MANILA — The Asian Development Bank raised its 2017 and 2018 growth forecasts for the region, reflecting rising exports as manufacturers of smartphones to cars to other consumer goods benefited from improving global demand.
Developing Asia – made up of 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific region – is expected to grow 5.9% and 5.8% this year and next, the Manila-based ADB said in the update of its Asian Development Outlook on Thursday.
They are a step up from April forecasts of 5.7% for both years. An upturn in global demand since late last year has given trade-dependent Asian economies much needed momentum, with the United States and Europe also showing improving growth.
The update of the Development Outlook raised China’s 2017 and 2018 growth forecasts to 6.7% and 6.4%, respectively, from 6.5% and 6.2%, driven by strong consumption and improving shipments.
China’s economy beat expectations with 6.9% growth in the second quarter, in part driven by firmer exports and production, which could heighten trade tensions as the United States and Beijing begin economic talks on Wednesday.
“Despite lingering uncertainties surrounding the strength of the global recovery, we feel that the region’s economies are well-placed to face potential shocks to the outlook,” Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Inflation across the region is expected to remain under control, helped by well-behaved food and fuel prices, the ADB said. It cut this year’s inflation projection to 2.6% from 3.0%, and next year’s forecast to 3.0% from 3.2%.
As I continue to work with companies to develop apparel and textile solutions to address a large range of uses in many climates, I keep up with the latest on textile development. I am now working with several Asia-based textile OEM/ODM experts who are leading the pack in real, sustainable advanced apparel. Contact me at: thomas@novaadvisors.com to learn more!
Check out this article on “Smart Textile: Cool Clothing”
The climate of the world is going to increase every year. As per experts, over past fifty years, the average global temperature is going upward at its fastest rate. And still experts are predicting that the trend is continuously accelerating. So, keeping in view, the recent climate situation, every sector of the life is striving their best to develop something productive to help the human being and environment. The contribution of smart textile toward technology that offer the wearer increase functionality is slow but gradual. And the usage of smart textile products is really high especially in military and defense and health care sector (see our other article “Wearable Technology & E-Textile”). Now, the smart textile is also striving to contribute something in clothing which offers cool-clothing to overcome the heat feeling.
Cooling Material Theme:
As described earlier, the research and development department of textile industry is continuously finding for the betterment of this industry. Moreover, they are not only seeking for better options but they are also focusing on cost effectiveness of the solution. The research and development department of Stanford University is right now focusing on climate issue. And they are extensively working on such plastic material which cools the wearer. The motive of such cost effective solution is to save the energy. And as per the R&D people they are formulating such clothing material which has the feature to keep the wearer cool in the hot climate. As per the Yi Cui (associate professor Stanford), If you can cool the person rather than the building where they work or live that will save energy.”
Plastic Clothing:
As per the R&D team, the plastic material enables the wearer body to discharge the heat in various way. And this discharge will cause to reduce the temperature up to 04 degree Fahrenheit. So, the wearer will experience the coolant feeling as compare to cotton clothing. The integration of nanotechnology, chemistry and photonics which provides polythene properties of the clingy plastic which is normally use as kitchen wraps. Moreover, this solid (but see through) material also allows thermal radiation, water and air to pass through. Since it has the features of polyethylene food wrap, so the infrared radiation also goes through from it easily. The whole process of this development is really challenging and difficult. But the research team is tackling each and every step very effectively and diligently.
At start of this research work, the researchers revealed an alternative of polyethylene that is normally used in batteries. The said material (specific nanostructure) has the same characteristics like dense to light and transparent to infrared radiation which allow heat escape from body. Moreover, the treatment with bengin chemicals has modified the polyethylene with added features to let water vapor molecules that evaporate through the nanopores in the plastic. The initial experiment output was the development of single-sheet material that complied with the three standard criteria for cooling fabric. The research team is continuously working on this theme and trying to make it more versatile. And the versatility in material will be like adding more colors options, texture and other cloth characteristics in the material.
Thomas D’Innocenzi of Nova Advisors offers a new Asia Global Sourcing and Business Development service designed to allow small to medium size businesses to compete in the global marketplace at a reasonable cost.
New York, United States – February 22, 2017 /PressCable/ —
Thomas D’Innocenzi, Founder of Nova Advisors has announced a unique consulting service that allows small and medium size enterprises to compete globally and rapidly grow market share cost effectively. The Global Sourcing and Business Development service will utilize their locations in Asia and the United States along with a very large network of buyers and suppliers that has been developed over 25 years.
“Having built and managed sourcing and business teams for large companies throughout my career, I recognized an opportunity to offering a more streamlined and cost effective service that would allow companies to compete globally where they could not budget for it before” explained Founder and Principal Consultant Thomas D’Innocenzi. “Up until now, the ability to setup a Global Sourcing operation in Asia for low cost contract manufacturing solely belonged to large corporations that had the capital. In addition, the ability to market goods and services into large regions such as Southeast Asia with a population of 700 million solely belonged to large corporations that had the capital. Now, I give small to medium size enterprises the ability to compete in Global Sourcing and Business Development in Southeast Asia, China and beyond with our ability to leverage our network, locations, contacts, and knowledge to quickly gain market share at a much lower cost threshold.”
The Business Development segment of the service in Asia and the US includes rep office creation and management, salesforce development, product regulatory compliance, local legal support, local branding, local advertising, sales and product support, market planning, competitive analysis.
The Global Sourcing segment of the service which addresses the whole Asia-Pacific region includes product specification management, supplier vetting (identification, regulatory compliance, GMP, ISO, QA, QC), backup supplier and risk management, pricing and contract negotiations, commodity tracking, category management, product management, creation and management of local Asian global sourcing offices.
The Southeast Asia location offers US and European customers an immediate local presence when utilizing the new service for either Business Development of Global Sourcing in Asia. The Bangkok-based office has easy reach through SE Asia and China and is very cost effective in operation. Areas serviced from this location include Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Vientiane, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila, Cebu.
The US office location offers Asia-based clients a cost-effective US market entry point for their products or services. We understand the needs of the local Asian culture and the business acumen of US buyers and we create and execute a methodology of closing deals that are mutually beneficial and promotes trade.
About Nova Advisors
Based in Jacksonville, Florida and Bangkok, Thailand, Thomas D’Innocenzi, Founder and Principal Consultant of Nova Advisors helps companies compete globally by offering expert Global Sourcing and Business Development consulting services. Mr. D’Innocenzi has over 30 years of experience in international trade and business development with multinational corporations in the US and Asia. He has worked and lived in several countries in the Asia Pacific region. With locations in the United States and Asia and with a large global network of buyers and suppliers, Mr. D’Innocenzi offers a value-added unique service for customers seeking to effectively expand their market footprint globally while managing risk. More information about the business can be found at http://www.novaadvisors.com. Contact phone numbers are United States: +1.904.307.6414 and Asia: +668.7.800.1015
Contact Info:
Name: Thomas D’Innocenzi
Email: thomas@NovaAdvisors.com
Organization: Nova Advisors
Address: 375 Park Avenue, Suite 2607, New York, NY 10152, United States
Phone: +1-904-307-6414
Cathy Paraggio always checks the labels on stuff she buys: Is it made in China? Vietnam? Bangladesh? Mexico? Or America?
She was a big believer in the “Made in the USA” movement long before President Trump started telling the nation to “Buy American and hire American.”
In 2012, Paraggio launched a male swimsuit brand called NoNetz. It makes swimsuits that prevent chafing and rashes. Paraggio vowed to make the suits in the U.S. She found a textile factory in Brooklyn, MCM Enterprise, that could do the work.
There was just one problem: The suit cost $23 to make in Brooklyn. Making it in China and shipping it to Paraggio’s office cost a mere $10.
Manufacturing in America “makes me look like a bad business person,” Paraggio told CNNMoney. She went with the Brooklyn option anyway. Surely, she thought, customers would prefer to see the “Made in the USA” label.
That’s not what happened.
“No one cares about Made in the USA,” says Paraggio, who recently ordered some suits from China for the first time after Daymond John of Shark Tank gave her frank advice to get real about the bottom line. So she placed the order. And cried.
Trump preaches “Buy American” often. He mentioned it in his Inaugural Address. He brought it up in his first prime-time speech to Congress (watched by over 47 million people). He made it a campaign issue.
But the largest obstacle to Trump’s vision may be the American shopper, who is constantly on the lookout for a good deal.
In survey after survey, Americans say they prefer to buy “Made in the USA” products. But when it comes to actually spending, their choices tell a different story.
People have grown accustomed to cheap prices after years of shopping at discount retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT). In general, they only buy American if it doesn’t cost much more than the product from China or Germany or Bangladesh.
Paraggio saw this trend first-hand in her business. She gets two frequent comments from customers: They love the product, but why does it cost so much?
An Associated Press-GFK poll last year found nearly 75% want to buy American. But their first preference is to buy the cheaper item. The Boston Consulting Group, which has studied the issue for years, found it’s a bit more complicated. When people go to the store, they also consider quality.
Eighty-five percent of U.S. consumers think American-made products are better quality than those made overseas, BCG found. And they are willing to pay a premium for some products that are Made in the USA. For baby formula they’ll pay a lot more. For shoes, they won’t.
“Clothing is one of the things that is very hard to reshore. It’s a tough road to go,” says Hal Sirkin, a senior partner at BCG.
Overall, BCG estimates companies can charge up to about 5% more for American-made.
Businesses react to the bottom line
Trump certainly understands this labor math. Some of his own clothing line is made in China.
Chung Yu owns the factory in Brooklyn where Paraggio has been manufacturing the NoNetz swimsuits. He’s been in garment-making for 35 years, but he’s worried about staying in business at a time when New York has raised the minimum wage. It New York City, employers who have a staff of 11 or more, have to pay $11 an hour. That will go up to $15 an hour by the end of 2018.
“In China, it’s $2 or $3 an hour. And even China is getting too expensive. Retailers are switching to countries like Bangladesh,” Yu explains.
Yu’s factory is still pretty busy, but it’s almost all small orders of about 300 items or less. Most of his clients are small businesses like NoNetz. As soon as they hit a certain scale, they typically jump overseas for production.
“People think Made in America is better quality, but that’s not true,” Yu says, frankly. “It all depends on the quality of the machines and labor.”
Yu won’t say who he voted for, but he says thanks to Trump, everyone in his world is talking about “American made” again.
“When we hear how Trump will bring manufacturing back, we’re excited,” Yu told CNNMoney. “But we have to see how he will implement it.”
Chung Yu owns MCM Enterprise, a clothing manufacturer in Brooklyn.
What could come back to the U.S.
There’s a lot of debate about whether Trump can bring manufacturing, let alone manufacturing jobs, back to the United States. Robots and automation have also taken some (if not a large part — Ball State University says 88% of manufacturing job losses come from automation) of the jobs.
Experts say it’s going to take more than a “buy American” promotional campaign to make it to happen.
The research BCG has done suggests that some industries are more ripe to come back to the U.S. than others. The reality is wages have been rising in China and elsewhere in the world, making it less attractive to make certain products there.
“Computers and appliances are at a tipping point,” Sirkin says. “We’ve seen manufacturing costs overseas go up for those industries.”
Clothing, however, is one of the least likely processes to return, BCG found.
“How could you possibly buy shorts for $5 and have it made here. You absolutely can’t. I’ve tried,” laments Paraggio.
CNNMoney (New York)First published March 13, 2017: 6:25 AM ET
Thomas D'Innocenzi 