Bangladesh has been urged to review wages of readymade garment workers and allow them freedom of association to ensure steady growth of its largest export-earning sector. A multi-stakeholders’ conference on Bangladesh’s garment industry that concluded Monday resolved that the growth in apparel sales will make no sense if workers’ conditions do not improve accordingly.

A declaration after the conference, organised by the London-based International MFA Forum, linked higher wage to better export prices as it noted that miserable prices paid to local manufacturers of garments by foreign buyers instigated deprivation of workers.

Amid reports of surging apparel export orders in recent months, the declaration reads: “MFA Forum’s concern now and in the future is that increasing orders should lead to greater benefits for workers and society as a whole, as well as for the manufacturers and buyers.” Read the rest

What, you might wonder, would get a rich Russian in Switzerland really excited? Is it a particularly exclusive type of champagne brought over from France? Perhaps an overly extravagant chocolatier? No, what Iosif has stopped the car to purchase is a long-life cappuccino drink, served refrigerated in a plastic cup with a foil top at petrol stations across Switzerland. Disappointment. The cappuccino shelf is empty. There are only caffe lattes left.

“Valeriya,” he says. “Could you ask the attendant; maybe they have some in the storeroom.”

I can’t help grinning. One of Russia’s most famous stars, a face instantly recognisable to 140 million Russians, a woman whose every step in the motherland is followed by hungry paparazzi, is meekly asking a Swiss petrol station attendant if they have any plastic cappuccino cups in the back. But there will be no plastic cappuccinos today. The check-out girl gives a nonchalant shake of the head, while two bearded Swiss men in leathers look on in confusion.
Read the rest

The industrial sector stayed sound in the first six months of 2008, even though the elected-government failed to make any improvements to the unfavourable business climate. ”Most Thai private industrial companies are very competitive and they could survive a tough situation without any support from the government,” said Santi Vilassakdanont, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries. ”They are even performing well amid numerous negative factors.”

He noted that production for export was particularly competitive.

The main contributor to performance worries was volatile oil prices, which played a major role in slowing economic growth and driving up costs for raw materials, operations and transport for all industries. This led the export sector to maintain its double digit growth for 2008.
Read the rest

Exports of Chinese furniture have increased in value over the last few years, primarily due to China’s growing emphasis on value-added products. According to statistics, the export value of furniture in China amounted to USD 23.268 billion in 2007, up 34.95% from the same period of 2006.

Furniture exports experienced such growth due to the following reasons:
First, there has been a focus on manufacturing of exportoriented products. The export value of seats and sofas reached USD10.3 billion in 2007, accounting for 45% of the total export value of furniture. Sofas have become the most important furniture product in terms of outputs and exports. Since the US established anti-dumping policies on Chinese bedroom wood furniture, the increase in Chinese wood furniture exports and its share in international markets has gradually fallen. During the period 2003 to 2007, the increase in furniture exports was 36.5%, 29.6%, 26.6%, 23.4% and 15.3% per annum. The share of Chinese wood furniture in international Read the rest

Jain Irrigation the Rs 20 bn agri irrigation Company has secured an export order for supply of uPVC pipes and fittings as well as sprinkler system for irrigation use from Sugar Factory, Ethiopia. The order is part of the expansion program of a state owned sugar unit.

The Letter of Credit backed order for $5.3 mn (INR 227.7 mn) is to be completed over the next 20 weeks. It is the largest single export order of $5 mn plus secured by the Company in the MIS/SIS segment. It is significant to note that the last fiscal year’s total exports for drip and sprinkler irrigation systems completed by the Company were INR 215 mn, whereas this single order exceeds the last year’s volume. Read the rest

GUANGZHOU, China, June 19 /PRNewswire/ — A total restyle is underway
for the 29th edition of the Guangzhou International Beauty & Cosmetic
Import- Export Expo: NEW outstanding events devoted to industry
professionals, NEW international participants joining the show, NEW
high-profile visitors attending the fair, all taking place in the brand NEW
modern Phase II of the Pazhou Complex.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080619/LNTH501 )

The 29th edition of the Guangzhou International Beauty & Cosmetic
Import-Export Expo in September 2008 will definitely mark a milestone in
the fair’s journey towards becoming the all-encompassing beauty event for
the China market. There will be a significant strategic realignment in the
concept of the show to strengthen the professionalism of the fair, Read the rest

HONG KONG — /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The economic
slowdown in the West is not necessarily bad news for China suppliers, as
some discovered when attending the June 17 Private Sourcing Event: Digital
Personal Electronics hosted in Shenzhen by Global Sources (Nasdaq: GSOL) (
http://www.globalsources.com ).

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030303/LNM011LOGO-b )

The Private Sourcing Event brought together 10 of the world’s largest
electronics buyers with combined annual sales of $190 billion.
Participating buyers met individually with 27 suppliers pre-screened by
Global Sources.

“Most buyers at the event seek to counter cost pressures by
consolidating their supply base and forming closer partnerships with the
suppliers they retain — while making their orders larger to gain a pricing
advantage,” said Global Sources COO, Craig Pepples. “The suppliers they
choose to work with are able to reap huge benefits.”

“As the economic outlook dims in some regions, Private Sourcing Events
are becoming increasingly popular with buyers. Some participants even told
us their China purchasing for North America is increasing tenfold this
year,” said Pepples.

This huge increase in purchasing for the U.S. was accomplished by
increasing purchases of private label products and by consolidating larger
orders with fewer suppliers.

Circuit City Vice President and General Manager, Jeric Ma, who
participated in the Private Sourcing Event, confirmed his company has been
increasing its orders from top suppliers in China. “Our imports to both the
U.S. and Canada operations increased very substantially in the first 5
months this year.

“Because of the pre-screening process that takes place beforehand, we
have more confidence in the suppliers we meet at Private Sourcing Events.
These events have been a great help to our China sourcing program –
helping us find more of the quality suppliers we need in far less time than
otherwise possible.”

China Remains Key Sourcing Base

Despite rising costs, electronics buyers remain bullish on China.

“Buyers in China face a host of problems including higher raw material
and shipping costs, a stronger Yuan, new labor laws, and continuing
concerns about quality, but none of our participating buyers is yet
considering a move to new areas, at least for electronics products,”
Pepples said. “In fact, one buyer told me only one of the products in his
portfolio is available elsewhere in Asia. The China electronics industry is
still extremely competitive because of quality and availability, despite
rising prices.”

To meet increased buyer demand, Pepples said Global Sources will double
the number of Private Sourcing Events to be held this year.

Buyers participating at the complimentary Private Sourcing Event:
Digital Personal Electronics were:

— Casino — France’s largest convenience store operator
— Circuit City — the second largest electronics retailer in the U.S.
— IPA — one of Spain and Portugal’s largest purchasing consortiums
— Kesa Electricals — Europe’s third-largest electronics retailing
group
— Markant — one of Europe’s largest trading cooperatives
— Office Depot — one of the world’s largest office product retailers
— RadioShack — the third-largest US electronics chain
— Staples — the world’s largest office products retailer
— Target (Australia) — one of Australia’s largest retailers
— Woolworths (Australia) — the largest retailer in Australia
Eighty Global Sources Private Sourcing Events have been scheduled for
2008, with dozens of buyers including Best Buy, Carrefour, Circuit City and
Lowe’s confirmed to participate. A list of upcoming Private Sourcing Events
is available at http://www.PrivateSourcingEvents.com .

Suppliers wishing to participate should contact csm@globalsources.com .

Specialized Global Sources Websites, Face-to-Face Events and Trade
Magazines

Private Sourcing Events are part of the company’s portfolio of brands
for sourcing and product information services, which include Global Sources
Online ( http://www.globalsources.com ), China Sourcing Fairs (
http://www.chinasourcingfair.com ), Global Sources monthly magazines and
Global Sources Direct ( http://www.GlobalSourcesDirect.com ).

For more information about Global Sources’ products and services to
connect quality buyers and quality suppliers, visit
http://corporate.globalsources.com .

About Global Sources

Global Sources is a leading business-to-business media company and a
primary facilitator of trade with Greater China. The core business is
facilitating trade from Greater China to the world, using a wide range of
English-language media. The other business segments facilitate trade from
the world to Greater China, and trade within China, using Chinese-language
media.

The company provides sourcing information to volume buyers and
integrated marketing services to suppliers. It helps a community of over
700,000 active buyers source more profitably from complex overseas supply
markets. With the goal of providing the most effective ways possible to
advertise, market and sell, Global Sources enables suppliers to sell to
hard-to-reach buyers in over 230 countries.

The company offers the most extensive range of media and export
marketing services in the industries it serves. It delivers information on
2.6 million products and more than 195,000 suppliers annually through 14
online marketplaces, 13 monthly magazines, over 100 sourcing research
reports and 9 specialized trade shows which run 27 times a year across
eight cities.

Suppliers receive more than 32 million sales leads annually from buyers
through Global Sources Online ( http://www.globalsources.com ) alone.

Global Sources has been facilitating global trade for 37 years. Global
Sources’ network covers more than 69 cities worldwide. In mainland China,
Global Sources has over 2,100 team members in more than 44 locations, and a
community of over 1 million registered online users and magazine readers
for Chinese-language media.

Global Sources Press Contact in Asia:
Camellia So
Tel: +852-2555-5021
Email: cso@globalsources.com

Global Sources Investor Contact in Asia:
Investor Relations Department
Tel: +852-2555-4777
Email: investor@globalsources.com

Global Sources Press Contact in U.S.:
James W.W. Strachan
Tel: +1-480-664-8309
Email: strachan@globalsources.com

Global Sources Investor Contact in U.S.:
Christiane Pelz & Kirsten Chapman
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
Tel: +1-415-433-3777
Email: investor@globalsources.com

SOURCE Global Sources