltic shareholders and business partners to explain and discuss the offer.…

THE UNITED States Trade Representative (USTR) has highlighted its continuing concern about intellectual property rights violations in the pharma sector, citing claims that 20% of medicines sold in India are fakes.

In its annual ‘Special 301 Report’, the USTR said it notes “its particular concern with the proliferation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals that are manufactured, sold, and distributed in trading partners such as Brazil, China, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, and Russia.”…

Yesterday’s (May 17) easing of US sanctions against Myanmar to improve bilateral trade and allow more financial transactions to take place could result in more US fast-food companies establishing a presence in the former pariah state.

The US treasury, for instance removed seven state-owned enterprises and three state-owned banks (the Myanma Economic Bank, Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank), from a blacklist.…

Seizures of contraband cosmetics have become an increasingly common sight on local TV in China. A recent case in point (this March – 2016) saw 1,488 boxes of South Korean cosmetics seized from a forty-foot container in the east coast port city of Qinhuangdao, about 300km east of Beijing.…

CONCERN is growing that foreign direct investment (FDI) within Vietnam, including in the textile sector, needs to be tempered with efforts to deter unlimited environmental pollution. Public opinion in Vietnam – important even within this one party officially communist state – has been riled by mass fish deaths off Vietnam’s central coast, with environmentalists blaming a toxic leak from a steel mill in April receiving investment from Taiwan, a key investor in Vietnam’s textile sector.…

Infant formula was back in the news for wrong reasons again in China recently when cans of powder bearing fake labels for the Chinese Beingmate brand and Similac brands (owned by the US-based Abbott Laboratories) sparked nine arrests in April. Police have claimed 17,000 cans of infant formula were involved, being sold in the provinces of Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei.…

THE HONG Kong government has said that its Inland Revenue Department will closely assess data released in the Panama Papers leak, taking action against tax evasion and avoidance by taxpayers uncovered within these documents. In a written answer to the special administrative region’s (SAR) Legislative Council, the government admitted however that it did not know the number of intermediaries in Hong Kong providing offshore incorporation company services.…

INNOVATIVE ways of powering trains are poised for mainstream use in the global transport industry. Today, the most common trains are still those powered by diesel engines, but there is a continuing shift towards electricity and alternative power sources.

“With rail expected to play an increasingly important role in future transport systems…there is a lot of focus on how it should be more energy efficient,” said Andrew Foulkes, a communications manager at Ricardo Rail, a UK-based railway engineering and consultancy firm.…

AIR travellers to Mexico City are looking forward to the opening – now scheduled for 2020 – of a new international airport, serving a conurbation of more than 21.5 million people. Construction began on November 13, the government has announced. The current Benito Juárez International Airport is operating at beyond its 32 million passenger annual capacity according to the Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México (GACM).…

China has overtaken Germany to become the world’s number one producer of solar energy. Driven by the Chinese government’s urgent quests for energy security and the elimination of extreme urban air pollution, solar installations in China generated 43 gigawatts (GW) in 2015, exceeding German production, according to China’s National Energy Administration.…

CAPITAL markets and their traders within Malaysia may be forced to forge defences against cyber-crime amidst growing concern that hackers could damage the country’s financial services. The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is seeking comments from accountants and other financial specialists about planned regulations saying capital market participants should have cyber-security programmes and policies, including contingency plans for dealing with associated risks.…

THE UNITED Arab Emirates’ (UAE) fragrance retail market (unisex and those targeted at female and male consumers) experienced healthy growth in 2015 compared to 2014, increasing 8% in value terms to reach Emirati Dirham AED2.23 billion (USD607.2 million), according to market researchers Euromonitor International.…

CAPITAL markets and their traders within Malaysia may be forced to forge defences against cyber-crime amidst growing concern that hackers could damage the country’s financial services. The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is seeking comments from accountants and other financial specialists about planned regulations saying capital market participants should have cyber-security programmes and policies, including contingency plans for dealing with associated risks.…

China’s leaders are fond of aphorisms and extended metaphors, the pithier the better. Witness Mao Zedong’s ‘Hundred Flowers’ movement in 1956, which encouraged citizens to express their criticism of the communist party, and Deng Xiaoping’s much-quoted ‘To Get Rich is Glorious’.…

ONCE clothing sourcing was all about China. No longer. Recent years have seen a continuous decline in China’s export industry, especially in labour-intensive sectors such as clothing and shoe manufacturing, because of rising labour costs and an appreciating Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY or RMB).…

The Hong Kong-based Esquel Group, the major global high-end shirt supplier, is making progress in a research programme to develop a sustainable Chinese supply of sea island cotton, an extra-long staple (ELS) cotton, in Xinjiang.

This autonomous territory in north-west China is a key cotton production centre for China, and a recent scientific conference in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, where Esquel has a 5,500-acre cotton field, discussed the latest key findings and challenges.…

China food manufacturing major the Want Want Group, has invested Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY700 million (USD107 million) in a factory that will be the company’s biggest.

Spokesperson Zhu Jiwen said this new “model plant” is also “the group’s biggest investment in the mainland.”…

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced its first deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) against an individual in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) case. FCPA civil charges against Yu Kai Yuan, an employee at the Shanghai subsidiary of Massachusetts-based PTC Inc, will be deferred three years until February 2019, “as a result of significant cooperation he has provided during the SEC’s investigation,” said a note from the regulator.…

Boxes are not known for their excitement, but personal care product companies are making secondary packaging more alluring by designing them to give consumers an enticing glimpse of the goods inside. They are also using their collective imaginations to create aesthetically desirable mixes of different materials and textures, maybe combining these with visually arresting spatial design.…

VIETNAM as almost a “sole supplier of textile products” among Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries is banking on the TPP deal to expand its textile market share, according to VITAS – the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association. Moreover, a spokesperson from the association said that “many Hong Kong, South Korean, and Australian firms are developing and planning major textiles FDI [foreign direct investment] in Vietnam to produce yarn and fabric, the supporting textiles industry for apparel production.”…

Chinese tourism is changing the locations where cosmetics are sold internationally – and also changing how corporations are marketing to a savvier and better travelled breed of Chinese consumers, according to a detailed research report by a Hong Kong investment bank.…

Australian and New Zealand confectionery and ice cream manufacturers have been broadly supportive of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that was finalised towards the end of 2015, recognising the potential for securing export sales in lucrative Asian markets. That said, there is some caution, given the TPP delivers more potential for America’s juggernaut of a confectionery sector to roll into local stores.…

Changing management styles is key the success of corporate gender diversity initiatives in the Gulf region and elsewhere, participants of a recent networking breakfast hosted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) have concurred.

Entitled ‘Lead the Change: increasing gender diversity to boost performance’, the event was held on February 7 at the Shangri-La Dubai hotel and was attended by more than 60 CFOs and senior finance professionals.…

The Hong Kong government has announced its 2016 budget which includes a salaries tax reduction of up to HKD20,000 (USD2,574), increasing personal allowances and offering a rates waiver within its 2016-17 budget. The government has also announced a 75% profits tax reduction up to a ceiling of HKD20,000; waived business registration fees; and released a technology voucher programme assisting small-and-medium sized businesses.…

If there is one region in the world that could benefit from a rationalisation of corporate governance structure, it is surely Asia, with its shifting sands of complex company ownership structures. Globalisation has only increased the size of subsidiary/parent relationship webs.…

As in many other areas, the Asian city-state of Singapore punches above its weight when it comes to fabrics and textiles. According to its ministry of trade and industry, in terms of sourcing volume the island ranks as the second largest textile and apparel business and sourcing hub in the Asia-Pacific region after Hong Kong.…

China has admitted in a new white paper that its nuclear emergency response mechanism is “inadequate” for coping with “new situations and challenges” arising from its nuclear power plants. And the document, issued by China’s State Council (effectively its cabinet) has admitted that the country is still lagging behind its nuclear power competitors regarding both technology and trained manpower.…

Back in March 2014, a Hong Kong businessman named Joseph Lau Luen-hung was sentenced in absentia to five years and three months in prison by Macau’s Court of First Instance.

Lau had been found guilty, along with along with fellow businessman Steven Lo Kit-sing, of money laundering and paying a Hong Kong dollars HKD20 million (USD2.5 million) bribe to Macau’s former secretary of public works, Ao Man Long, who is himself serving a 27-year jail term (for bribery charges).…

VIETNAM as almost a “sole supplier of textile products” among Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries is banking on the TPP deal to expand its textile market share, according to VITAS – the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association. Moreover, a spokesperson from the association said that “many Hong Kong, South Korean, and Australian firms are developing and planning major textiles FDI [foreign direct investment] in Vietnam to produce yarn and fabric, the supporting textiles industry for apparel production.”…

CHINA’S central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBC), has issued a new anti-money laundering and terror finance reporting requirements for all financial institutions inside the country. The rules come into force July 1. They cover banks, brokers, foreign exchange, online and mobile payment systems and insurance companies, who will have to file reports to the central bank, via their headquarters or via representative institutions, if a client requires daily cash transactions exceeding Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY50,000 (USD7,261) or a larger amount of USD10,000’s worth in foreign currency.…

MILLENNIAL CONSUMERS ARE SHAKING UP INDIAN MARKET

The emergence of the millennial generation – those born between 1980 and the early 2000’s – is going to drive how consumption, including that of food, takes place in India, according to retail and manufacturing heads at the India Food Forum, which was held in Mumbai between January 19 and 21.…

THE NUMBER of mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong and Macao is set to fall sharply, and while Chinese travellers are becoming more enamoured with longer-haul destinations such as Australia and the US, worries over safety is weakening demand for visiting France.…

A MINIATURE schnauzer embarrassed baggage screeners at Hong Kong International Airport and New Chitose Airport, Sapporo, Japan, passing undetected on and off an international flight, hidden in a suitcase. The dog’s Hong Kong owner claimed that his pet had hopped covertly into unattended baggage at home, covering itself with clothes.…

US prosecutors have secured their first conviction in a case involving widespread corruption at the United Nations. Last Thursday (January 14), Heidi Hong Piao, a Chinese-American national pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy, money laundering, bribery and failure to disclose foreign bank accounts to tax authorities.…

The beauty and personal care (BPC) market in Italy ended 2015 on a positive note, recording marginal growth in market sales, production and exports, according to a December 2015 report ‘Trends and Investments in the Cosmetics Sector’, released by the national cosmetics trade association, Associazione Italiana delle Imprese Cosmetiche (Cosmetica Italia).…

Chinese consumers are buying more of their cosmetics online on China’s top two ecommerce sites Tmall.com and JD.com and also specialist sites Lefung.com, Tiantian.com and Jumei.com, forcing bricks-and-mortar own brand retailers to rethink their strategy. Market leading retailer – AS Watson, a Hong Kong-based chain which operates 14,000 stores in greater China and worldwide and which sells a wide range of Watson’s own brand personal care products, has also been adjusting to compete.…

THE HONG Kong government has signed an avoidance of double taxation agreement with Russia. It will prevent Hong Kong companies with a permanent establishment in Russia being taxed in both jurisdictions. Russian tax paid by Hong Kong companies will be credited against the tax payable in Hong Kong.…

Flushable wipes range from adult moist toilet tissue to feminine hygiene wipes, and the sector has been steadily growing for years. According to UK-based market researcher Euromonitor International, the global retail volume for personal care wipes nearly doubled between 2003 and 2013, from 93 billion units to almost 170 billion units sold, respectively.…

THE WEAKENING of the Chinese currency the Yuan Renminbi – or RMB – last summer and autumn perturbed big-deal investors but it has also meant busy times for the money changers of Hong Kong. USD324 billion was moved out of China in 2014 according to Swiss bank UBS (which calculated official and unofficial currency outflows) but this figure soared in 2015 with a government-engineered devaluation of the Chinese currency which caught investors off guard.…

Many eyes are trained on the Jiading district people’s court in Shanghai this week, which is due to deliver a verdict in the trial of staff from two subsidiaries of the OSI Group LLC, the Illinois-based US meat firm that is a major meat supplier in China.…

The Money Laundering Bulletin has assessed the impact of western financial sanctions on Russia – looking at the impact on anti-money laundering regulation – but what of the compliance demands on financial institutions?

These sanctions are complex, showing how governments can increase the risk of making honest citizens and organisations break the law by imposing complex financial regulations.…

If the 2013 and 2014 were all about the rise of South Korean personal care product brands in China, then 2015 was the year that regional currency wars and weaker economic sentiment at home dictated how Chinese consumers spent on cosmetics and toiletries.…

IT has been a tough year for China’s growing economy, which has experienced some unexpected faltering in 2015, but facial care product sales have continued to surge ahead.

Retailers of these products have posted strong and sustained growth rates, increasing by 8% in the whole of 2014 to Chinese Yuan Renminbi – CNY142 billion (USD22.1 billion) and are estimated to have grown by another 10.2% in 2015, to CNY (also known as RMB) 156.4 billion, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.…

MALAYSIA’S Audit Oversight Board (AOB) has revoked the registration of an audit firm for the first time since the regulator was established by the Securities Commission Malaysia in 2010.

It has scrapped the registration of Wong Weng Foo & Co, managing partner, Wong Weng Foo and partner Abdul Halim Husin, from December 2.…

A SUSTAINABLE garment-making firm in Cambodia has managed to revive the country’s centuries-old, long-forgotten tradition of making clothes out of fibres from Lotus flower stems. Moreover, it has successfully found a growing international niche market for its unique brand of clothes and fabric.…

China has become New Zealand’s second largest market for beef and the largest for its lamb in the 12 months ending March 31, 2015, the Meat Industrial Association (MIA) of New Zealand has told GlobalMeatNews. In that time, 11% of New Zealand’s overseas beef sales by volume went to China, while 53% was exported to the US.…

CHINA’S upstream textile and finishing suppliers to its mighty clothing industry face a struggle to survive now its government’s ‘Water Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan’ has been released.
The State Council (cabinet) issued the plan on April 16. It aims to improve the quality of drinking water sources to a new set of standards by 2020, tightening these further by 2030.…

Deadly accidents such as the Rana Plaza disaster may have earned the Bangladesh textile and clothing sector notoriety, but there is a new generation of firms trying to erase that spot on the industry’s reputation.
Smart entrepreneurs are now courting buyers through a new sales pitch: sustainable production.…

China’s garment sector has come a long way in achieving sustainability and social compliance. It has been under pressure from a top-down government crusade against pollution, and foreign fashion brands’ wariness of being accused of making money with polluting and labour-exploitative supply chains.…

In recent years, brands that source from textile and garments manufacturers in Asia have been targeted by bad publicity for everything from poor wages, long hours and dangerous exposure to chemicals and unsustainable use of water.
In response, they have tended not to work unilaterally but to sign up for either regional or international standards schemes, or co-operate on open platforms, where knowledge is shared.…

Sustainability improvements in the Asian outsourced clothing and textile sector are far from being the sole preserve of China. In Cambodia, Tonlé, a sustainable garment-making firm based in Phnom Penh, obtains 90% of its fabric from factory cut-out and 10% through sustainable suppliers to make a zero-waste clothing line.…

In the past decade, Thailand has undergone a serious of political upheavals, coups and reversals of power that have left deep divisions within the country. But while opposing factions are still arguing about the future direction of the country, there is one point on which almost every side in Thailand can agree: the Thai tax system is sorely in need of an overhaul.…

AN AGREEMENT on streamlining reviews in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand of offers or listings of equity or plain debt securities has been secured. It has been written into a memorandum of understanding designed to promote common prospectuses in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).…

THE MONETARY Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published a system for identifying and supervising domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) in Singapore. The authority has also released an inaugural list, including the DBS Bank; the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation; the United Overseas Bank; Citibank; the Malayan Banking Berhad; the Standard Chartered Bank; and the HSBC.…

Vietnam held its annual Vietnam Saigon Textile & Industry Expo in combination with the Vietnam Saigon Garment & Accessories Machinery Expo from April 9-12, the double event serving as a barometer for the sectors’ high expectations about the country joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal.…

China’s new found taste for olive oil is growing, opening up new sales channels for olive oil producing countries and Morocco is one potential beneficiary. Morocco is the fourth largest exporter of olive oil and olives after the European Union (EU), Turkey and Tunisia, currently producing between 100,000 and 120,000 tonnes per year of which 25,000 tonnes are exported.”…

TO discover the best intelligence on money laundering, sometimes it is best just to ask the money launderers. Take China. There are numerous ways of getting dirty money out of China. The most common include smuggling a satchel of banknotes to Hong Kong (where Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) is convertible), where it is washed through an over-priced (for quick transaction) purchase of real estate in the city, several Hong Kong real estate agents told the Money Laundering Bulletin.…

MONEY launderers are always looking for a new opportunity to clean dirty money, and have been exploiting sales of French vineyards for the purpose. Criminal networks have to this end leveraged a combination of a flagging domestic property market, increasing foreign interest in French property and wine, and a general ignorance among the real estate professional community about money laundering risks.…

A GREY market trade in bovine meat products between India and China is flourishing, globalmeatnews.com can reveal. Meanwhile, the Indian government is pressing China to allow official access for Indian beef, pork, goat and lamb exports, which it claims have been blocked on alleged health grounds.…

THE CHINESE knitting sector facing transformation, being challenged by lacklustre economic performance in its key export markets, fast-rising domestic labour costs, as well as a determined government crusade for energy savings and emission reduction. The industry is, in general, cautiously optimistic about tackling these challenges and experts agree that if knitwear producers stick to their strategy of adding value through more sophisticated automation, they will manage to retain manufacturing supremacy over their south Asian and southeast Asian peers.…

After years of strong economic growth, salaries of Chinese clothing makers have increased, resulting in more expensive Chinese textiles and clothing manufacturing. But while cheaper outsourcing locations such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and India have picked up the slack, experts both in China and abroad have yet to buy into the notion that garment production is dramatically shifting out of China.…

THE HONG Kong and mainland Chinese governments have signed a fourth protocol to their existing 2006 agreement on avoiding double taxation and preventing tax evasion. The deal sets out the tax liabilities of Hong Kong residents when they buy and sell shares in mainland China and vice versa.…

CHINA has been cracking down on beef smuggling with a string of arrests being announced by police. State news agency Xinhua reported last month that officials from China Customs had arrested 33 suspects involved in a nationwide smuggling ring, involving the illicit sale of USD32.6 million’s worth of beef from the United States.…

With Bangladesh’S economy set to continue growing and local cotton production expected to remain insignificant, cotton imports are set to double by 2021, said industry players and experts attending the country’s first Global Cotton Summit. The two-day event (March 20-21) in Dhaka, was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA).…

The Hong Kong unit of Luthai Textile Co Ltd, China’s leading producer of yarn-dyed fabric and shirts manufacturing, has informed its shareholders of a plan to invest USD150 million building a new Vietnam-based textile plant. The factory, whose location has yet to be disclosed, would have 60,000 spindles, with an annual output of 30 million metres of yarn-dyed fabric.…

AN AGREEMENT on streamlining reviews in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand of offers or listings of equity or plain debt securities has been secured. It has been written into a memorandum of understanding designed to promote common prospectuses in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).…

SOUTH Korea’s personal care product industry is credited with developing the sheet mask, a facial covering made from microfiber, paper or hydrogel, impregnated with skincare products – and this delivery method is still popular with Korean consumers.
Indeed, in South Korea, spending on sheet masks grew 11.6% in 2014 to South Korean Won KRW80 billion (USD72.34 million), following a 9.3% decrease in spending in 2013.…

The Australian government has raised bureaucratic and regulatory hurdles that impede foreign investors from sinking money into the country’s agribusinesses, leaving the local dairy sector torn between the desire for growth and respecting Australia’s need to secure its food supplies.
Foreign money flowing into Australian rural businesses “has got to be investment that serves our national interest.…

All of China’s 2,800 counties should have their own general aviation (GA) airport under the country’s next and 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), Li Jiaxiang, the head of China’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA), at an Aviation Industry Corporation of China event staged on March 11.…

The United States’ African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) has helped boost many African countries’ apparel and textile sector, giving them duty-free and quota-free access to the US market. And while many are keen to see the act renewed before its expiration this September 30, some countries have benefited more than others.…

East Africa is emerging as an attractive sourcing alternative for apparel and textile producers around the world as costs in Chinese outsourcing centres rise especially. With cheaper labour and resources, the region has already attracted foreign investment, particularly from Asia.

International apparel and textile producers are looking hard at Ethiopia as an attractive production and sourcing destination.…

Africa is emerging as a viable, even strong, sourcing alternative to Asia, but Africa still needs to learn significant lessons from its rival on establishing a strong sourcing hub, say industry experts.

For instance, sub-Saharan suppliers should note how Asia’s garment and textile industry is well-coordinated and integrated regionally, with strong inter-country links.…

ADDITIONAL pressure is being placed on Macao anti-money laundering (AML) authorities to reduce the illicit flow of money between the Chinese special administrative region (SAR) and mainland China. This month (February 2015), officials from mainland China’s ministry of public security (effectively the police force) have this month been meeting Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) officials to set up a system that monitors transactions through UnionPay (China’s state-owned card payment clearing company) in Macao.…

QUALITY suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and suspicious activity reports (SARs) around the world are crucial to identifying and combatting money laundering – but a lack of feedback from law enforcement and financial intelligence units (FIUs) can discourage reporting entities from working to improve their reports.…

IN the highly competitive cosmetics and personal care market, producers of secondary packaging are creating ever more advanced, innovative shapes and decorations to attract consumers. Whether it conveys a message of sustainability, luxury, or simplicity – secondary packaging continues to play a crucial role, often communicating multiple ideas and emotions to consumers in an instant.…

THE HONG Kong government has proposed a 75% reduction of profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the 2014-15 assessment year, up to Hong Kong dollars HKD20,000 (USD2,578) per case. Announced in the government’s budget, the tax cut will cost HKD17.7 billion (USD2.2 billion), benefitting about 1.95 million taxpayers.…

An amendment to China’s national environmental protection law that took effect on January 1 will probably spark more closures of dyeing and finishing factories, as well as of factories producing dye precursor chemicals, experts predict. Prior to its implementation, a series of crackdowns on polluting plants ordered by local authorities had already caused prices of certain chemicals, for instance 2-amino-4-acetylamino-anisole, to skyrocket. …

The Chinese government is tightening its controls on the movement of money abroad as the liberalisation of the Chinese Yuan Renminbi is expected to trigger a rush of money from the country, especially from China’s wealthy.

Some of China’s big spenders are reverting to big ticket purchases to get money out of the country.…

STAGNATION in international air freight traffic is not good news for the world economy, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development’s (OECD) International Transport Forum.

This ‘ITF Transport Outlook 2015’ noted that air freight tonnes transported to and from the EU and the United States declined strongly after the shock of 2008, then rebounded quickly reaching pre-crisis peak by early 2010.…

Chinese travellers are increasingly venturing to Greece, offering great potential for its tourism industry. And while Greece’s exotic landscapes and architecture attract visitors from China, the tourism industry could prosper still further from developing services and infrastructure designed to cater to this growing market.…

The days of Italian consumer spending extra Euro on a high performing hydrating face cream or premium fragrance may be on hold as the majority of Italian consumers are currently seeking better value for money in their beauty and personal care (BPC) purchases.…

THE SOUTH Korean cosmetics sector is hoping that a new bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) struck between its country and China in November will ease sales of their products into the world’s largest market.

This is despite the fact that the deal did not make much headway in reducing Chinese duties, given the FTA leaves cosmetics in a ‘hyper-sensitive goods’ category for Beijing.…

Malaysia’s finance ministry has released a comprehensive plan to boost the strength of the accountancy profession in the country. Drafted by a special committee to strengthen the accountancy profession (CSAP), the policy is designed to ensure Malaysia has sufficient numbers of professional accountants and reform the profession’s governance.…

THE MANILA-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has urged Cambodia to upgrade its manufacturing sector, including by developing textile production and finishing, to successfully transition from a low-income to a middle-income country, according to the bank’s November report.

In its ‘Cambodia: Diversifying beyond garments and tourism – country diagnostic study’, the bank noted the key challenge in the survival of the country’s garment sector was the country’s focus on low-value, labour-intensive cut-make-trim activities.…

SINGAPORE’S Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) has released a revised code of professional conduct and ethics for public accountants and accounting entities, to take effect from February 1. 

The regulator has stressed that the standards will ensure Singapore continues to be aligned to international benchmarks.…

SINGAPORE’S Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) has released a revised code of professional conduct and ethics for public accountants and accounting entities, to take effect from February 1. 

The regulator has stressed that the standards will ensure Singapore continues to be aligned to international benchmarks.…

CHINA’S huge cosmetics market remains a battleground for the world’s multinational personal care product players and they are still more than holding their own against local manufacturers and brands, especially in higher end segments.

The country’s overall cosmetics and personal care product market was worth Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY274 billion (USD44 billion) in 2013, according to data provided by market analysts Euromonitor International.…

CHINESE President Xi Jinping’s prominent ongoing anti-corruption, anti-money laundering campaign has been worrying mainland Chinese citizens who seek to move ill-gotten wealth from mainland China to China’s Special Administrative Regions Macau and Hong Kong. These two jurisdictions are China’s major conduits for dirty money because, once the money has been moved there, there are no limits on outbound money transfers.…

THE RESPONSIBILITIES of Singapore accountants to report suspicions that their clients maybe involved in money laundering or terrorist finance have become tougher since November 1. New guidelines released by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) have strengthened requirements for accounting firms to establish anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) controls.…

Yang Yuchen is annoyed that her package holiday to Hong Kong was cancelled this October. The stylish 25-year-old bank clerk had planned to spend the National Day week-long holiday (‘golden week’) dining, shopping and sight-seeing in Hong Kong. But the China Travel Service office in her hometown of Zhengzhou, a massive city in central China, cancelled its package tours to Hong Kong, meaning Yang could not get her Individual Visit Scheme permit which is required by most mainland Chinese tourists to enter the special administrative region.…

The mainland Chinese bathroom product market has in 2013 grown in value and volume at healthy year-on-year rates of 12.8% and 8.6% to USD2.7 billion and 3.06 billion units respectively. Canadean, the market research company producing these figures, attributes growing per capita consumption to rising incomes as well as the increased availability of products.…

Marcus Derwin, the new managing director at Australia’s largest privately-owned milk processing company United Dairy Power (UDP), has said the company will continue to trade, despite its parent entering receivership. This follows financier Rabobank forcing UDP’s parent company, Hong Kong-owned Five Star United Foods, into receivership on November 10.…

AS companies and government organisations implement more stringent fraud detection programmes, they are recruiting the best and brightest anti-fraud experts. Universities in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia are responding to demand for anti-fraud expertise by offering fraud prevention classes in accounting, criminology, and business degrees.…

CHINA clothing and textile manufacturers want to create a sustainable apparel industry in China that does not rely on cheap labour and poor environmental performance, but supplies competitive quality output that attracts international sales. That was the message given to a so-called ‘Integral Conversation’ conference on new development models, staged at Guilin City, Guangxi province, China, on November 18-19, staged by clothing manufacturer Esquel.…

AMERICAN pigmeat analysts have conformed to globalmeatnews.com that the recovery in US pork production will be sustained, with the pigmeat industry recovering strongly from the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) outbreak.

The comments come after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasted earlier this month that American commercial pork production was set to reach 23.9 billion pounds for the year ending September 2015, exceeding the country’s beef output for the first time after 62 years.…

AS China moves gradually onwards with the long-promised liberalisation of its currency exchange regime, increased use of offshore companies and bank accounts by Chinese officials is refocusing Chinese attention on the illicit outflow of funds from the country. These have been facilitated and even prompted by China’s ongoing efforts to encourage investment overseas while also liberalising its currency regime.…

The Kenyan government has confirmed to just-style that its ministry of industrialization and enterprise development has entered into a deal with Chinese firm Jiangsu Lianfa Textile Company to build a major textile plant. The Nantong, Jiangsu province-based corporation has agreed to build the plant at Naivasha, a lakeside town ninety-two kilometres north-west of Nairobi, the country’s capital.…

THE STRENGTH and diversity of Bangladesh knitwear producers’ supply chains is one reason why this key outsourcing location is so popular with international brands. And indeed, attention to the supply chain is the mantra of Bangladesh knitwear boss Mohammed Abdul Jabbar.…

THE CATTLEMEN’S Beef Promotion and Research Board in the USA will spend USD10.5 million of its USD39 million investments planned for the fiscal year of October 1, 2014-2015 to promote beef sales in its domestic market.

The goal of this consumer information campaign is to “improve domestic preference for beef by educating consumers about things like beef safety, nutrition and health, convenience, taste and value,” the board’s communications manager Diane Henderson told globalmeatnews.com.…

Plans to build a major textile factory in Ethiopia are closer to being realised for Chinese textile company, Jiangsu Lianfa Textile Co. Ltd, after a pre-investment plan to construct the USD500 million factory was finalised this month (September). 

Its decision to invest in the Horn of Africa country comes after making investment assessments in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.…

China, the world’s top cotton consumer – has announced a significant reduction to its low duty 2015 cotton import quota to boost demand for domestically-produced fibre, but experts disagree over whether the policy could pose risks for textile and clothing manufacturers.…

Tiny Paraguay is now the world’s eighth top beef exporter says US government figures, ahead of meaty superpowers such as Argentina (11th), but their aim is to be number five by 2020 and have 20 million head of cattle available in that year alone.…

THE EUROPEAN meat market is not in crisis following the embargo imposed by Russia on meat from the European Union (EU), a European Commission expert has told globalmeatnews.com.

Looking at price levels and producers’ margins, Dr Kai-Uwe Sprenger, market officer for animal products at the European Commission’s directorate general (DG) for agriculture, said that there are no significant variations in these two areas so far.…

THE UNITED States is trying to come up with a tailor-made international marketing strategy to tap a bigger share of pork sales, now growing at an estimated 12% between 2013- 2018 globally, the country’s National Pork Board (NPB) vice president for strategic communication Kevin Waetke said.…

AN ITALIAN-Chinese company is attempting to emulate IKEA in the automobile market, by offering a modular home and small-workshop production system for putting together a part-made car.
Based in Hong-Kong with a research and development centre in Busto Arsizio, Italy, OSVehicle is currently developing a homologated, modular car platform, called the Urban TABBY, with the key components for making a finished car that is legal to drive on roads across the European Union (EU).…

GARMENT exporting outsourcing centre Cambodia relies on overseas laboratories for the bulk of its textile testing because it lacks local facilities, meaning there is a significant potential to develop such locally-based services, experts have told WTiN.com.

Most of Cambodia’s textile testing is undertaken in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and China because the handful of local laboratories’ capability to handle “restricted substances testing is very limited” while others lack the capacity to handle big orders, said Ms Kris Wan, senior manager of the global softlines development office of SGS Consumer Testing Services, in Hong Kong.…

South Korea is a society that values image and status. It is said that looking good is a sign of your respect towards others. Men and women of all ages in the country typically place great emphasis upon looks; personal grooming and beauty routines are of utmost importance. …

AS TECHNOLOGICAL security features in cosmetics and personal care products packaging become increasingly sophisticated and harder to beat, they will offer more intelligent and multi-functional security. From authentication, to tracking and tracing products during distribution, and preventing and detecting tampering, these systems help brands access their global distribution network, ensuring products move smoothly from production to consumer.…

A move by China this summer to drop the requirement for compulsory testing of some types of cosmetics has been applauded by animal rights activists in Beijing. “China is become more caring for animals…it shows that officials also have dogs and cats,” said Wang Ping, the head of the Tuanjiehu branch of the Small Animals Protection Association, an increasingly active, government-sanctioned national movement for animal rights.…

WH Group, China’s largest pork company and a major shareholder in Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co, Ltd, which acquired Smithfield Foods for USD7.1 billion in 2013, has successfully floated on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEx).

WH Group offered a total of 256,740,000 shares or 10% of its Global Offering on the main board of HKEx at a price of HKD6.20 (USD0.80) per share, according to the company’s August 4 communiqué.…

“Life used to be a lot easier,” grumbles a stressed out executive from Sinopec slouched in his chair at an outlet of Costa Coffee in Chaoyangmen, central Beijing. Over cold latte, the middle-aged administrator explained how there has been a flurry of activity and uncertainty at China’s leading refiner since the launch earlier this year of Sinopec Marketing Co Ltd.…

THE ASSOCIATION of Southeast Asian Nations – ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) has announced that the ASEAN framework for cross-border offerings of collective investment schemes (CIS) is now operational in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The regulatory system allows fund managers working from these member jurisdictions to offer locally constituted schemes, such as unit trust funds, to retail investors in other member jurisdictions, using a streamlined authorisation process.…

EXHIBITORS at this week’s trade show in Phnom Penh, the Cambodia International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition, called on the country to diversify into textile manufacturing, knitwear, finishing and other supporting industries.

Cambodia’s USD5.5 billion garment industry is a mainstay of the country’s economy, accounting for some 80% of exports.…

Researchers in Hong Kong have developed a thin coating made of nano-particles that when applied to fibres and exposed to sunlight creates charges that cleans them of contamination. Furthermore, they have developed a system allowing these particles to be applied through wet processing, without damaging cashmere’s notoriously delicate structure.…

CHINA’S technical textile sector – producing everything from protective gear for steel workers to materials used in artificial kidneys – has enjoyed strong growth in recent years, and 2013 was no exception. According to the annual report of the Beijing-based China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA), the value of the technical textile sector and the fixed asset investments within it grew in 2013 by 12.9% and 28.7% respectively year-on-year.…

Chinese construction firms have cornered plenty of business in Africa and Latin America, but they need upskilling to consolidate their position. Anyone who observes the queues of nervous young men lining up in the early morning in Beijing’s tree-lined Sanlitun diplomatic district will be in no doubt of the intensity of Chinese activity in Africa and Latin America.…

European Union (EU) meat production is projected to start growing in 2014, according to the European Commission, as Europe’s economic recovery solidifies. This could be up 0.7% year-on-year for beef, veal, pigmeat, poultry, sheep and goat meat. However, exports might fall for pigmeat and poultry, with Russian import bans especially causing problems for pigmeat.…

EXHIBITORS at two key international textile and shoe exhibitions in Vietnam have spoken personally to WTiN.com on the value of investing time and money appearing at such shows.

The Vietnam International Exhibition on Garment Manufacturing Equipment and Fabric 2014 was organised concurrently with the International Shoes and Leather Exhibition 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City from July 16 to 18.…

The investment arm of Hong Kong-based Li & Fung is investing in US-based Centric Software Inc, a provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software to the apparel industry, helping Centric’s expansion into Asia. Centric announced yesterday (July 29) it has secured USD24 million in growth capital from financiers including Fung Capital USA – the investment arm of Hong Kong-based Fung Group, which includes Li & Fung.…

Li & Fung Ltd may have been unwilling to discuss claims that it was considering investing in the country’s planned Athi River export processing zone ‘textile city’ but the truth is that Africa is increasingly a focus of foreign clothing and textile investment.…

Many eyes will be on a court room in Shanghai on July 29 when a Chinese judge will decide the fate of one of the most prominent investigators of fraud in China. The trial of Peter Humphreys and his wife Yu Yingzheng follows a year’s imprisonment for the two, who founded ChinaWhys, a Shanghai and Hong Kong-based firm that performed due diligence, credit checks (as well as investigations of staff for possible kickbacks or embezzlement) for western corporations in China.…

Chinese investment in sub-Saharan Africa’s textile processing sector is creating new capacity for finishing, but progress is uneven. Whilst China’s growing presence in the region is far from universally popular, industry figures consulted by International Dyer across the continent were generally positive about the trend.…

AN INFLUX of big-brand café and convenience retail chains is whetting China’s appetite for sweet bakery, including in smaller cities. Brands are diversifying and moving upmarket, offering coffee and seating.

Take Beijing’s Beixinqiao, in the city’s older quarter, a busy intersection of residential blocks and a hub for restaurants and youth-focused fashion stores.…

In 2010, Ernst & Young (EY) Hua Ming, the auditing company’s affiliate in Beijing, resigned as auditor of Standard Water Ltd, a China-based water treatment company, citing inconsistencies in Standard Water’s documents following its attempt to go public. Standard Water then withdrew its initial public offering (IPO) application in Hong Kong.…

THE HONG Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) has welcomed the launch by the Hong Kong government of proposals to reform the special administrative region’s regulatory regime for auditors of listed companies and other organisations.

There will be three months of consultation (ending September 20) on the proposals whose goal is enhancing the independence of Hong Kong’s audit regulators.…

ACCOUNTING firms auditing overseas-listed Chinese companies are keeping a close eye on a draft regulation released by China’s finance ministry on April 29 which would restrict the roles that foreign auditors can play in this work.

This ‘Accounting Firms Cross-border Auditing Service Temporary Regulation’ would prevent accounting firms registered outside mainland China from carrying out au­dits alone for Chinese overseas-listed enterprises, in­cluding overseas listed enterprises with operat­ions in China.…

SINGAPORE and the United States have negotiated an agreement that will force Singaporean financial institutions to declare money held in the city state by American citizens and residents. The deal will help Singapore comply with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which says all financial institutions outside the USA must regularly submit such information to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).…

Extreme weather events in 2013 were plentiful in the Asia-Pacific region – increasing demand for high performance coatings. Typhoons and cyclones brought devastation to parts of the central Philippines with typhoon Haiyan, while India was hit by Phailin, the second strongest tropical cyclone to strike the country since accurate meteorological records began.…

MANY textile brands now make claims of operating with varying levels of environmentally mindful or sustainable practices. The benefits allow companies to chime with the corresponding growing interest among consumers; the risks are equally significant, as gaining a reputation for ‘greenwashing’ – falsely claiming a product or process is ‘green’ – can be significantly damaging to a company’s public image.…

IN the past year, several developments – both new and built on previous initiatives – have emerged, suggesting the apparel and textile industry is continuing to move towards a more sustainable supply chain.

A key move was the publication of Version 4.0, of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), released by the GOTS International Working Group, in March (2014).…

MYANMAR appears set to become a major outsourcing destination among Hong Kong garment companies, with a deal signed last week to set up a 2,400 hectare apparel industrial park in the Yangon region’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

The vice-chairperson of Myanmar Garments Manufacturer’s Association (MGMA), Dr U Aung Win, told just-style that a delegation from Hong Kong signed a contract to set up the apparel industrial park at the Union of Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) in Yangon on June 13.   …

The concept of closed loop supply chains sounds a laudable, if possibly Utopian, ideal: a virtuous circle of production from cradle – not to grave – but back to cradle again.

Right now, no company comes near to claiming that its whole production process not only produces zero waste, but operates within a cycle of perpetual sustainability.…

There is nothing better for a financial professional to oversee the transformation of an innovative company from a small scrapper to a big player – and ACCA qualified Australia-based Paula Kensington knows how this feels.

She is CFO of Rubik Financial – a Sydney-based provider of banking software – whose revenue since the end of 2011 has increased by 200% and its share price multiplied, driving market capitalisation exceeding Australian dollar AUD150 million (USD140.39 million).…

INSIDER trading –and enrichment by officials – is a key reason why the Shanghai stock exchange remains stuck in a funk, underperforming in China’s overall economy for most of the past decade. “They [bureaucrats] are promoted on political criteria, not commercial…they don’t always have shareholders’ interests at heart,” explained Michael Komesaroff, principal of Urandaline Investment, an Australia-based consultancy working on outbound investment deals involving Chinese state-owned firms.…

A major Chinese clothing and textile company has told just-style that the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal is a key reason for a planned investment in Vietnam. In early March, (2014), northern Nam Dinh province, near Hanoi, issued an investment licence for the Jiangsu Yulun Textile Group to build a factory of fabric, textile, dying with total registered capital of USD68 million.…

A SUPERVISOR of an American company in Vietnam’s Binh Duong Province has told just-style how she saw demonstrations against foreign ownership of clothing and textile companies turn into ugly riots. But industry insiders in other Asian countries claim the resulting damage will not seriously deter future foreign investment.…

NAMIBIA is ready to export its first batch of beef to Hong Kong after an audit carried out last month (May) by the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety.

“If all goes well, the country will be the first in Africa to export beef to Hong Kong,” Goliath Tujendapi, manager of trade & strategic marketing at the Meat Board of Namibia, told globalmeatnews.com.…

SINGAPORE has been working hard to lose its past reputation for lax anti-money laundering (AML) controls.

Its ‘steering committee for combating money laundering and terrorist financing,’ jointly headed by the ministry of home affairs, ministry of finance, and the monetary authority of Singapore (MAS) published the country’s first ‘national risk assessment report’ on money laundering and terrorist financing in January 2014.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Trade Centre (ITC) and the Cambodian ministry of commerce are trying to revive Cambodia’s silk production sector, as the country is importing almost all its total 400 tonnes annual raw silk requirement.

Currently, only five tonnes of Cambodian silk, which is noteworthy because of its natural yellow colour, is produced in the country each year.…

At this year’s Vietnam Textile & Garment Industry Expo, which bills itself as “the biggest and the most important event in the textile and garment industry of Vietnam”, only 60 of the 502 companies exhibiting were Vietnamese. WTiN.com visited the show, in Ho Chi Minh City, last month noting that 283 exhibitors were Chinese companies, with fabric, accessories and machinery manufacturers of 22 other countries making up the rest.…

Asking a 31-year old with little prior branding experience to turn around the fortunes of a retail brand almost as old as her may seem foolhardy, yet the quirkiness and fresh perspective commanded by Dee Poon may deliver the rebranding success the ageing high-end shirt specialist PYE needs.…

The shipbuilding director for the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) has confirmed to Steel First that his government is seeking to influence the European Union (EU) as it clarifies the rules of its shipbreaking regulation, which came into force last December (2013).…

The increasingly fluid global market for outsourcing enables brands to switch countries for their manufacturing needs, and it is in the interest of exporting countries to make it easy for them.

Cambodia’s garment industry has been the beneficiary of sourcing shifts from more expensive countries such as China in recent years, attracting manufacturers with some of the lowest labour costs in the world, a past reputation for reasonable working conditions and favoured access to US and European Union (EU) markets.…

A leading Hong Kong politician has confirmed that 12 Hong Kong garment companies have decided to build plants in Myanmar’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone (Thilawa SEZ), covering 2,400 hectares in Yangon.

Felix Chung, a textile and garment industry representative member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council spoke about the plans at a seminar held on Monday (April 14) at Hong Kong’s Clothing Industrial Training Authority.…

AS labour costs in China continue to rise, its apparel and textile industry is seeing orders being transferred to other outsourcing locations as foreign buyers seek lower cost manufacturers. This move could be especially damaging for smaller, low-end Chinese manufacturers, leaving China-based orders increasingly concentrated amongst larger companies, according to a report from the China Cotton Textile Association: “Small to medium manufacturers said their orders dropped sharply during the first quarter of the year while big manufacturers said they had enough orders to keep them busy,” it explained.…

THE SINGAPORE Parliament has beefed up the powers of the country’s accounting regulator, especially over corporate service providers. MPs passed an accounting and corporate regulatory authority (amendment) bill, which will insist corporate service providers be registered as filing agents, able to help companies with their establishment, legal advice, regulatory filings, office hosting and secretarial services.…

A GLANCE at Hong Kong’s official trade data gives the impression that all is rosy for the Chinese special administrative region’s (SAR) knitwear manufacturers. In 2013, Hong Kong exported knitted and crocheted fabrics worth USD2.5 billion, up 4.1% year-on-year, easily outpacing the 1.6% growth posted by the city’s overall textile exports valued at USD10.7 billion, according to figures from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).…

AS foreign investors in the garments sector trickle into Myanmar, local research companies and the International Labour Organisation are undertaking a study that could prompt the country’s parliament to pass a minimum wage law by December (2014). The study, for which one local participant is the Myanmar Marketing and Research Development Co (MMRD), will look at how local factories are struggling to cope with a labour shortage, partly attributed to low available salaries.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) meat demand and production are expected to recover this year, after two years of decline in EU pork and beef supplies, the European Commission predicted yesterday (March 5). In its Winter 2014 Short-Term Agricultural Outlook, the Commission said: “Meat consumption is expected to increase in the short run, thanks to improvements in the economy and of meat availability.”…

The Third Plenary meeting of top Communist Party leaders in Beijing last November concluded with the issue of a rallying cry for reform that will have systemic consequences for pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution.

A policy document released alongside the meeting called for the acceleration of health system reform, particularly of public hospitals, while restructuring pharmaceutical prices and reimbursement procedures.  …

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is contemplating reintroducing an anti-dumping duty (at 16.5%) on five China and Hong Kong-based shoemakers. The proposal – that would apply to standard footwear made with leather uppers in mainland China by Brosmann Footwear, Seasonable Footwear, Lung Pao Footwear, Risen Footwear and Zhejiang Aokang Shoes – was submitted to the EU Council of Ministers on February 19 by the European Commission.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has refused to reimpose EU anti-dumping duties at 16.5% on five China and Hong Kong-based shoemakers, rejecting a European Commission proposal. A council communiqué said ministers “rejected a proposal aimed at re-imposing anti-dumping duties on imports of certain footwear with uppers of leather” made in mainland China.…

Clothing and textile industry disasters in the past year-and-a-half including fires and building collapses at factories in countries including Bangladesh and Pakistan have pushed companies to expand their definition of ‘safe’ suppliers to include more ethical and social standards. Yet, despite, brands’ desire to monitor more operations, the fragmented organisation of standards around the world remains a key challenge.…

Personal care product multinationals have long been known for their eagerness to invest in China, even during the recent global recession. That is why the decision by two renowned PCP companies to retreat from China in the past month is so remarkable.…

THE THREAT that an ageing population will create ‘silver tsunami’ of patients causing funding pressures for Singapore’s healthcare sector came under the spotlight at an Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Singapore Health Conference 2014. Nearly 100 financial and healthcare professionals attended the half-day event on February 18 at the city state’s fabled Raffles Hotel.…

One key supplier to the Chinese market that has all the advantages – in terms of market access, business connections and cultural awareness is Hong Kong’s cosmetics and personal care product sector. Its reputation for quality and the special administrative region’s proximity to mainland economic powerhouse Guangdong helps.…

SOURCING in Asia has been a merry-go-round for many buyers in recent years. As the era of low-cost Chinese manufacturing draws more or less to a close, several countries have leveraged their low cost labour to capture a significant volume of the world’s lower end knitwear manufacturing, while others have sought to extend their reach into higher value-added manufacturing by investing in infrastructure and training.…

SOURCING in Asia has been a merry-go-round for many buyers in recent years. As the era of low-cost Chinese manufacturing draws more or less to a close, several countries have leveraged their low cost labour to capture a significant volume of the world’s lower end knitwear manufacturing, while others have sought to extend their reach into higher value-added manufacturing by investing in infrastructure and training.…

As a minimum wage law goes into effect this month in Malaysia, the Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA) is asking the government to allow its members to reintroduce a lower-paid probationary period for foreign workers. 

Companies in the textile and apparel industry commonly place new employees under a 3-6 month probationary period during which they receive a salary 30% lower than their full wage, according to MTMA chief executive officer Andrew Hong.…

Thailand’s garment industry has not yet felt an economic impact from the country’s ongoing political unrest, but the unstable environment presents a serious challenge moving forward, a senior industry figure told just-style.

Chartchai Singhadeja, director of the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association’s Overseas Trade and Investment Centre, said that large-scale manufacturers are fulfilling existing export orders without a notable drop off.…

Functional knit fabrics bucked the trend in 2013 as Taiwan’s exports of textile and apparel products declined 1% by value to end at USD11.7 billion.

“Overseas sales of Taiwan-made functional knit fabrics increased 8.8% in 2013. We think it will continue to rise in 2014 along with the popularity of outdoor wear and sportswear,” said Chen Hong Yi, a manager at the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF).…

A country famed for its beautiful traditional ‘batik,’ Malaysia is also home to a highly specialised textiles industry and these niche skills may prove vital for the country’s numerous finishing factories in what is shaping up to a challenging year. Economists are predicting a general slowing of the Malaysian economy, with average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the next five years estimated in Q4 2013 at 3.4%, revised down 0.2% from Q4 in 2012 (slightly slower than the Asian average of 3.7%), according to the Ifo Institute for Economic Research/International Chamber of Commerce’s World Economic Survey of business experts published in November last year.…

THE TAIWAN textile dyeing and finishing sectors have never quite recovered from the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) abolition of global textile quotas in 2005. It resulted in the closure of many stand-alone units by making their labour-intensive manufacturing processes on the relatively wealthy island uncompetitive.…

BY JENS KASTNER, in Taipei

THE TAIWAN textile dyeing and finishing sectors have never quite recovered from the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) abolition of global textile quotas in 2005. It resulted in the closure of many stand-alone units by making their labour-intensive manufacturing processes on the relatively wealthy island uncompetitive.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

A country famed for its beautiful traditional ‘batik,’ Malaysia is also home to a highly specialised textiles industry and these niche skills may prove vital for the country’s numerous finishing factories in what is shaping up to a challenging year.…

WITH the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) agreeing that all Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) it holds on its ELMER database will be deleted once they are older than six years, a long British debate balancing the needs of law enforcement and privacy has come to an end (at least temporarily).…

SPANISH meat producers secured increasingly healthy prices in 2013 as the country crept out of recession in the second half, figures from its ministry of agriculture, food and the environment (MAGRAMA) show.

Category E pork (55% – 59% leanness) rose by 11.4% on 2012 to average EUR1.936 per kilo, 10.3% greater than the European Union (EU) average, peaking at EUR2.171/Kg.…

PLANS to open more branches of foreign universities in South Korea Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) are back on track, say managers of the development. The US-based George Mason University, and the University of Utah, and Belgium-based Ghent University, are planning to open branches at Incheon this year (2014).…

WINNERS AND LOSERS

RETAIL

WINNERS

ASOS

Fashion retailer ASOS showed online convenience and price are still a winning combination with shoppers. The UK-based online retailer continued its impressive trajectory this year, announcing pre-tax profit had reached GBP54.7m (US$88.3m) for the year ending 31 August, compared to GBP40m in the same period of last year, with retail sales jumping 40% to GBP753.8m, up from GBP537.9m last year. …

BANGLADESH’S garment makers face a drought of summer 2014 orders as western retailers have begun fleeing the South Asian nation after recent political violence and a physical attack on Spanish buyers.

Top industry leaders said that global buyers, seeking stable alternatives, have already diverted 30%-35% of orders to Bangladesh’s rivals, with India, Indonesia and Vietnam emerging as winners.…

WHILE Australia’s healthy economy is the envy of most countries in the world, and obviously this boosts the personal care product industry in the country – there are concerns that retailers and brands are over-charging consumers. Indeed, Australian consumers are paying as much as 50% more for the same cosmetics as United States and European consumers, according to a recent investigation by Australia’s consumer organisation Choice.…

Although Hong Kong’s paint and coatings demand is modest, and with virtually all its production facilities having moved to mainland China since the 1990s, the city remains a sales centre for hundreds of paint manufacturers, exporters and buying offices, positioned as the gateway to the Chinese market.…

ZHU Jiandi and Gu Wenxian could be the two most travelled accountants in China. The frequent flying duo – chairman and managing director, respectively, at BDO China Shu Lun Pan – were in the southwesterly megalopolis of Chongqing recently to rally local staff to a company goal of making the office a bridgehead for expansion throughout the southwest and west of China.…

THE LIBERALISATION taking place in Myanmar has been making the global textile and clothing sector excited about the country’s thus far untapped potential to export indigenous and mainstream textiles. Aung Min, research director of the business insight and social insight department at the Myanmar Marketing Research and Development Co.…

Although Hong Kong-based quality cotton shirt manufacturer Esquel Group has long placed most of its bets on China, one of its newest bases of operations – Vietnam – could soon prove to be its linchpin for knit shirt manufacturing.  John Cheh, vice chairman and CEO of the company said that Vietnam production could become increasingly important as it continues to scale up operations in anticipation of better Vietnam-China transport links and forthcoming trade agreements.…

THERE are few brands as recognisable to Chinese consumers as the ‘Golden Dragon Fish’, the ‘Jin Long Yu’ in Mandarin, which adorns the tubs of cooking oil and bags of flour and rice in supermarkets across the country. The brand is owned by Singapore-based conglomerate Wilmar, a one-time trading house which has come to increasingly invest in downstream and upstream elements of the oil palm and soy industries.…

CHINA’S beef prices have been soaring as wealthier consumers consume more meat, and switch to beef from pork. But there are more fundamental issues at stake, not least the collapse in local herd numbers.

A supply shortage has meant whole sale beef prices pushed to a “critical juncture” of Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY60 per kilogramme in the second half of 2013, according to a report entitled ‘China Livestock Research and Investment 2013-2017’ produced by the Beijing-based China Suppliers Institute (CIS) – http://www.hyzsyjy.com,…

While many companies may be looking for strategies to exit China as its as labour and manufacturing costs rise, that is certainly not the case for John Cheh, vice chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based quality cotton shirt manufacturer Esquel Group.…

Major food companies serving the Chinese diary industry have told just-food how they see great opportunities emerging from oncoming China government reforms, many expected to be proposed next year.

One policy with a significant impact would be easing China’s long-standing one-child policy.…

With China’s central government taking steps to improve food safety regulations, following several cases of food contamination in the past few years, food companies serving the Chinese market are keeping a close eye on a review of the country’s 2009 National Food Safety Law.…

ORGANISERS of the 13th Vietnam International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition last week (October 24 to 27) noted a surging attendance, but some visitors suggested a broader range of exhibitors could pay dividends.

Staged at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh Exhibition & Convention Centre, the event brought 210 textile machinery and fabric and accessories exhibitors from 10 Asian countries into contact with an estimated 10,000 visitors.…

BARELY a year in office, China’s new government under President Xi Jinping has made more moves towards economic reform than the previous administration in its 10 years in power. Mr Xi has promised to reboot China’s economy by paring back regulations as well as the preferences enjoyed by the state-owned sector, which monopolises many industries, including finance.…

PRODUCERS of confectionery mixing machinery around the world continue to improve their machines, but generally opt for incremental improvements in sanitation and multi-purpose functions rather than creating entire new products.

Dutch confectionery equipment producer Tanis Confectionery, plans to unveil new mixing technology at Germany’s Interpack processes and packaging trade fair in May, Leo Tanis, CEO of Tanis Confectionery told Confectionery Production.…

China’s textile industry must create new competitive advantages to compete with emerging low-cost producers such as Vietnam and Bangladesh in today’s tough export climate, according to a senior official with the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

“It’s clear from the trade data that apparel exports in low-cost countries including Vietnam and Bangladesh are growing faster than those in China and we must increasingly look to expand the value of exports rather than rely on bulk selling at low prices,” said Liu Yaozhong of the council’s international trade office at a seminar during the Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics trade show Tuesday.…

THE IDEA of an international airport terminal that sits in a lagoon instead of on land is groundbreaking, but if it makes sense anywhere it is probably in the Maldives. The Indian ocean archipelago has a thriving tourist industry based on its natural beauty with “pristine water, deserted islands, white coral sandy beaches, mild weather and an unpolluted sky,” stressed a designer of the proposed Hanimadhoo airport.…

INTERNATIONAL clothing and textile experts gathered near Shanghai last week (September 23-7) to discuss solutions to China’s twin challenges – dealing with less foreign demand, while managing rising production costs.

Speaking at the 29th World Fashion Convention, Shanghai, staged in nearby Kunshan, Texhong CEO Hong Tianzhu told delegates it was time for Chinese manufacturers to upgrade their plant and processes, while moving some production outside China.…

A SIGNIFICANT set of acquisitions by Brazilian meat major JBS has been given European Union (EU) regulatory approval by the European Commission. Acting as Europe’s international competition regulator, the Commission approved JBS’ purchase from Brazilian food processor Marfrig Alimentos of Netherlands-based Columbus Netherlands BV also known as Zenda) and six Brazilian-based companies that together form the Seara group.…

VIETNAM’S plans to undertake a major expansion of its textile, texting finishing and fibre production sector were a key focus of an International Exhibition on Garment Manufacturing Equipment and Fabric, held in Ho Chi Minh City from July 11-13. WTiN.com attended the conference, where 125 exhibitors from 17 countries and regions showcased a range of garments, leather and footwear, and other industry products.…

CONSUMERS in Asia and the Middle East are continuing to grow the market for halal cosmetics – until now, a relatively overlooked industry in halal certification – but suppliers are struggling to keep up with demand. Meanwhile, non-Moslems in the west are starting to buy these products, attracted by their natural and mild ingredients.…

FRANCE and Japan have two of the world’s most powerful personal care product sectors, but their companies fare quite differently when trying to sell into each other’s markets. The glamour of the French industry is a strong calling card in Japan, while Japanese manufacturers must work harder to persuade French consumers to buy their wares because of their technical excellence.…

A much anticipated meeting of the Chinese leadership in October may offer the clearest timetable yet for the internationalisation of China’s currency, the Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY). Full convertibility of the Chinese currency is a stated goal of government here but progress has sometimes been slow, though suggestions from economists in Beijing indicate the currency may be fully convertible by 2017.…

THERE was much fanfare in Managua in June when Nicaraguan officials granted a concession to build a USD40 billion canal, which would challenge the great Panama Canal. The unlikely builder: a Chinese businessman, Wang Jing, chairman of China-based Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group and president of the newly established Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co.…

IN signing up to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development’s (OECD) multilateral agreement on tax information transparency, Singapore has moved to address a major paradox that applies to its banking, business and financial operations.

Singapore scores exceptionally highly in global anti-corruption indexes – in 2012 it was ranked fifth by Transparency International out of 176 nations, behind only Denmark, Finland, New Zealand and Finland, for its lack of perceived corruption.…

THE INDIAN apparel industry has made progress with backward integration over last five years but exporters rely too heavily on refunds of custom duties when re-exporting apparel based on fabrics and fibres bought outside the country, a Li & Fung India executive told a New Delhi conference on Friday (July 19).…

To meet apparel and textile brands’ desire to move into fast fashion, manufacturers have begun to embrace new production processes that improve efficiency and performance. Apparel and textile manufacturers have been slower than many other manufacturing industries to embrace supply chain improvements in speed, but are now succumbing to pressure from brands moving into fast fashion retail.…

guarantee system and brand recognition, but they also really took account of the technologies in food safety and meat processing,” he said, noting some valuations of the company’s food safety monitoring systems as exceeding USD2 billion.

Mr Gilmore said Mr Wan raised many of the issues that must be resolved if China is to make progress in instituting a food safety regime compatible with its wider goal of fulfilling the ‘China Dream’, a political motif for goals being pursued by the new administration in China that took power in March.…

DESPITE the billions of dollars spent on modernising several major Indian airports, government officials admit they have failed to become strong international hubs, limiting their potential.

According to a May 2012 report, ‘Developing aviation hubs in India’, published by the Indian ministry of civil aviation, in the year ending March 2011 only 12% of passengers in Mumbai and 9% in Delhi used these airports for transit, and most are transferring to domestic destinations.…

‘LA TORRE PUIG,’ the 22-storey Puig Tower now being fitted out in the Plaza de Europa, of the Catalan capital, Barcelona, for Puig SL, the family owned fragrances and fashion firm, will be yet another landmark building for one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.…

India’s new textiles minister Kavuru Sambasiva Rao told an international textile conference in New Delhi on Friday he wants the textile sector to be relieved from rigid labour laws that prevent manufacturers working 24 hours-a-day. Rao, who was appointed last month (June), said that he is pushing for the Indian cabinet to approve new legislation in the southern state of Karnataka that would give the industry more flexibility in laying-off workers and to allow women to work night shifts in factories.…

Chinese government plans to extend license plate purchase restrictions from major to smaller cities may have fallen at the first hurdle amid public anger and indignation amongst Chinese automakers, who fear the measures may significantly impact their sales.

Speaking at an industry forum in Beijing earlier in July (July 10), Shi Jianhua, deputy secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), said the plans to extend restrictions to Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang, Tianjin and Wuhan, could result in his members losing 400,000 units of sales each year.…

TROUBLED Turkey’s textile sector is to get a shot in the arm with the launch of a major Chinese-owned yarn manufacturing plant in Balıkesir, west Turkey, south of Istanbul. Shanghai-based Texhong plans to invest about USD180 million in the factory complex, which will supply more than 16,000 tonnes of core-spun cotton yarn and blended yarn to the European Union (EU) market annually, Qiu Ming, general manager at Texhong Turkey told WTiN.com.…

China must pay greater attention to safety procedures governing the use of ammonia in cold chain storage facilities following a chemical leak and deadly fire at a slaughterhouse in the country’s northeastern Jilin province, industry officials said Tuesday. 

The fire, which as of this morning had left 120 workers at the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry plant dead and a further 60 recovering in hospital, was triggered by explosions related to a chemical ammonia leak, according to state media. …

The concept of closed loop supply chains sounds a laudable, if possibly Utopian ideal: a virtuous circle of production from cradle to grave and back to cradle again. However, as Ulf Eriksson, product manager for textiles and shoes at the Sweden-government-owned Ecolabelling Sweden (or Svanen – Swedish for swan), pointed out: “A closed loop is a challenge for the garment industry because this is a fashion business.…

According to the non-governmental organisation (NGO) China Water Risk, it can require 40,000 litres of water to grow 1 kilogramme (kg) of cotton and 600 litres of wastewater can be produced to make just 1kg of textiles. And the average Chinese apparel factory discards 27.2 tonnes of usable, pre-consumer excess textiles every week, which includes new thread, fabric, buttons and trimmings.…

INVESTORS have shown faith in the long term prospects of the Bangladesh clothing and textile sector, with four garment factories costing nearly USD50 million to build starting operations in Bangladesh’s Comilla Export Processing Zone this year (EPZ), its general manager MD Abdus Sobhan told just-style.…

Chinese public authorities have signalled a possible crackdown on poor safety standards in food manufacturing plants after yesterday’s fire at the Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry plant in northeast China killed 120 workers, with a further 60 recovering in hospital. With state media now reporting the blaze was triggered by explosions related to a chemical ammonia leak, Sarah Li, director of the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council’s Hong Kong branch has said another broiler factory close to the stricken plant “have been asked by the local government to suspend production for the time being for inspection on safety measures.”…

FOREIGN companies in China face a tough choice when becoming victims of fraud – do they let it go, knowing that they might be hit again later, or tangle with the fraudsters, privately, or using China’s often responsive law enforcement and court systems?…

may be a big concept, but the road to making personal care product packaging greener is made of small incremental steps that can both provide green marketing benefits and reduce costs.

Recent innovations include reducing the size of containers, while maintaining the volume of product they hold, alongside innovations in using renewable resources and keeping packaging waste out of landfills.…

SUSTAINABILITY may be a big concept, but the road to making personal care product packaging greener is made of small incremental steps that can both provide green marketing benefits and reduce costs.

Recent innovations include reducing the size of containers, while maintaining the volume of product they hold, alongside innovations in using renewable resources and keeping packaging waste out of landfills.…

Alliance Boots’ key mainland China joint venture partner is planning to expand its distribution networks to reach the whole country, a London-based spokesperson for the personal care giant told Soap Perfumery and Cosmetics on Friday night.

The UK-based company sells cosmetics through certain Mannings stores in Hong Kong and would like to expand those sales to mainland China: “We would like to; we are still considering it.…

THE GOVERNMENT of China’s largest city, Shanghai, is building a black list of fraudulent food traders targeted for law enforcement, as a series of meat frauds have emerged nationwide. Officials are also developing a food tracking system to deal with chronic food chain transparency problems, as down by the recent dumping of 15,000 dead pigs in the Huangpu River.…

PROMOTED in China’s press as the Richmond, Virginia of China, driving into Yuxi, in the southern Yunnun province, you get the impression of how a successful tobacco sector can generate all kinds of wealth. Yuxi is home to China’s largest tobacco company, Hongta, and this has helped fuel real estate speculation – construction is everywhere.…

ALTHOUGH China is known for skilled workers making clothing for big brand names, the country still relies heavily on imports when it comes to high performance nonwovens used in the medical, automotive, environmental protection and other fields, according to Beijing-based China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA).…

PERSONAL care product packaging has entered a new era of ultra-customisation in which nearly everything is possible, and careful choices must be made by design teams in order to effectively communicate to consumers. “In the cosmetics and personal care product industry, where competition is so high, packaging design is crucial because otherwise, consumers don’t have a clear way of differentiating the quality of a product without opening it,” remarked Gabriel Alvarez-Jacobo, managing director of Imagemme, a New York-based packaging design and branding agency.…

THE PHILIPPINES, which with 95 million people, has the 12th biggest population in the world, is among the world’s most promising emerging markets, and international business and accounting services are taking note. GDP was up by around 7% in 2012, with 6% growth forecast for 2013, and the country’s accounting sector is capitalising on its strong economic growth.…

China’s move to elevate its State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA) to a ministry level entity aims to consolidate oversight of food safety issues under one umbrella and convince consumers the government is serious about tackling the country’s food safety problems. …

French branded food giant Danone has introduced a second infant formula brand to China, targeting its soaring imported infant formula demand. Aside from maternity stores, Danone has made Nutrilon available at Tmall, a business-to-consumer site run by China’s largest online shopping platform Taobao. …

EUROPEAN clothing suppliers flocked to this year’s Intertextile Beijing Apparel Fabrics 2013 show to explore China-based sales, but told just-style of concerns that excess domestic inventory might impede export sales in this key emerging market. This year’s show at the China International Exhibition Centre was notable for a year-on-year 36% rise in European exhibitors, including a similar expansion of companies exhibiting at the pavilion operated by Italian textile producer organisation Milano Unica.…

Emerging markets, with their major outsourcing sectors, offer an excellent marketplace for operational software vendors.

This is especially the case as American and European markets mature.

In China, textile and clothing manufacturers are not known for their heavy IT investment, but the financial crisis of 2008 has slowly pushed them into adopting management software such as ERP and PLM to cut costs through optimising their operations, said Patrick Hu, sales director at the Huansi International Group, a Hong Kong-based software vendor specifically targeting Chinese manufacturers.…

THE SINGAPORE government’s much lauded change of gears from running an economy known for its efficiency to one where innovation also plays a key role has been illustrated in a new education services export initiative, targeted at China.

The city state’s trade promotion agency IE Singapore (IE for international enterprise) signed in January a memorandum of understanding with seven local leading training and educational institutes and universities to form what it calls a Singapore Talent Development Alliance (STDA).…

A REGULATION aimed at ensuring the rollout of broadband networks across the European Union (EU) is achieved more cheaply and swiftly has been proposed by the European Commission. It tries to force member states to ensure new buildings are broadband ready, while telling incumbent telcos to give access to their physical networks to broadband service providers.…

China’s automobile industry analysts are assessing the impact of the country’s State Council (cabinet) last month deciding to swiftly impose the new China V emissions standard for vehicles in the capital Beijing.

It already applies to new diesel vehicles sold or registered in the city (from February 1), with gas counterparts set to follow suit as of March 1. …

Revised emissions caps imposed by China’s ministry of environmental protection on iron and steel-making projects will probably result in further consolidation of small works and mills, analysts have told Steel First.

These new standards, which came into force for new projects on March 1 and also apply to five other heavily polluting industries, will be enforced in 47 cities nationwide, according to a ministry note.  …

Money laundering takes place in the arts world and much of it at auctions, only the arts world doesn’t like to talk about it much. And anti-money laundering (AML) experts understand the methods used. At a Paris conference held last February (2012) by the Syndicat National des Antiquaires (the French national union of antique dealers) the director of the l’Institut de Criminologie de Paris, Philippe Conte, explained how launderers would put a work up for auction, to be bought by an accomplice in cash using dirty money.…

IF there is one crime condemned worldwide it is the sale and smuggling of counterfeit medicines. Sometimes close copies and sometimes dangerous substances – this crime kills on a grand scale.

Counting the number of its victims accurately is difficult, because of the subversive nature of the trade, but some think-tanks have tried.…

CHINA’S textile industry association is preparing for new demands from its government to introduce sustainable production in the sector, warning that companies failing to comply will be closed.

Yang Donghui, director of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, a state-owned Beijing agency, warned: “This is mandatory.…

Strengths:

China has a booming e-commerce sector, and growing online drinks retailers are building more warehouses nationwide. They need to balance ‘just-in-case’ and ‘just-in-time’ demands and also the need for flexibility versus low inventory. Negotiating these logistical pressures is vital in this huge yet highly fragmented market.…

DESPITE China’s slowing economy in 2012, Chinese consumers still spent handsomely on beauty products. In December alone, for example, spending on cosmetics and personal care products (such as personal soaps, shampoo and toothpastes) increased 16% and 16.6% respectively from the same time a year ago, compared with 8.7% for clothing and 3.6% for jewelry, according to the China Nation Commercial Information Center, a Beijing-based government organisation tracking national retail statistics.…

TRADITIONAL Chinese personal care product brands might be struggling in the offline market, but they are making their return in the virtual world, thanks to China’s booming e-commerce. At Taobao, China’s largest online shopping site, historic Chinese brands, such as Hangzhou-based Kong Feng Chun (since 1862) and Yangzhou-based Xie Fu Chun (since 1830), are gaining tremendous fans, selling skin care products, hair care products and color cosmetics.…

NEW income streams and lower wages are helping maintain the competitiveness of Chinese banks – despite lower productivity and higher staffing headcounts compared to their Western peers. But comprehensive reforms are needed to ensure that this expansion of banking is built on solid foundations, reducing the risk of future financial crises.…

CHINESE investors in London’s property market are becoming increasingly important players, and the signs are that the flow of Yuan into the UK capital could keep growing. Michelle Zhang, who heads up the China desk at DTZ London, said: “CIC [China Investment Corporation] would be viewed as the most active Chinese investor and now have a number of prime London property holdings;” she highlighted the Chinese sovereign fund’s recent GBP245 million purchase of Deutsche Bank headquarters Winchester House, from KanAm, undertaken alongside Invesco.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) should be the second supplier of pork to the Japanese market, up from the fourth place now, once a planned EU-Japan free trade agreement (FTA) is in place, Jean-Luc Mériaux, secretary general of the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union (UECBV) told globalmeatnews.com…

INTERNATIONAL brands have been growing in emerging markets worldwide, but it would appear that where a newly wealthy country develops a local industry with quality products, they can lose market share. Taiwan is a case in point. Its beauty and personal care market – last year worth USD3.4 billion and traditionally heavily dominated by international brands –  has seen domestic players steadily clawing back more market share: extending from a mere 15% in 2007 to a relatively handsome 25% in 2012.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) Japanese knitwear manufacturers are assessing the opportunities offered by the planned EU-Japan free trade agreement (FTA), with negotiations about to begin, having been authorised by the European Union (EU) member states before Christmas.

“We will try to develop good contacts with the Japanese industry to try to come up with solutions during the negotiations that could be beneficial for both whenever possible”, said Luisa Santos, head of international trade at the European apparel and textile confederation (Euratex).…

Malaysia’s textile and clothing industry is planning to focus on three key areas – higher value fashion, dyeing and finishing, and technical textiles – to sustain strong growth and continue to compete with significantly lower-cost competition elsewhere in Asia.

The country’s textile and apparel exports grew 28.4% to USD3.8 billion in 2011, according to the Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA), with a further significant increase expected in 2012.…

DESPITE China’s slowing economy in 2012, Chinese consumers still spent handsomely on beauty products. In December alone, for example, spending on cosmetics and personal care products (such as personal soaps, shampoo and toothpastes) increased 16% and 16.6% respectively from the same time a year ago, compared with 8.7% for clothing and 3.6% for jewelry, according to the China Nation Commercial Information Center, a Beijing-based government organisation tracking national retail statistics.…

Pakistan’s shipbreaking industry has started talks with the Pakistani government over how it can comply with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, whose rules come into force in 2015. The chairman of the Pakistan Ship Breakers Association has told Steel First that he has met with officials to discuss measures for implementing the treaty: “We are ready to take steps to protect and promote the ship breaking industry,” declared Deewan Rizwan Farooqui.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

Adidas

Sportswear giant Adidas confirmed in July that it would be closing its only company-owned Chinese apparel factory, which employs around 160 people. It also continued to face pressure in 2012 to make USD1.8 million in severance payments to workers at a former Indonesian supplier factory, where its owner fled without paying wages.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WINNERS

Fast Retailing

Japanese retail giant Fast Retailing underwent major expansion this year, opening the world’s largest Uniqlo store in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza shopping district, boasting 12 floors and a total retail space of 4,959 square metres. In May, Fast Retailing announced plans to set up a subsidiary company in China to oversee its ‘aggressive’ expansion plans in the country, just a month after it said it planned to open 62 stores in China during its current financial year – taking its store count there to 142, by the end of August.…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN BANGKOK

THAILAND’S textile and garment industry is aiming to diversify its export markets as it faces a significant drop in demand from its key American and European Union (EU) markets.

Thai garment exports for 2012 are forecast to fall by 10% to USD2.8 billion, while the country’s textile exports for 2012 are expected to dip by 15% to USD3.5 billion, according to figures from the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association (TGMA).…

THE KNITWEAR manufacturers of Taiwan are being challenged by headwinds from the global economic downturn, which has undermined their smart high-end export strategy. Last year was not a good one – as indicated by drops in exports of circular-knit fabric and knitted clothing apparel of 2.74% to USD1.265 billion and 10.97% to USD178 million respectively in the first eight months compared to the corresponding period of 2011.…

BY DAVID HAYHURST, IN PARIS

BUILDING on its long-held global reputation for quality natural ingredients, France has now emerged as the second biggest natural and organic cosmetics market in Europe, after Germany. A January 2012 report by international consultants Deloitte – the most comprehensive yet conducted exclusively on the French natural cosmetics industry – calculated an average 2005-2009 growth rate of 25%.…

BY MARK GAO, IN BEIJING

A less than flattering catch-call has lately become attached to China’s Communist Party elite: ‘Luoguan’, literally "naked officials", refers to officials whose spouses and children have migrated to another country, spending Chinese money abroad, some of it dirty, or transferred illicitly.…

BY ANDREW GREEN, IN KAMPALA; AND BILLCORCORAN, IN CAPE TOWN

THE TRIPLING in the size of Africa’s middle class over the last 30 years to what the African Development Bank estimates is now 313 million people coupled with increased urbanisation, are driving the growth of the continent’s cosmetics industry and markets.…

BY MARCAS GAO, IN TIANJIN

The chief of one of China’s most ambitious beef processing companies has told globalmeatnews.com how his plans are being frustrated by a shortage of cattle, even as demand for beef surges in the country’s urban centres.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO

THE JAPANESE government is staging a diplomatic campaign aimed at boosting its beef exports worldwide, through securing international recognition for its beef as having "negligible risk" of BSE. It has already filed an application with the Office International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation to confirm the safety of Japanese beef when it next general session meets in May.…

BY MARK GAO, IN BEIJING

China is starting to indulge the art of genetically modified (GM) food production, with potential long-term benefits for its oils and fats sector. But it is more likely to boost imports of soybean and palm oil in the short-term to make good shortfalls in supplies of bio-based oils and fats.…

BY POORNA RODRIGO

Bangladesh has scrapped 203 ships so far this year, making it the largest number ever in the history of its thriving ship breaking industry, the Bangladesh Ship Breaker’s Association (BSBA) secretary Nazmul Islam has told Steel First.

In 2010 Bangladesh scrapped only 75 ships, and the number improved to 145 in 2011 before it shot up to 203 in this year so far.…

BY WANG FANGQING IN SHANGHAI

China’s clothing and textile industry – already undermined by rising costs and competitors snapping at its heels – is especially vulnerable to fallout from a World Trade Organisation dispute (WTO) brought last week by Mexico.

It claims that Chinese government subsidies and tax-breaks for its textile and clothing sector break WTO agreements – and if a disputes settlement panel, Beijing will be under pressure to end these.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s energy committee has rejected attempts to introduce a moratorium on offshore gas drilling in the Arctic, overruling a contrary vote by the EP’s environment committee last month. Instead, the committee proposed new amendments to a proposed law on European Union (EU) oil and gas exploration, ensuring that companies have ‘adequate financial security’ to cover liabilities from any drilling accidents in all EU waters.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE CHINESE government is fighting a fresh major outbreak of avian influenza virus H5N1 in southern China, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). It says the outbreak was first reported on September 11 at a duck farm in the city of Zhanjiang, in Guangdong province.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

UTILITIES in Australia and the European Union (EU) could soon be allowed to buy and sell carbon units from each other’s emissions trading system (ETS). A proposed mutual recognition arrangement between the Australian government’s ETS and the EU-ETS is expected to benefit industries on both sides of the globe and to lower carbon prices long-term.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI

"A NEW and superior urban form of living," is how India’s first airport city, Durgapur Aertropolis, in West Bengal, is being defined by its promoter and main contractor, Changi Airports India Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Changi Airport International.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA; MINI PANT ZACHARIAH, IN MUMBAI; WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI; AND LEAH GERMAIN

DESPITE the financial storm clouds that have disrupted Europe’s economy over the past few years, the continent’s luxury apparel sector has proved remarkably resilient, with global demand for their products rising.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, IN ITALY

WHILE trade fairs remain the primary channel for finding suppliers for any kind of fabric, the sourcing of luxury fabrics and fibres has seen a small revolution over the last decade – thanks in large part to the development of web-based technologies that have integrated face-to-face contact with online services.…

BY POORNA RODRIGO AND MUNZA MUSTAQ, IN COLOMBO

Of course the BRICs countries are far from being the only emerging market suppliers for the global apparel sector – and a knot of competitors such as Bangladesh and Vietnam have long been vying for business.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

China’s leading dairy products manufacturer Mengniu has denied rumours it is set on acquiring Modern Farming, a major domestic raw milk supplier based in the eastern Anhui province whose major shareholders include global investment company KKR&Co.…

BY MARK GAO, IN BEIJING

More than two-thirds of Chinese airports, most in smaller regional centres rather than China’s mega-cities, last year lost a combined Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY2 billion (USD313 million). Yet there will be no let up in the construction of new regional airports in China, given government has dubbed the civil aviation sector as a "strategic industry".…

BY SHEENA ROSSITER, IN SÃO PAULO; RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI; HELEN CLARK, IN HANOI; AND WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

WHILE the focus on emerging markets for the big international clothing brands has often been to view them as outsourcing opportunities, the truth is that there are a lot of people with a lot of money in these countries.…

BY SHEENA ROSSITER, IN SÃO PAULO; RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI; HELEN CLARK, IN HANOI; AND WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

THE GROWTH in outsourcing has been maybe the most important trend in the clothing and textile sector in the past decade, with emerging market countries offering increasingly reliable and sophisticated services.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI

India’s fast growing personal care products industry – particularly its cosmetics portion – is waking up to the major potential of the country’s rural and semi-urban markets. Major players are targeting these new aspiring consumers with innovative campaigns and targeted products and are set to reap handsome returns.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

THE DEMAND for natural ingredients-based skin care products has been growing so fast in China that both multinational and domestic cosmetics companies are pouring new products onto the market to attract consumers, both men and women, with different levels of income.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO

AT present it takes one hour and 32 minutes to complete the transfer between Tokyo’s two main airports Narita and Haneda, hampering the city’s efforts to be seen as the most important aviation hub in western Asia.…

BY ROBERT STOKES IN MÁLAGA

THIS year I have abandoned my premium brand sun screen in favour of a Deliplus private label product sold by the Spanish supermarket group Mercadona for around EUR 5.00, saving around EUR 12.00 into the bargain.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

Participating in the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) will help state-owned food distribution conglomerate the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) grow sustainably and internationally said quality assurance manager Chen Zhigang.

He told a GFSI conference, in Beijing, the firm wants to grow its food exports, and this will be assisted by GFSI certification.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

MAJOR Japanese food company Calbee is to set up a 51:49 joint venture in Taipei with the Taiwan local food concern Wei Chuan, a subsidiary of Tingyi International, which is registered in the Cayman Islands as a Taiwan company.…

BY KARRYN MILLER, IN HANOI

WITH similar tropical and sub-tropical climates giving personal care product consumers some similar requirements as regards skin care, the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region could be regarded as one by lazy marketers.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

WHILE delegates at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting in Beijing remained concerned about the impact of the European Union’s (EU) emissions trading scheme (ETS) on global aviation, there was general consensus that the industry is growing healthily.…

BY HANA KAMARUDDIN, IN SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

Students in some Asian countries, such as Japan, Indonesia and South Korea now earn credit hours for voluntary work, an incentive that builds volunteering into the university assessment system and promotes community work as an integral part of higher education, a conference has been told.…

By Wang Fangqing

China, a nation once so secretive about sex, is determined to introduce sex education as early as primary schools. On December 12, China’s Ministry of Education released a draft of the National Standard for Primary School Teachers that included a requirement that teachers “get the knowledge and methods of puberty and sexual education.” 

 Beijing and Shanghai, the two most developed cities in China, launched sex education programs in selected local primary schools months ago along with the textbooks: “Steps of Growth” in Beijing and “Boys and Girls” in Shanghai, both presented in manga style to appeal to the young students.

“How to Protect Myself” is a major topic in both books. In “Boys and Girls,” which is adapted from a German textbook, scenarios include a little girl being given candy by a stranger and a little boy being told by a male tennis coach to help him clean a locker room.…

By Wang Fangqing

China, a nation once so secretive about sex, is determined to introduce sex education as early as primary schools. On December 12, China’s Ministry of Education released a draft of the National Standard for Primary School Teachers that included a requirement that teachers “get the knowledge and methods of puberty and sexual education.” 

Beijing and Shanghai, the two most developed cities in China, launched sex education programs in selected local primary schools months ago along with the textbooks: “Steps of Growth” in Beijing and “Boys and Girls” in Shanghai, both presented in manga style to appeal to the young students.

 “How to Protect Myself” is a major topic in both books. In “Boys and Girls,” which is adapted from a German textbook, scenarios include a little girl being given candy by a stranger and a little boy being told by a male tennis coach to help him clean a locker room.…

TWIN concerns of innovation and cost control were on the agenda at the recent International Symposium of Intimate Apparel at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Themed the ‘Next Generation of Eco-friendly Lingerie Fashion,’ the day-long event on March 26 heard from local experts on the role for smart textiles and the commercial prospects for eco-friendly materials.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

SWITZERLAND just signed a so-called ‘Rubik deal’ with Austria to safeguard Swiss banking secrecy in return for it levying withholding taxes anonymously on undeclared savings and investments held in Switzerland by Austrian nationals.

The bilateral treaty with Austria, start date 2013, follows those with Britain and Germany, and has raised the hackles of the European Commission, which has questioned these agreements’ legality under the European Union (EU) Savings Tax Directive, which tries to erase loopholes allowing depositors to squirrel money away from tax assessors.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

DINERS in Beijing were appalled recently to discover that restaurants on the city’s most famed dining street have been using recycled – or so called ‘gutter’ – cooking oil processed by an underground industry of oil collectors.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

WHILE China is desperately in need of nurses – 1.9 million to be exact, according to the nation’s ministry of health – the opportunities for overseas healthcare providers who are not ethnically Chinese are limited, as the government requires all nurses working in China to be able to pass a national test in Mandarin.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

DUE largely to the surging growth of Dubai-based airline carriers Emirates and flydubai, government-owned operator and manager Dubai Airports is currently juggling the development of the new Al Maktoum International Airport at logistics hub Dubai World Central (DWC), as well as the USD7.8 billion expansion of the Dubai International Airport (DXB).…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

BEING label conscious these days means more than consumers recognising brands or retailers and manufacturers complying with legislation at the point-of-sale. Labels – be they hangtags with mobile barcodes, labels directly printed onto a garment, or a chip sewn into a care label – now represent a fundamental piece of the production process that can be leveraged to save money and increase sales.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

DESPITE the increasing number of roll-outs of RFID item-level tagging by retail giants such as Walmart, JCPenney, Marks & Spencer and supply chain giant Li & Fung, the price of RFID inlays (the electronic component that comprises of an antenna made of copper, silver or aluminium along with a silicon chip attached to a synthetic backing) has not been budging, with UHF Gen 2 RFID smart tags (the industry standard) hovering anywhere between USD0.096 and USD0.26 cents, according to supplier network RFID.net.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

THE ALIBABA Group, China’s largest e-commerce company and the world’s biggest online trade platform, has been fighting to preserve its reputation for probity as it tries to take its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary Alibaba.com private for up to Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY20 billion (USD3.1 billion) in cash.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

CHINESE clothing and textile manufacturers in key provinces are raising wages amidst heightened fears of labour shortages.

"We are about to lose 50 per cent of our workers after the (Chinese New Year) holiday, and hiring new workers will be difficult," Sea An, spokesperson for Shenzhen-based A.M.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

IT is a sign of a mature market that all social groups are offered products in a sector, with all kinds of retailers selling across a country – and China is certainly maturing in this way as regards the personal care product sector.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

WITH a growing interest in colour cosmetics amongst Chinese women, many companies are developing innovative and unique packaging that especially appeal to younger consumers.

Market research firm Euromonitor International has stressed in a report that international marketing has helped fuel this trend: women between the ages of 15 and 30 living in urban areas of China have been widely exposed to Western and Japanese makeup and are gravitating largely towards colour cosmetics because of this.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

MANY eyes are focused on how the fraud by Chinese companies listed on domestic and overseas bourses will be tackled in 2012 given that company involved in a notorious 2011 case, Sino Forest, is facing potential bankruptcy, after a research house Muddy Waters claimed it listed in Toronto on false data.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RETAIL – WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

MARKS & SPENCER

Times may still be tough in its home British market, but M&S showed forward-thinking foresight in 2011- on sourcing transparency and the environment: potential key issues for future consumers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WINNERS

TUNISIA

Of all the countries disrupted by the Arab Spring revolts in 2011, Tunisia liberated itself in the swiftest and most business-friendly fashion. This key European supplier rid itself of despotic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January14, and one week later, its textile and clothing sector was back at work.…

BY MARK ROWE

FOR the past decade, innovative paints and coatings manufacturers have been creating a buzz around sustainable, ‘smart’ coatings that self-clean, do not chip, and are more aerodynamic. Many of the claims for such materials were made while the inventions were still in the laboratory.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WINNERS

VF

In one of 2011’s biggest deals, US-based VF announced its plans to buy major footwear brand Timberland in a US$2bn takeover. As well as boosting earnings by US$700m a year, the purchase would leverage VF platforms in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and boost e-commerce operations.…

BY MARK GODFREY and MJ DESCHAMPS

THE EXTENSION of the European Union’s (EU) emission trading scheme to the civil aviation sector might have been welcomed by environmentalists, but it has upset politicians and industry leaders abroad notably in the United States and China.…

BY MARK GODFREY

THE iPhone 4 and pricey bottles of Bordeaux appear to have become unlikely but essential business tools to crack the China market. "We have staff flying to Hong Kong to get them as soon as they hit the Apple Stores there," explains a European dealmaker who links state-owned Chinese energy firms with Western suppliers of turbines and high-tech tooling machines for the energy sector.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

ASK a school supplies business owner in Beijing why she loves a certain knitted cashmere line and her response might make you blush.

"Thermal underwear, great!" laughs Liu Qiao, 47. "I bought a pair of cashmere long johns for my husband last year and he loves them.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

A POTENTIAL liberalisation of Chinese luxury good import tariffs could lower the price of high-end cashmere goods in China, bringing them closer to Hong Kong and Europe prices, an international conference has been told.

The move has been spurred by a boom in personal imports by travelling wealthy Chinese.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

THE WESTERN financial system is undergoing profound change, of weakened trust in the sector, heightened tax regulations, pressure to curb banking secrecy and tougher regulatory compliance. As a result, the owners of legal and extra-legal capital who are looking for a safe haven for their money are starting to consider destinations outside the established offshore jurisdictions – the less regulated financial centres of the Middle East and Asia.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

Pragati Leadership is one of the major leadership development firms offering professional coaching services in India, with 18 professionals in its core team, including 10 full-time consultants and eight associate consultants. It also has nine network partners, including six independent franchisees offering coaching services across India and three partner companies abroad – in the USA, France and Hong Kong.…

BY MARK GODFREY

CHINA poses tricky challenges for personal care product packaging executives. While the country’s mass market is often influenced by fads – such as a current green-is-good phase – its consumers are suspicious of manufacturers and want to be reassured about quality.…

BY MARK GODFREY

ANYONE who has eaten croissants and Danish-style pastries smothered with mayonnaise, chopped sausages and pork floss will appreciate that Beijing bakeries have a style all of their own. Yet the unorthodox approach is popular with local consumers, judging by how bakery chains are growing here: aside from locally-owned chains such as Holiland and Weiduomei and there has been an influx of regional chains, for instance Kiss n Bake from Taiwan and Singapore’s BreadTalk.…

BY MARIANNE BROWN

STABLE large developing countries have obvious advantages over small states and those facing civil conflict, in terms of creating effective anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) systems. But given many are today in the throes of rapid economic growth and transformation into consumer societies, their governments have a lot of priorities to juggle, and keeping close tabs on dirty money might not be one of them.…

BY WANG FANGQING

AS MULTINATIONAL cosmetics companies continue to dominate the vast, multi-tiered personal care market in China, more Chinese companies are turning to Chinese traditional medicine (TCM)-based products, to gain niche market share.

This past July, Hong Kong-based pharmaceutical company Qilike Medicine Group upgraded its business-to-consumer (B2C) website – which sells acne treatment product Deefur, making it look more sophisticated to attract mainland Chinese consumers.…

BY MICHAEL KOSMIDES

WITH Greece on the brink of financial default, and consumer spending power diminishing, the country’s consumers are less than concerned about looking their best, at a time where they are being forced to cut down on even the essentials – thus posing a challenge for the Greek cosmetics industry.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

INDIA’s first ‘airport city’, Durgapur Aerotropolis, is to be up and running by the end of 2012 in the eastern state of West Bengal, (which could be soon renamed ‘Paschimbanga’ by its government). The 880-acre greenfield project will include airport infrastructure and urban development, and will employ 90,000 people.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

IN a drive to combat the illegal exploitation of conflict minerals and create greater transparency of money flows between mining companies and governments, the European Commission is to table a new European Union (EU) law this autumn. It will ask large mining companies to reveal detail about their mining activities and associated financial transactions to shareholders.…

BY MARK GODFREY

COTTON prices have eased in 2011, lifting the price pressure on major brands, according to VF Asia Pacific president Aidan O’Meara. The Hong Kong-based executive, who oversees 30 brands in the region, says it was the first time in 19 years at VF that he had seen inflation of production costs.…

BY WANG FANGQING

That China offers the international branded food sector huge opportunities has long been a cornerstone of corporate strategies, but new regional markets are developing, with smaller provincial cities becoming richer. This is helping to fuel an annual growth rate of 15.4% in the size of the China hypermarket sector, which expected to reach Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY911.3 billion (USD141.4 billion) by 2015, predicts Euromonitor.…

By WANG FANGQING

FACING soaring wages and an appreciating local currency in the Yuan, Chinese clothing makers are being forced to make a hard choice – keep clients or make profits. So far, the answer seems to be clients.

According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, profits in the export sector (for all industries) fell to 1.44% in February 2011 from 1.47% in 2010.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE

DUBAI International Airport (DXB), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is planning to launch a large-scale passenger flow measurement project to track the movement and activity of passengers from the second they enter the airport complex.

From the airport’s growth statistics, it appears the trial has not come a moment too soon; DXB is one of the fastest growing airports in the world and could become the busiest in the near future.…

BY KATHERINE DUNN

A THREE hour ferry ride from Copenhagen, sitting south of Sweden in the Baltic Sea, is a small 227 square mile Danish island called Bornholm – it is an unlikely place to be a crucible for testing electric vehicle refuelling systems.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

THE ASSOCIATION of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) covers 10 distinct countries, each with a unique culture, mirroring the personal care product markets of the European Union (EU). However, these nations do share some similarities – and maybe more than northern, southern and eastern Europe, especially when it comes to what ASEAN consumers have inside their cosmetics cabinets.…

BY MARK GODFREY

WITH the fast-growing Chinese economy looking increasingly to overseas expansion and foreign mergers and acquisitions, it is not surprising so-called second tier accountancy alliances such as BDO and Crowe Horwath are keen for a piece of the action in China.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

ENVIRONMENTAL concerns and the health hazards faced by the workers engaged in the ship and tanker breaking industry of Bangladesh have forced its government to reform controls of this most dangerous service. Dhaka has made administrative changes and proposed a new law that could force the international oil companies to share the costs of cleaning up the chemical and other waste left by this beach-based industry.…

BY MARK GODFREY

WITH some researchers (most recently Credit Suisse’s China analysts) predicting Chinese e-commerce revenues will grow 100%-a-year to 2015 it’s not surprising international brands are scrambling to understand and tap the dynamics of the country’s web portals. Top of the local business-to-consumer pile Taobao has evolved from an eBay knock off to a massively popular resource for wholesalers and B2C operators.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

ON first impressions Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s two largest metropolises, seem a far cry from the fashion capitals of the world. Their wide boulevards overflow with heavy traffic and are mostly lined with small family-owned stores and restaurants, rather than well-known brands.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

NEARLY two months after northern Japan was shaken by a magnitude-9 earthquake and then inundated by a tsunami that in places reached a height of 38 metres and devastated the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the final toll has not been calculated.…

BY MARK GODFREY

IF uranium suppliers are looking for reasons to feel confident that China will continue its hunt for nuclear fuel supplies worldwide, they should remember how deeply the country is invested in this process. Indeed, it has been a sign of how hungry China has become for uranium that even private firms in this officially communist country are being allowed to hunt for overseas uranium assets.…

BY WANG FANGQING, MINI PANT ZACHARIAH, KARRYN MILLER and KEITH NUTHALL

EMERGING market coatings exporters sometimes claim tough environmental rules in rich jurisdictions are nothing but a form of protection. And while such arguments can always be contested, it is certainly true that the European Union’s (EU) ongoing and longstanding biocide review will throw up obstacles to Asia-Pacific coatings manufacturers wanting to secure sales in Europe.…

BY MARK GODFREY

IT is a sign of how hungry China has become for uranium that even private firms here are being allowed hunt for overseas uranium assets. New to the uranium market, Sichuan-based conglomerate Hanlong Energy joined a string of state-run procuring companies late last year when it invested US dollars USD5 million in Australia’s Marenica to dig for uranium in Namibia.…

BY MARK GODFREY

CHINA may soon add its own voice to a global accounting scene dominated by the big four, Chen Yugui, head of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) has told Accountancy Age. In an exclusive interview in Beijing, he explained: "Internationally and nationally we don’t think it’s a good phenomenon that the big four take a dominant position, as it will harm the sustainability of the profession."…

BY WANG FANGQING and MINI PANT ZACHARIAH

THAT China and India sport efficient pharmaceutical sectors producing generic medicines with vigorous efficiency has long been a fact of life for the global pharma sector. But the ambitions of their domestic industries to produce original medicines that can seize world markets is a newer phenomenon, but a serious one – multinational pharmaceutical companies should take note.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SPECIAL restrictions have been placed by the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers on the import into the EU of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong because of health concerns. The EU fears that potentially carcinogenic chemicals are leaching from these products into the foods they contain in Europe’s kitchens.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

For some it was a total disaster, for others a bump in the road, but the recession left no part of the clothing and textile retail sector unscathed. World Trade Organisation (WTO) statistics from 2009 show that while globally important manufacturing jurisdictions such as China and the European Union (EU) suffered 11% and 15% drops respectively in clothing exports, countries such as India, Vietnam and Bangladesh lost just a couple of percentage points and in India’s case, exports remained stable.…

BY WANG FANGQING

CHINA: Shanghai reaches out to the Ivy League

Wang Fangqing

Full report on the University World News site

CHINA: Shanghai reaches out to the Ivy League

Wang Fangqing

China’s largest city Shanghai has been successfully pushing for western universities to establish branches serving Chinese as well as foreign students.…

BY MARTINA MARECKOVA

*Last year, the total volume of tax free shopping in Prague by Russians increased by 22% year-on-year.

*However their average spending dropped from Czech Crowns CZK6,951 (US dollars USD400) in 2009 to CZK6,581 (USD378) last year.

*Prague luxury clothing retailers says a couple from former Soviet Union may often spend CZK300,000 (USD17,267) each on a mink fur coat.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CARBON emissions reductions in China petrochemical production will be funded by the first Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY-denominated bond launched in Hong Kong by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. The bond raised CNY150 million (US dollars USD23 million) helping expand of Beijing Shenwu Thermal Energy Technology Company, which makes furnaces lowering energy use and emissions for petrochemical producers.…

BY WANG FANGQING

China’s Bright Food (Group)will restructure its sugar business and accelerate global acquisitions, notably in the dairy sector, in 2011, the company has confirmed to just-food. A spokesman said: "Globally, we are interested in resource-based enterprises whose businesses are in line with our strategy."…

BY MARK GODFREY

IN 2011, foreign brands seem set to extend their dominance of the cosmetics and hair products market in China, one of the few sectors of the economy controlled by multinationals. Procter & Gamble (P&G), Unilever and L’Oréal dominate sales revenues here, and to extend their dominance global brands continue to acquire local brands.…

BY ANDY HOLDER

THE INTERNATIONAL gold market may be relatively small, but the metal’s rapid rise in price in the past 18 months to over US dollars USD1,400/oz(up from USD900) has given fraudsters the opportunity they need to tempt investors with some pretty audacious offers to join the ‘gold bug’ club.…

BY ANDY HOLDER

FRAUDSTERS have been using base metals to exploit unwary gold investors with counterfeits and scams, the director of the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau (CIB) has claimed. Peter Lowe said reports of gold fraud had been rising as investors losing money on shares and currency trades turn to gold as a safe haven.…

BY WANG FANGQING

China’s leading brewer China Resources Snow Breweries (CRB), the owner of the country’s most popular beer Snow Beer, began building a new plant on November 26 in Zhumadian city, Henan province, to boost sales in this central China region.…

BY WANG FANGQING

AS e-commerce continues to boom in China, increasingly Chinese women are buying their favourite beauty products online. Internet sales of beauty and personal care products in China reached (China Yuan Renminbi) CNY1.3 billion (US dollars USD195.3 million) in 2010, and are expected to double in 2015, according to London-based research firm Euromonitor International.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

AS the market for electric vehicles (EVs) picks up, the infrastructure for recharging them will inevitably have to keep pace – so, according to US-based consultants in global clean technology markets Pike Research (NOTE: CORRECT), there will be around 4.7 million EV charging units operating worldwide by 2015.…

BY MARK GODFREY

Albert Ng, Ernst & Young

Managing partner and chairman of E&Y’s China business, Hong Kong native Albert Ng has over 25 years of professional experience in the accounting industry in China and Australia. That background will be valuable as he moves the firm on from an embarrassing settlement over its auditing of Akai Holdings, a bankrupted Chinese electronic manufacturer and retailer.…

BY HELENA FLUSFELDER, GERARD O’DWYER

A PLAN to install an electric car network has been approved by Israel’s government, making this small Middle East country a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) technology.

The project is a joint venture between Renault-Nissan, which will provide the electric vehicles, and a Silicon Valley, USA-based start-up project Better Place, which will operate the re-charging grid.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

CHINA’S domestic cashmere market appears to be booming, figures released at the fourth annual Cashmere World trade show in Beijing demonstrate. Chinese imports of cashmere products increased 153% to US dollars USD13.2 million from January to July this year (compared with the same period last year), said Tian Hong, director of the CFNA (China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce & Animal By-Products) at the National Convention Centre event from October 24-26.…

BY WANG FANGQING

TO many Chinese manufacturers, 2011 has been a difficult year – an unfortunate combination of the fast-rising Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY); soaring inflation; and a shortage of available investment. And the horizon is not getting brighter: at the beginning of October, for example, the US Senate passed a controversial currency bill, aimed at punishing China for ‘currency manipulation’ with retaliatory tariffs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A MEETING of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, staged by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has accepted reports highlighting significant shortcomings in openness for some jurisdictions. The Pacific island state Vanuatu fared worse, being accused of "significant deficiencies in the availability of information" with its government lacking "any powers to access information" about taxing its residents and companies.…

BY WANG FANGQING

CHINA’S perpetually rising costs and currency have, of late, been undermining China’s export industry. However, this has encouraged Chinese clothing retail entrepreneurs to appeal to their domestic market, notably its demographic of Internet-savvy, younger generation consumers. And of course, a key benefit of serving domestic consumers is the ability to create brands and control the whole industrial process, from sourcing materials, to design, manufacture and marketing.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN

Madagascar’s textile and clothing sector has been harmed by the country’s suspension from the USA African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). It lost these trade benefits last December after President Andry Rajoelina seized power in March 2009 with army backing.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN

The constant risk of financial crisis and economic malaise in the European Union (EU) is real and may have worrisome consequences for the Mauritius textile sector.

This Indian Ocean island state’s important textile and clothing sector has been dealing with the global recession in 2009, causing a contraction of 2.9% in output through a fall in demand from US and Europe markets.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

With the global textile and clothing industry this year emerging from a deep slump, it is perhaps understandable that there were going to be unexpected twists and turns in the sector during 2010. Of course, the fashion business is always colourful, and attracts characters and innovation.…

BY WANG FANGQING

CHINESE consumers just cannot hold themselves back from spending money on luxuries it would appear, and the personal care product industry is reaping the benefit.

From February 2010 to March 2011, the Chinese had spent an accumulated amount of USD10.7 billion on luxuries (excluding automobiles, yachts and private jets) in domestic sales alone, about 25% of global luxury consumption, reported the World Luxury Association (WLA) in June 2011.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RETAIL – WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

H&M

The Sweden-based brand expanded across the world this year, planning to open 220 new stores, mostly in western Europe and the US. Hennes & Mauritz’ (H&M) third quarter sales of SEK26.89bn (US$4bn) showed a sharp 14% increase on the previous quarter.…

BY MARK GODFREY

THE KNOWING, slightly sinister smile is instantly recogniseable. But instead of slaying rebels Huang Xiao Ming is shilling Olay men’s moisturiser and deodorant. Huang’s face is recognizable to Chinese who’ll have seen it plastered on billboards nationwide promoting the 2009 blockbuster The Message, a spy thriller set (as many films are in China’s state-controlled film business) during the fight against Japanese occupation.…

BY MARK GODFREY

SUSTAINED economic growth and soaring passenger numbers are both reasons why Beijing is building a long-mooted second airport for commercial and cargo use. Digging into a US dollar USD$400 billion national fund for infrastructure, the Chinese capital is opening a new airport to cope with expected overcrowding at the city’s Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA), which added its celebrated dragon-styled Terminal Three only two years ago.…

BY BILL CORCORAN, DINAH GARDNER, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, KEITH NUTHALL

IF there is one good indicator that niche spirit markets are developing in emerging markets, it surely has to be sales of single malt Scotch. And by that rough and ready yardstick, such markets are well on their way.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

DEFINING a niche drink is an arbitrary matter and what may pass as niche today may well be considered mainstream tomorrow. Flavoured vodka, for instance, had a relatively specialised following in Europe until a few years ago – now it is classified as an official spirit drink under European Union (EU) regulations.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

CASHMERE industry specialists attending the fourth annual Cashmere World trade show in Beijing have welcomed the Chinese government’s release of a China cashmere standard, but told just-style the only really effective way to ensure quality was a mature market.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, KARRYN MILLER, GAVIN BLAIR, KEITH NUTHALL

MOST drinks manufacturers would bridle at the accusation that they used anything unnatural to make their products: after all poisoning consumers is bad for business. But in the world of marketing, everything is relative, and some ingredients are so fresh and untainted with processing chemicals that they can, simply, be sold as being more ‘natural’ than standard inputs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A NEW global survey involving the International Bar Association (IBA) has revealed widespread concern amongst lawyers that their profession is compromised by corruption. Working with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), the IBA showed that nearly half of all respondents stated corruption was an issue in their own legal profession; more than 70% said so in the former Soviet Union, Africa, Latin America, the Baltic States and eastern Europe.…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH

BOB DYLAN was spot on: "One man’s loss always is another man’s gain." The stringent anti-smoking laws passed in India as a result of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) framework convention on tobacco control’s have stubbed out cigarettes from public places.…

Dinah Gardner

After five years of work undertaken by 60 editors, the new Oxford University Press (OUP) English Chinese Dictionary is finally complete. The publication includes 370,000 translations, more than 2,000 pages and is the size of a small dog. In OUP own words it is "the world’s largest, most up-to-date, most accurate, and most authoritative single-volume Chinese-English / English-Chinese dictionary."…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH

BOB DYLAN was spot on: "One man’s loss always is another man’s gain." The stringent anti-smoking laws passed in India as a result of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) framework convention on tobacco control’s have stubbed out cigarettes from public places.…

BY DINAH GARDNER, PACIFICA GODDARD, KARRYN MILLER

AS the ranks of China’s middle class swell, their desire for leading healthier lifestyles – including what they drink – is also growing. Manufacturers have a wealth of ingredients from which to pick. Not only can they use globally-renowned healthy choices such as fruit juices and mineral-enriched drinks, they also have thousands of herbs, roots, flowers and fruits popular in Chinese medicine to choose from as ingredients and additives.…

BY WANG FANGQING

China’s largest seasoning manufacturer, Guangdong province-based Foshan Haitian Flavoring & Food, is to expand its production capacity of soy sauce by building new plants in the local Gaoming district. The company is waiting for an approval from the Foshan Environmental Protection Bureau.…

BY WANG FANGQING

THE BATTLE to prosper from China’s shampoo market is slowly shifting from the low-end market to the premium market, which holds huge potential for both domestic and foreign companies.

A key new entrant is the Paris-based L’Oréal Group, which launched a series of hair-care products in September 2009, targeting retailers in major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing.…

BY DINAH GARDNER

WITH its five thousand years of history, it’s unique Confucian-based social traditions and, more recently, a one-party state system, no one expects China to take on the western concepts of coaching without tweaking them a little. "The best coaches in China are those who can blend Western best practice with Chinese wisdom and social mores," says Frank Gallo, an American who offers business coaching in China via his own company, Calypso Consulting.…

BY WANG FANGQING

WITH the fast development of on-line shopping and increasing orders from overseas, the business of counterfeit perfumes is expanding in China.

Take taobao.com, Asia’s largest online shopping website resembling eBay, as an example. A simple search for J’Adore, a perfume by Dior of Paris-based LVMH (Moët Hennessy.Louis…

BY KARRYN MILLER

AS trade barriers continue to diminish, clothing brands are becoming more global. However it is not as easy for the sizes of their goods to be quite as worldly. International players need to adapt their fits for different target markets but that level of adaptation varies by country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE TOWN of Asbestos in French-speaking Québec, Canada – named after the mineral that underpins its economy – is waiting to see whether its provincial government will approve a Canadian dollar CAD58 million (US dollar USD56 million) loan enabling an underground mine to tap an immense deposit.…

BY WANG FANGQING

THE RASH of strikes that have hit China’s auto sector are certainly insufficient to persuade manufacturers to scale back their expansion plans, but the long term lessons are clear: China is no longer a bargain basement labor market of placid easily-pleased workers.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE PRESENT difficult economic conditions in Europe, north America and Japan are not hugely encouraging for promoting innovation or for the spending of large sums of money on research by drinks manufacturers. It may be a little different for leading brands such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other big names though even these are changing their approach.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

A LITTLE healthy competition can drive innovation – and often pays off for those who think outside the box. The beverage industry is no exception, and drinks industry awards continue to recognise some of the industry’s most creative ideas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HONG Kong skin-care and beauty business Water Oasis Group Limited is receiving a Hong Kong dollar HKD78 million (US dollar USD$10 million) investment from California-based Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. Its Asia managing director David Hudson said Darby was following its policy of "supplying otherwise scarce risk capital to well managed mid-cap companies with good growth prospects."…

BY EMMA JACKSON,RAGHAVENDRA VERMA,WANG FANGQING and PACIFICA GODDARD,

AS people migrate across the globe, the drinks industry has witnessed a slow influx of regionalised flavours into untraditional markets. White and green tea from Asia is now sold across the globe in soft drinks, and ‘exotic’ fruits such as pomegranate, mango and lychee are becoming popular juice flavours in Europe and the US.…

BY KARRYN MILLER, ALAN OSBORN, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, WANG FANGQING and KEITH NUTHALL

PRIVATE label (or own brand, as it is known in the UK) is an increasingly popular way for food retailers to sell their products worldwide. Not only does it given them more control over costs and quality, it allows them to market their own brand whilst making sales.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, KARRYN MILLER, WANG FANGQING and GAVIN BLAIR

What’s the attraction of drinks own brands or private labels for the retailers? After all, if consumers are happy with commercial ‘national’ brands – then retailers can make money. "They exist because supermarkets are trying to build their supermarket values and their own relationship with their customers," says Richard Hall, chairman and founder of the international food and drink consultants Zenith International.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, WANG FANGQING, JOHN PAGNI and KEITH NUTHALL

THE RISE of the world’s large emerging markets – Brazil, Russia, India, China and Mexico (or BRICM to give them a popular acronym) has been especially significant for the drinks industry.…

BY DOMINIQUE PATTON

CHINA’S fast-growing chocolate market is attracting a raft of international brands but local players may do better in the country’s smaller cities.

Chocolate sales in China reached Chinese Yuan RMB7.7 billion (US$1.13 billion) in 2009 according to Euromonitor, after growing by a compound annual rate of 10% since 2004.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

WITH an aim to moderate the domestic prices of cotton yarn, last week the Indian government said it would suspend a 7.5% duty concession for exporters – essentially raising the price of Indian cotton by 3.5% on world markets (because of a complex formula framing these tariffs).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CHINA and Hong Kong were the most common sources of personal care products reported last year through the European Union’s (EU) RAPEX consumer alert service as being potentially unsafe or breaching the EU cosmetics directive.

In a report, the European Commission said there were 86 RAPEX personal care product notifications last year, up from 81 in 2008 – both were around 5% of total notifications.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

INTRODUCTION

There are signs around the world that the textile market is beginning to recover from the global economic crisis, and developing markets will be leading that recovery. Asia is, of course, at the forefront, but many countries in Latin America have also weathered the crisis and have come out in a surprisingly decent position, with their dynamic textile and apparel industries well positioned for future expansion.…

BY WANG FANGQING

ONE of the challenges for multinational food companies doing businesses in China is the cultural uniqueness of the world’s most populous country. But well aware of the riches that could be tapped, the international food industry is developing flavours and health traditions that accommodate Chinese tastes.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

VIETNAM has worked hard to convince foreign companies they should look past neighbouring China for their knitwear needs. Through an increasing commitment to quality, along with strong government support, Vietnamese knitwear firms are starting to see the fruits of their labour and tags ‘made in Vietnam’ are becoming more common both domestically and abroad.…

BY MIRIAM ELDER

WHILE the government of the Russian Federation has made real efforts to fight money laundering – as documented recently in the Money Laundering Bulletin – the problem remains rampant in this resource-rich country, according to Russian and international experts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PROGRESS report issued by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has claimed almost 300 tax transparency agreements have been signed by jurisdictions since the April 2009 G20 summit in London. This called on governments and sub-national administrations worldwide to adopt the OECD’s standards on revealing and exchanging tax information.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR, FRANCES WANG, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA and KARRYN MILLER

The Asian beer market, having overtaken Europe, is now the largest in the world, according to Japanese brewery Kirin. The region accounts for 31.7% of global consumption, compared to 30.8% for Europe, claims the annual report from the Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle.…

BY MARK GODFREY

A SLUMP in exports dented China’s economic growth in 2008, but a strong recovery which lifted GDP growth to 10% in the second half of 2009 appears to have ensured strong retail sales across all fronts. That is why growth of cosmetics sales in China remained strong at 10% in 2009, according to the China Association of Fragrance Flavour and Cosmetic Industries (CAFFCI).…

BY ALAN OSBORN,ANCA GURZU and KEITH NUTHALL

THE GLOBAL trade in illicit tobacco is huge and growing and a significant source of dirty money worldwide. Tobacco multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) estimates that 6.3% of cigarettes worldwide are illicit products (either counterfeit, smuggled or sold domestically on the black market), which makes 332 billion sticks, and that is a lot of cigarettes.…

BY WANG FANGQING

ASIA is opening up to the wider world culturally and its hair styles are becoming more varied as a result, allowing personal care product companies to sell a wider range of hair care lines.

With growing attention paid to appearances, Chinese consumers, for instance are spending more on their hair care.…

By Julian Ryall, in Tokyo  

International aid for emergencies comes in many forms, and necessity really can be the mother of invention amongst donors. Just ask the Japan-based World Instant Noodle Association: when disaster strikes - they send noodles.

And the world’s hungry and sick are happy that they do.

The association – whose acronym is WINA – draws donations from instant noodle producers and a disaster relief fund created by the late inventor of the instant noodle, Momofuku Ando, and former chairman of the International Ramen Manufacturers’ Association.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A YEAR of struggle would be the best way to sum up 2009 as far as the global clothing and textile industry is concerned. The depth and severity of the worldwide recession left many clothing and textile companies reeling, even impacting upon China, which had previously been dominating global markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ONE of the lynchpins of the European Union’s (EU) single market is its public procurement rules, which try to ensure pubic authorities, and some utilities and transmission operators, openly tender for their major purchases. The aim is that all EU suppliers have a fair crack of the whip in offering them goods and services.…

BY MARK GODFREY

The growth in cigarette sales is slowing slightly in China, which has also seen a shift towards premium product purchases and consolidation of what is the world’s largest tobacco industry. China sold 1.19 trillion cigarettes in the first six months of 2009, a 3.6% climb on the same period last year.…

BY MARK GODFREY

AS CHINA’S stimulus-primed economy rebounds, increased local emphasis on environmental and quality specifications is playing into the hands of foreign brands like PPG Industries and Akzo Nobel.

"The whole industry is facing consolidation, changing needs from customers, and stricter environmental requirements," said Mike Horton, head of architectural coatings and automotive refinish coatings for the Asia Pacific region at PPG.…

BY ANDREW SALMON

AFTER passing the fortress-like medieval gate of Namdaemun, visitors enter central Seoul’s traditional shopping quarter: a jumbled maze of stalls and alleyways. A 15-minute walk through the raucous bustle of this 600-year old market, leads to its modern equivalent: The neon-lit, pedestrianised square mile of Myeong Dong.…

BY DINAH GARDNER

BURMA is both a dream and a nightmare for energy companies. First, it is undoubtedly resource rich. According to the BP Statistical Review, the country had 0.49 million cubic metres (17.5 trillion cubic feet) of proven natural gas reserves at the end of 2008, roughly the same as Vietnam.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has warned that the amount of counterfeit medicines being smuggled into the European Union (EU) is increasing sharply. In its latest report on fake products, it warns that when compared to 2007, there were 57% more interventions by EU customs teams to seize counterfeit drugs, and a "remarkable" 118% increase in the number of fake medicines seized – to 8.8 million items.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, in Paris; LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy; KARRYN MILLER, in Tokyo; and LUCY JONES, in Dallas

IT almost seems commonsense to say that an industry providing such a human product as clothing has to take account of cultural sensibilities in target markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THERE has been an increase in the proportion of counterfeit shoes seized in Europe made in China – up to 93.4% of all seizures in 2008 – the European Commission has revealed. This was up from 79.6% the previous year.…

BY ANDREW CAVE

WHO regulates money laundering at the stock exchange listings of companies around the world? If this is a beguilingly simplistic question, then the answer is anything but.

The reply depends not only upon which country one is referring to but also on which companies list in which market and in which stock exchange sector.…

BY WANG FANGQING

GONE are the days when it was only rich developed country markets which punished cigarette sales with high duties. In the past six months, the biggest (and gloomiest) news for China’s cigarette manufacturers has been the change in consumption tax (an excise tax) – it was raised as high as 56% depending on the tobacco product, along with an additional 5% ad valorem wholesale price-based tax.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

FACED with a global recession caused partly by commercial financial crime, governments have been pushed into taking action against tax evasion in recent months by ending the practice of banking secrecy. Is it the end of the road for tax havens as protected jurisdictions where illicit transactions can hide?…

BY MARK GODFREY

IN terms of suicides by migrant workers, "Hong Kong risks becoming another Gulf," claims their representative in the territory. Comparing reported incidents with accidental deaths and suicides by workers in Gulf Arab countries, Mia Sumiati, a coordinator of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Organisation (IMWO) in Hong Kong, noted an increase in suspicious deaths or proven suicides amongst the 140,000 strong Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong.…

BY MARK GODFREY

BUSINESS remains slow in Jinghai, a slice of industrial land a couple of hours east of Beijing designated as one of China’s key recycling belts. Business was brisk here up to October 2008, the date given locally as the beginning of a savage dip in demand for recyclables.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN INTERNATIONAL convention imposing environmental health rules on tanker and other ship recycling was expected to be approved by a diplomatic conference in Hong Kong May 11-15. This International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships was drafted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to control this notoriously dangerous industry.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

IF there was a year when long-term textile and clothing market forecasters missed by a mile, 2008 was it. Forecasts made in 2007 were dominated by looming concerns about trade restrictions, investment in technology, a potential slow-down of production and a consolidation of business investment but no one predicted what devastating effects an unexpected recession would have on the textiles and apparel sector.…

BY MARK GODFREY

The new planned G20 rules on financial stability and accounting will have less impact on mainland China than they will on Hong Kong, said Robert Agnew, CEO of Matrix Services, a consultancy advising financial firms on pan-China deals: "Mainland China has gotten its accountancy rules into line with global norms, and it now uses a limited form of fair value accounting.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A MAJOR cigarette smuggling boom is being reported in Ireland by customs teams, with a record 135.2 million cigarettes being seized last year, almost twice the amount seized in 2007. Of these, 56.82 million were counterfeits, the country’s Sunday Independent newspaper has reported.…

BY MARK GODFREY

THE EMPTINESS of the Giordano store in the departures terminal at massive Baiyun International Airport outside the southern Chinese megapolis of Guangzhou suggests hard times for Hong Kong’s most vaunted and ambitious apparel retailer. This is the capital of wealthy Guangzhou province after all, the manufacturing base for most of Hong Kong’s garment firms.…

BY MARK GODFREY

WITH the global recession raging across most of the world, Bangladesh’s knitwear sector is maintaining a strong commercial position and looks better geared to survive the economic downturn than some of its regional competitors. Orders have only dipped marginally say local knitwear producers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE THUMBSCREWS are being turned on the world’s tax havens, preventing their banks hiding assets from tax investigators worldwide. A comprehensive communiqué from April 1 and 2s’ G20 meeting in London committed member governments "to take agreed action against those jurisdictions which do not meet international standards in relation to tax transparency."…

BY MUNZA MUSHTAQ

As Sri Lanka’s military makes its final thrust against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the country’s government is trying hard to ensure the safety of its only international airport and its passengers, because of an enduring risk of attack from the separatist group.…

BY WANG FANGQING

CHINESE manufacturers have told Soap Perfumery & Cosmetics they see no threat in the newly-effective ban, under the European Union’s (EU) revised cosmetics directive (76/768/EEC), on all the animal tested cosmetics and personal care products sold in the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) consumer alert network RAPEX has warned of potential health problems associated with certain Hong Kong-exported cosmetics. It reported market withdrawals in Italy of eye shadow, mascara and lipstick beauty cases called ‘Beauty Red Rose’, ‘Natural Beauty’, ‘Star Jeans’, ‘Beauty orange heart’, ‘Rose Pearl’, ‘Beauty Green Flowers’, ‘Exclusive White’ and ‘Instinct’, all through excess lead content.…

BY MARK GODFREY

THOUGH its top trading partners continue to stick with the fair value or mark to market principle set by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), China remains unwilling to embrace the principle. Though Beijing, keen to nurture its companies into global corporate champions, has been bringing its Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises (ASBE) closer to the IFRS it won’t require listed firms to use the fair value approach – “not for the foreseeable future,” Dickson Leung, partner at the Beijing offices of Lehman Brown has told Accountancy Age.…

BY MARK GODFREY

MURKY dealings in the China’s corporate world suggest that the country’s adherence to acceptable accounting standards may be more in word that practice. Huang Guangyu, China’s second richest man and founder of electric retailing giant Gome, was accused in December of "financial crimes" by the China’s ministry of public security, which oversees the police.…

BY MARK GODFREY

WHILE much of the rest of the world is in the economic doldrums, demand for cosmetics and toiletries seems to be holding steady in China. That said, local cosmetics manufacturers are however bracing themselves for a difficult year.…

BY ANDY HOLDER

Bankers mesmerised by the earnings potential of a transaction have often fallen into the trap of developing a kind of myopia that stops them looking at the ‘big picture’ with disastrous consequences. This kind of risk blindness seems to prevent them from following laid down internal controls and even willfully compromising them in the pursuit of profit, often to the detriment of others that get caught up in the scheme.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi; and KEITH NUTHALL

AN INTERNATIONAL conference took place this month in Hong Kong (May 11-15) and adopted a new International Maritime Organisation (IMO) convention on globally applicable ship recycling regulations for international shipping, including oil and gas tankers.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

JAPAN’S 98th airport, Mt Fuji Shizuoka Airport, is set to open on June 4, 2009: despite the launch being delayed twice. The initial March opening was moved back because the owner of 150 nearby trees refused to chop them down or even shorten them.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, DOMINIQUE PATTON and LUCY JONES

The growth in outsourcing within the clothing and textile sector worldwide has highlighted a key issue, and that is the relative merits of running an integrated company that handles basic production and design, or relying on a string of specialist suppliers to deliver the goods, from fibre supplies, to textile manufacture, design, clothing assembly and retail.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy; PHILIPPA JONES, in Paris; DOMINIQUE PATTON, in Beijing; KARRYN CARTELLE, in Tokyo; and LUCY JONES, in Dallas

Where is the best cutting edge research for the textile and clothing industry? Which are the best design schools, the best fabric developers and the best industrial innovators in the sector?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, GAVIN BLAIR, and MARK GODFREY

BACK in November 2008, long before the accession of Barack Obama to the US presidency, world leaders gathered together under the G20 banner to forge a common response to the ongoing financial crisis.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE DEMAND from China for waste packaging from the European Union (EU) has shrunk dramatically, which will inevitably impede product manufacturers from ensuring enough of their materials end up in recycling, as required by EU law. Plastics packaging has been especially hard hit, with Hong Kong dealers reporting slides from US$540 per tonne to US$380 per tonne from August to October.…

BY WANG FANGQING

THE HONGHE Group and the Hongyun Group, the two major Chinese tobacco companies located in the key tobacco-growing Yunnan province have recently (WHEN EXACTLY?) submitted a merger agreement to the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), the Beijing-based industry watchdog.…

BY MARK GODFREY and ALAN OSBORN

MANUFACTURERS at China’s largest trade fair say falling orders mean China is unlikely to ease an effective moratorium on imports of recyclable plastics anytime soon. Producers of plastic-based household items at the bi-annual Canton Fair in Guangzhou, in China’s key southern manufacturing belt, told Plastics & Rubber Weekly that a dramatic decline in exports of toys and household goods had prompted the Chinese government to impede the import of waste plastic, and the market could remain closed for a year or more.…

BY MARK GODFREY

TO the casual observer in Beijing there is plenty of proof that China’s market for recyclable waste has crashed. The army of waste collectors that normally patrols the city’s thoroughfares has visibly thinned over the past two month.…

BY WILLIAM BARNES

A WOMAN brushes past palm fronds into the pastel lights of a busy Bangkok salon. At the counter she turns what looks to be a flawless, ivory face towards a woman in a vaguely medical uniform: "Aiyee! I am getting so old.…

By Gavin Blair

Though the number of academic specialists in commercial crime in the Asia-Pacific region may be fewer than in the US or Europe, many of the leading figures are both willing to work with corporate clients and have a great deal of experience outside the ivory towers.…

BY MARK GODFREY

IT has been a bad year to be a fuel retailer in China. Local retailing leader Sinopec has had its profits squeezed by government price controls on petrol prices. Prices at Chinese pumps have risen by 9% in the last 12 months, even though the cost of crude has jumped 40% in the same time span.…

BY DOMINIQUE PATTON

CHINESE perfume brands are dwarfed by the big brands from the West, mostly because of their origins. Perfume remains a foreign concept and local producers struggle to attain credibility beside their foreign rivals.

A handful of companies have however carved tiny shares in the market thanks to their understanding of local tastes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NUMBER of counterfeit personal care products seized by European Union (EU) customs teams fell by a quarter in 2008, compared to 2007, the latest European Commission figures claim. There were still many fake cosmetics, perfumes and personal soaps discovered however – 4.58 million items, in 2,134 cases however.…

BY DOMINIQUE PATTON and KARRYN CARTELLE

EAST Asian markets are increasingly important to global haircare manufacturers, with growing prosperity enabling many more women to buy the products they really want for their hair. As a result, major companies really need to pay attention to what east Asian women want.…

BY KARRYN CARTELLE

SEPARATED by a short plane ride across the Tasman Sea, Australia and New Zealand are clearly two distinct countries – in the physical sense – but when it comes to the cosmetics industry in these neighbouring lands it is clear that things are merging into one.…

BY KARRYN CARTELLE

AUSTRALIA is currently ranked as the eighth largest market in the world – third largest within the Asia-Pacific region after Japan and Hong Kong – in terms of its total stock market capitalisation of AUD$1.63 trillion (USD$1.53 trillion) in 2007 (World Federation of Exchanges figures).…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

IT could be an animal rights campaigner’s worst nightmare: not only is the testing of cosmetics China allowed, it is in fact compulsory for all products. And this is going to cause problems to the international cosmetics sector.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi; SAEED AKHTAR BALOCH, in Lahore; and KEITH NOYAHR, in Colombo

THE SOUTH Asian knitwear industry is experienced mixed fortunes at present, with the impact of China’s production boom and the global liberalisation of the textile sector still changing sub-continental fortunes.…

BY DINAH GARDNER

SINGAPORE may rank highly on global anti-corruption ratings league tables but it has been coming under considerable fire recently for its strict bank secrecy laws. Last October, in the wake of the brutal crackdown on protests in Myanmar, the island state was accused of being a money laundering hub for top junta officials.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

THE DAILY deluge of crime reports in China’s press indicates that corruption and fraud are not only still rife in the country they are most acute where government regulatory bodies hand out business licences and approvals to state-owned firms.…

By Mark Godfrey in Beijing

No country has added nuclear power like energy-hungry China. Neighbouring North Korea had more nuclear power capacity than China in 2000 (as did Taiwan). But by 2010, according to the US government-affiliated Energy Information Administration, China will have bypassed both countries.…

BY DOMINIQUE PATTON, in Beijing

ALTHOUGH Taiwan’s tense relations with China does not help the necessary cooperation with the Chinese mainland that would help bring some of the island’s biggest economic criminals to book, it is nonetheless eager to co-operate with international authorities to fight money laundering.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Hong Kong and Beijing

HONG Kong’s proximity and constitutional links to mainland China has ensured boon times for the local financial services industry, while also creating problems for local money laundering watchdogs.

The special administrative region’s central banking regulator the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in February announced that it would ensure a "major supervisory focus" on money laundering and terrorist financing during 2008.…