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NEW flexible dress code policies introduced across Asia are facing something of a backlash as employers and employees wrestle with matching cultural and corporate identities to assess the appropriate level of work attire.

While heat and humidity, as well as the needs of the growing number of working mothers, do provide some rationale for more flexibility in east and southeast Asian workforces, cultural forces and the fear of missing out on business opportunities seem to be leading some companies to hold on to traditional rules, either real or implicit, for business wear.…

AN UPCOMING European Union (EU)/New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) will benefit the metals industry, New Zealand and European experts have told Metal Bulletin, after a preparatory customs agreement between the partners came into force May 1.

Notably, Europe will gain more access to New Zealand’s quality low emission-produced metals as well as metal components, Nick Collins, chief executive of industry association Metals New Zealand (Metals NZ) said.…

RUSSIAN airport holding and cooperating company Basel-Aero, which is owned by the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska may sell some of its airport assets, government officials have told Jane’s Airport Review.

The spark for the sales is likely to be financial problems caused by the recent inclusion of Deripaska in a new USA sanctions list of Russian companies and plutocrats the US, said senior officials at the Russian ministry of transport and air industry analysts. …

EUROPEAN Union (EU) food and drink exporters could be major beneficiaries of a revised EU-Mexico trade agreement which will remove almost all bilateral tariffs left by a year 2000 deal. Under a new agreement struck in principle, Mexican import duties on EU exports of cheeses, such as gorgonzola and roquefort, and pasta (of up to 20%), will be removed, along with duties on chocolate and confectionery, (that can exceed 20%).…

Enhancing the quality of passenger experience while maintaining maximum security was a recurring theme during the Dubai Airport Show 2018. The annual airport industry event, held from May 7 to 9, drew more than 7,500 visitors.

Covering 15,000 square metres of space across three halls of the iconic Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, its 18^th edition hosted more than 350 exhibitors from 60 countries.…

Diversity – a theme very close to Mohamed Irshad’s heart – could not be embodied by a more appropriate person than the affable, youthful-looking 34-year-old head of global internal audit – the Americas, at French multinational Schneider Electric. Irshad is an Indian national who was born and raised in Dubai, studied in India, has lived in Paris and is now based in Canada.…

EXPERTS have expressed mixed reactions on how a proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), now years in the making, could help revive the garment and textile sector in South East Asia.

The 16-member bloc that includes the 10 ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and six other countries – Australia New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea – have been negotiating the deal since November 2012.…

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.…

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.…

THE INTERNATIONAL knitwear sector has found itself at the centre of the ongoing turmoil in global trade relations, with major jurisdictions considering imposing tariffs on knitted products, inputs and related machinery.

One concern focuses on how the USA has proposed imposing 25% duties on a wide-range of China-made manufactured goods over alleged thefts of American intellectual property by Chinese industrialists.…