In speeches women trade union representatives in Thailand, marking international women's day activities, called for greater job security as the global economic downturn makes deep cuts into employment in export-oriented industries.
VOA: standard.2009.03.09
"The government is determined to keep the export-oriented industries free from political strife, " he said.
If the government meets its goal of massively expanding the export-oriented manufacturing sector, for example, India will become another big target for developed-country protectionists.
Export weakness in July may have continued into August, which contributed to the decline of the HSBC PMI, which has a higher weight than the official PMI for export-oriented companies in the coastal region, noted Zhiwei Zhang, an analyst for Nomura Securities in Hong Kong.