Search Results for: South Africa

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.…

DESPITE relatively stagnant year-end results in 2016 for the paints and coatings market in Italy, last year proved unexpectedly dynamic in terms of sales and acquisitions, with several companies in the sector moving to increase their market share in specific subsectors of the market.…

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).…

THE Thai government will enact new labour laws on January 1, 2018, among the most draconian changes being that business operators using services from unregistered brokers to seek illegal migrant workers can be subject to human trafficking charges punishable by a jail term of between three and 10 years and/or a fine of THB600,000 to THB1 million (USD18,100-USD30,000) per worker.…

INDONESIAN textile factories must improve their production of motif designs and colours to satisfy domestic consumers and boost local sales, said textile retailers at south-east Asia’s busiest garment and textile market in Jakarta’s Tanah Abang district. “We expect producers make more unique textile motifs, so customers will have more choices, which they will like,” said Eryanto, a trader who has been working for about 11 years at the Arjuna Bombay textile shop at Tanah Abang Block A market.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), on which negotiations concluded December 2, 2015, will open up “huge business opportunities” for Vietnamese garment companies, business experts agreed earlier this month at an event jointly organised by EU business federation BusinessEurope, EuroCham [European Chamber of Commerce] Vietnam and the EU-Vietnam Business Network.…

AS the growth in Vietnam’s middle class generates wealthier and more educated consumers in this country with a population of 95 million, growing domestic demand for locally-produced fabrics is pushing the country’s textile industry away from focusing entirely on exports.

While demand for inexpensive, imported clothing still exists in Vietnam, even cost-conscious consumers are beginning to seek out new styles and better quality in their fashion purchases, market traders have told WTiN.com.…

*In regions such as the Middle East and Africa, where wealth is often distributed unequally, it pays to focus on elite markets. This is especially the case in the small but wealthy markets of Gulf nationals, who have plenty of money to spend, and often lots of time in which to spend it.…

SOUTH Africans are boosting their spending on cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures, with their national market expected to generate South African Rand ZAR94.15 million (USD7.1 million) in annual receipts by 2024. This reflects a 5.8% annual growth rate from the ZAR61 million (USD4.6 million) spent in 2016, according to US-based market research and consulting company Grand View Research, in figures released in July (2017).…

LIKE its neighbour Japan, South Korea has a tradition of using public baths and spas, notably their 24-hour jimjilbangs, with hot and cold soaking pools, bathing and massage areas, saunas, entertainment lounges and communal sleeping.

As a result, the country’s spa and beauty salon sectors seem largely unaffected by the drastic decline in Chinese tourist arrivals amid retaliatory measures by Beijing over Seoul last year allowing US forces to deploy THAAD defence missiles on South Korean soil.…