The following is a round-up of apparel and footwear news from the world’s local media. just-style has not checked these stories so cannot guarantee their accuracy.
- Small and medium-sized enterprises in the Pearl River Delta are finding themselves in tough times due to the ongoing global financial crisis. What started as a sharp decline in orders in 2008 has evolved into a more severe problem with tens of thousands of small enterprises under pressure as foreign orders decrease, costs rise, labour becomes scares, profit margins decline and financing difficulties arise. According to research by the Guangdong provincial government companies are finding that they are unable to accept orders because it is difficult to make a profit, with some 50% of companies saying they were losing money or had margins of less than 2%. CAIXIN ONLINE.
- Hyundai Home Shopping has bought Korean women’s wear apparel supplier Handsome Corp. Hyundai said on Friday that it acquired a 34.6% stake in Handsome for US$366m. Handsome supplies Korean apparel brands including Time, Mine, System, and SJSJ as well as domestic licenses for foreign brands such as Lanvin and Givenchy. DONG-A LIBO.
- Vietnamese garment and textile exporters are looking for alternative markets to maintain growth due to a slowdown in traditional markets like the US, EU and Japan amid global economic turbulence. In 2011 markets like Angola, New Zealand and Cuba saw positive growth in export volumes, while exports to Asian nations including China, India and South Korea rose sharply. VIETNAM NEWS BRIEF SERVICE.
- The Japanese government has pledged to help the Myanmar government to develop power supplies, transport and other infrastructure products to help develop its economy. Japanese officials say that Japan hopes that by extending economic assistance to Myanmar will foster greater democracy in the country, where a military backed civilian government took over from the Junta in March last year. The country lags behind other Southeast Asian countries in infrastructural development. Frequent power blackouts in the country have been a headache for foreign companies that have set up garment and other manufacturing operations in the country. THE MAINICHI DAILY NEWS
