Search Results for: united nations

This year, tens of thousands of workers have been laid off by footwear production factories in and around Ho Chi Minh City, the centre of Vietnam’s USD24 billion footwear export industry.

Fo example, Pou Yuen Vietnam, a Taiwanese supplier for global giants including Adidas and Reebok, let go 5,744 employees through June and July, following a round of layoffs impacting 2,358 workers in February. …

Portugal’s footwear industry is trying to maintain its near-shoring position as a western production hub, while attracting more business as a reliable alternative to Asian manufacturing hubs, investing in innovation, quality and sustainability.

Portugal comprises an important part of the remaining European footwear sector, which according to the World Footwear Yearbook 2023 produced just 2.7% of global output in 2022 (1).…

A tech-focused educational entrepreneur and author has told University World News that the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) should prompt a reevaluation of HE’s three Rs, away from reading, writing and arithmetic, and towards “rhetoric, relationships and reasoning”. This is because AI will undertake so much textual analysis and writing in future, education will need to ask: “Where is the unique value of a human?”…

A groundbreaking collaboration between Tunisia and China has yielded plans to develop a pioneering laboratory, solely dedicated to the realm of plasma physics, a key element of nuclear fusion research. The lab would be established in Tunisia’s prestigious National Engineering School of Tunis, within the University of Tunis – El Manar, in central Tunis, Tunisia’s capital.…

Sustainability is not only a marketing buzzword in the packaging sector, but also a legal and environmental necessity, even if it costs more, packaging experts have told Packaging Gateway. Notably, making recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is more expensive than virgin PET, and due to “limited availability and the high cost of recycled content,” PepsiCo used more virgin plastic than planned in 2022 according to its ESG [environmental, social and governance] 2022 report (1) released earlier this year (2023).…

Knitting companies based in the European Union (EU) may be told they cannot destroy unsold or returned textiles in future, pushing them to consider design, manufacturing and sourcing changes that will reduce their exposure to a new law.

According to the European Commission, about 5.8 million tonnes of yarn and fabric of all kinds are discarded every year in the EU, approximately 11 kilos per person (1), and their destruction “by economic operators is becoming a widespread environmental problem across the Union, in particular due to the rapid growth of online sales” (2).  …

Bangladesh is exploring offshore wind power as a key solution for a country seeking energy diversification, but whose dense population restricts land availability for renewable power. In July (2023), a USD1.3 billion investment offer in Bangladesh’s wind power energy from Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), a leading green infrastructure fund manager, working with offshore wind developer Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) has boosted this south Asian country’s renewable energy ambitions (1).…

Ethiopia’s Amhara region is engulfed in widespread conflict and with a state of emergency declared by the federal government on August 4 continuing, putting the status of thousands of students is in jeopardy as the unending strife threatens to disrupt the upcoming academic year.…

Since economic liberalisation and globalisation kicked in major economic growth in China since 1990, China’s food and beverage industry has expanded exponentially, boosting the country’s metal packaging industry (1).
London-based market researcher GlobalData (NOTE TO EDITOR – NO SPACE BETWEEN WORDS IN THIS COMPANY NAME) has forecast that China’s market will purchase more than 1 trillion units in 2024, with rigid metal packaging taking a 10.5% volume share of this vast financial cake (2).…

THE EUROPEAN and global fashion and textile industry is witnessing rapid technological advancements, requiring garment workers with specialised skillsets, notably digital, to meet evolving demands. Indeed, the November 2022 State of Fashion 2023 report (1) from strategy consultants McKinsey & Co made clear that after 18 months of robust growth (early 2021 until mid-2022) post Covid-19, the fashion industry is facing challenges, including inflation, the energy crisis and rising material prices, that increases its demand for skilled labour.…