Search Results for: Netherlands

This southeast Asian powerhouse economy is projected to grow GDP by 3.9% in 2023, up from 2.6% last year due to stronger-than-expected export demand from China, Europe, and the United States, according to the World Bank (1). 

Thailand’s ministry of commerce has maintained a targeted year-on-year growth for exports this year of 1%-2%, after a 5.5% gain in 2022 (2).…

WORLDWIDE inflation is impacting the can making industry and its supply chain partners. Indeed, metal packaging prices have risen by at least 25% this year, according to industry association FoodDrinkEurope. A key reason has been soaring prices for energy used in manufacture, up more than 50% in 2022 according to the World Bank.…

WHEN European energy experts consider the future of hydrogen as an energy source, assessments sound remarkably like comments made about wind or solar power in the late 1990s – it is a great idea, but it would help if production and processing were less expensive.…

Knitwear brands have been progressively investing in mentorship and incubation programmes, hoping the resulting inspiration will widen their offer with creative products, reach more consumers and promote innovation in their work methods.
London – one of the big four fashion cities, alongside Paris, New York, and Milan – is this month (November) hosting the first collection of products made through the Atelier100 hyperlocal hothouse programme, at the brand’s retail store in Hammersmith (west London) (1).…

High value banknotes remain of concern to AML regulators, even though they are increasingly being withdrawn from circulation. Despite the growth of electronic payments, the amount of physical cash in circulation remains huge. The USD remains the currency that circulates most widely in the world, with the US Currency Education Programme (a Federal Reserve scheme) saying that there was USD2 trillion in circulation by the start of 2021 (December 31, 2020).…

The Nordic and Baltic beer markets are increasingly diverse, with craft beer sales growing faster than those for standard beers across the region, with only Lithuania bucking the trend. According to UK-based market researcher GlobalData (which owns Just Drinks), sales of craft beers Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Latvia have all seen significant sales increases over the past five years with many exhibiting double-digit growth.…

A key question in any industry is to what extent robotics will be able to replace the human hand. This issue is especially pertinent for textiles and clothing – where sensor-based automation increasingly carries out human tasks such as assessing the feel of textiles and quality control.…

While forecasts of a global recession are far from conclusive, the World Bank has in its latest international economy assessment released in September (2022) warned that such a downturn is a real possibility for 2023. (1) The reason is potential government spending tightening to deal with inflation rates not witnessed since the 1990s or earlier: “To stem risks from persistently high inflation, and in a context of limited fiscal space, many countries are withdrawing monetary and fiscal support,” noted the bank.…

How effective is the ongoing fight against money launderers and terrorist financers? AML experts are arguing that despite FATF’s increasing focus on effectiveness in mutual evaluation reports and its extensive data on jurisdictional compliance with its recommendations, more statistical indicators would be valuable.…