Survey: HK businesses aggressive in exporting to the Mainland
People’s Daily Online, China
Hong Kong’s mid-sized businesses are more aggressive in exporting goods to the Mainland and India in comparison with their counterparts in 29 countries and regions in the world, a survey shows.
The survey released Sunday shows that 41 percent of Hong Kong’s mid-sized businesses currently export or have further plans to export goods to the Mainland.
Hong Kong evidently stands out as the top exporter in comparison with East Asia.
Meanwhile, 9 percent of Hong Kong’s mid-sized businesses have future plans to export goods to India.
The survey, conducted by accounting firm Grant Thornton, shows that an increasing number of Hong Kong’s mid-sized businesses regard a lack of knowledge about markets as a barrier and some consider political and social stability as well as regulations in other countries as barriers.
“It is no surprise that Hong Kong tops the world in exporting goods to the Chinese mainland, and Hong Kong mid-sized businesses are particularly keen to develop other new export markets such as India,” commented Gary James, partner of Grant Thornton in Hong Kong.
Source: Xinhuaernment legalized a 72-hour work week. But the reality is even harsher. Even on Fridays, which is supposed to be their weekly day of rest, workers in hundreds of factories can be found working 18 hours a day. Sometimes workers are forced to work around the clock, it said.
But an influential minister of the Bangladeshi government said the recent unrest was not a labor unrest.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Khondaker Mosharraf Hossain smelled hands of a quarter behind it. He indirectly blamed the country’s main opposition Awami League (AL) led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
But the AL is blaming the government’s failure for the attacks in the garment industry.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Affairs Lufozzaman Babar said the green capped garment attackers have already been identified. He said tough measures would be taken against the attackers of the garment industry.
The government has beefed up security measures around 4,000 garment factories of the country posting security men in each factory.
A leader of the apex body of garment owners, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said some jealous forces are behind the attacks of the garment industry.
The vice-president of the BGMEA also said he thought that countries jealous of the performance of Bangladesh are out to destroy the image of Bangladesh’s garment industry abroad and that for this they are getting to do such activities in the industry.
He said many of the foreign competitors had thought the Bangladesh garment industry will be destroyed after the lifting of the quota system two years ago, but Bangladesh industry sustained that shock and progressed unabatedly.
Immediately after the attacks last week, the BGMEA in a statement without naming the country blamed a neighboring country was behind the attacks.
Meanwhile, 15 trade unions of Bangladesh called a two-day continuous general strike in garment factories beginning on June 12, the Bengali daily Janakantha (People’s voice) said Sunday.
The recent violence in the garment industry of Bangladesh since last Saturday swept through the industry, in which thousands of workers came out and attacked factories in capital Dhaka and around damaging more than 250 factories. Among them, a few owned by foreign investors were torched. The outburst left three workers killed and hundreds wounded.
Source: Xinhua
