Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts

Monday, April 29, 2013

Asia This Day:Dreamliner Cleared;Bangladesh's Rising Star

Boeing sighed with relief as All Nippon Airways announced it will return the iconic 787 Dreamliner to service on June 1,following a successful test flight of the revamped aircraft.Ethiopian Airlines has already done so.
Australia's revenue shortfall has widened,Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.This is in spite of the unpopular Minerals Resource Rent Tax which her government imposed,which brought in much less than projected because of falling commodities prices and miners taking deductions.
India's Nifty Fifty futures index rose Monday morning on an upbeat meteorological forecast.A normal monsoon season is expected this year,which is good news for the agricultural sector.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index was up 0.25% in early Monday trading.
Bangladesh is considered the new manufacturing hotspot in Asia as Chinese costs rise,causing companies to shift operations to the poorer nation.Bangladesh manufacturing is worth 18 billion dollars now,with textiles alone accounting for 10% of GDP.Eighty percent of exports are going to the US and the EU.
Asian officials must act early to cool down overheating economies,the IMF said.
Chinese banks are reporting record profits,but manufacturing growth has slowed to 5.3%,below expectations.The current way of growing the Chinese economy by fixed asset growth is unsustainable,said Victor Wang,Deputy Head of Hong Kong/China Research at Macquarie Group.
Macquarie Group Ltd(MQG:ASX),Boeing(BA)

Monday, November 26, 2012

Asia This Day:The Bangladesh Factory Fire;China's Big Auto Show

A garment factory belonging to the subsidiary of  the Tuba Group,a company that does business with Walmart,Carrefour and IKEA,burned to the ground near Dhaka,the capital of Bangladesh,killing at least 124 overtime workers.The eight storey building had no emergency exits or firescapes.
Thousands of onlookers,including family members,were restrained by police and soldiers.
The fire started in the first floor warehouse,a fire service official said.It then raced up the walls,trapping the workers,many of whom were burned beyond recognition.They had been making garments such as t-shirts,polo shirts and fleece jackets.
Several workers who escaped to the roof were rescued.Twelve who jumped out of windows died in hospital.
A Walmart spokesman said it was unclear whether the factory,which had been cited for safety violations,was still doing work for the world's largest retailer.In 2011,Walmart ceased doing business with 49 of Bangladesh's estimated 4500 garment factories because of fire safety violations.It was working with its suppliers to phase out production from such high risk buildings.
Bangladesh is located on the Bay of Bengal,between India and Myanmar.It is the world's largest clothing exporter.
The Guangzhou Auto Show is being held in China this week.China is the world's largest car market.Some 18.5 million cars were sold in China in 2011.Sales are expected to grow about 7% this year.
Volkswagen expects to become the world's largest automaker through its Chinese business,much of which is conducted with Chinese partners.While it will produce 1 million cars in Germany this year,VW will roll 2.7 million vehicles off its Chinese assembly lines.