Basic industries that soak up labour, such as textiles and leathers, are in relative decline.
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He is also working on cutting other taxes for labour-intensive industries, such as textiles and shoes.
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As Japan moved into higher-value exports, rising productivity pushed up wages, making old industries, such as textiles, uncompetitive.
Industries that grew up under import substitution policies, such as textiles and drugs, are closing factories or contracting out production.
The format, says Naoto Mizoguchi, Mitsubishi's head of strategic planning, could eventually be applied to industries such as textiles and chemicals.
Once they were the stomping grounds of China's foreign and local capitalist elite -- grown rich on new industries such as textiles, trade and finance.
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The weak dollar has rendered American labour more competitive, but not enough to rejuvenate low-margin, labour-intensive manufacturing in industries such as textiles, furniture or paper products.
It has happened because rich-world companies have replaced workers with new technology to boost productivity and shifted production from labour-intensive products such as textiles to higher-tech, higher value-added, sectors such as pharmaceuticals.
Reducing labour costs and boosting productivity is all the more important since Portugal is exposed to relatively low-tech areas of activity such as textiles that are vulnerable to competition from developing countries.
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Because resources such as textiles, wood, and metals were expensive and could not be wasted on practice runs, apprentices would spend most of their time working directly on materials that would be used for the final product.
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Italy is the fourth largest European economy and for long enjoyed one of the highest per capita incomes in Europe, despite the decline in traditional industries such as textiles and car manufacturing as a result of globalisation.
But the company has encountered months of negotiation on whether it should be allowed to operate cafes and restaurants and sell products, such as textiles, toys, books, secondhand furniture and consumer electronics, that don't carry the IKEA brand.
The 2012 data show that traditional labor-intensive products such as textiles, suitcases and toys grew by 1.2 percent year over year, 5.7 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, while higher-value added products such as mechanical products grew 8.7 percent, and auto exports were up 20 percent.
The single best thing that America and Europe can do for Africa is not to spoon out charity but to allow Americans and Europeans to buy the products that Africa is capable of producing competitively not just agricultural products but also labour-intensive manufactures such as textiles and leather work.
Instead of trying to sell a wide range of non-food items, the new stores focus on a few specialist areas, such as electronics and textiles, and offer services such as baby-sitting and hair care.
Rich countries are particularly protectionist in many of the sectors where developing countries are best able to compete, such as agriculture, textiles and clothing.
This is partly because many of these job losses have been in industries such as toymaking, textiles and construction, which use migrant and unskilled workers.
In such an environment, Itochu has focused on bringing in such consumer goods as textiles and food products and forming strong ties with major retailers.
Despite huge strides towards open markets over the past 50 years, big swathes of the world economy, such as agriculture, textiles and shipping, remain highly protected.
She says new and sustainable fashions are already being made from innovative textiles such as milk fibers, corn, and bamboo.
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Many workers, such as those in Italian textiles, now work on weekends.
Now China is making inroads into such labour-intensive sectors as textiles, shoes and toys, too.
And firms in such sectors as chemicals, consumer electronics, textiles and forestry are threatening to bring cases.
Many of India's old industries, such as machine tools, general engineering and basic textiles, remain mired in inefficiencies and protectionism.
The textiles form an indispensable part of important social and cultural occasions such as religious rituals and festivals, and in particular weddings, for which Li women design their own dresses.
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