Suchergebnisse

As recently as 2002, Southeast Asian politicians and business leaders fretted publicly about losing foreign direct investment (FDI) originally earmarked for the region to China. They are more sanguine these days. Chinese companies not only look to Southeast Asia to supply raw materials to feed China's industrialization; they are increasingly investing there. Analysts understandably focus on China sucking in over US Dollar 50 billion of inward FDI per year - some of which was indeed previously earmarked for Southeast Asia - but in doing so they rarely notice that the flipside of Chinese investment is the rising wave of mainland outward direct investment (ODI), particulary into neighbouring countries. This paper notes the trend by way of a preliminary investigation into two broad issues: what sort of mainland companies are moving into ASEAN and how much are they investing; and what are the potential effects of that investment? Initial data suggest that most mainland investment comes via state-owned interprise (SOEs). And although in is impossible to know how much mainland money flows into Southeast Asia, it is certainly more than the US Dollar 2 billion for 2002 cited in official Chinese statistics. Growing Chinese investment in ASEAN has important implications, two of which are briefly canvassed: the effect of increasing Chinese investment on sanctions regimes designed to improve human rights (with specific reference to Burma), and whether pressure can be maintained on foreign investors to comply with international labour standards in the face of Chinese investment. (Pac Rev/DÜI)

AbstractThis research provides an overview of CSR practices in Asia, evaluates the usefulness of codes of conduct, reviews the benefits of CSR in supply chains and reviews obstacles for companies wishing to adopt good CSR practices. In order to achieve this, interviews were undertaken with CSR managers, factory managers and other experts, conducted in confidence and anonymously. Codes of conduct and associated inspections and audits are common practice but in most cases flawed. Labour issues and the rights of workers are generally seen as the most important aspect of CSR in the region. Benefits of CSR include risk reduction, staff recruitment and retention, cost savings and building good relationships with stakeholders. Obstacles include a lack of resources and skills, a lack of awareness of stakeholders' demands and inefficient production techniques. It is noted that larger firms are more able to overcome such obstacles, with clear adverse implications for smaller companies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

AbstractIn the lead up the end of the Multi‐Fiber Arrangement (MFA), commentators routinely argued that Chinese apparel exports would surge in a quota‐free environment. It was also expected that Southeast Asian apparel exporting nations would suffer declines, leading to job and economic losses. Of particular concern was Cambodia, a country that relies almost exclusively on apparel exports for foreign earnings. By mid‐2005, as trade data started to filter in, the doomsday scenario for countries like Cambodia seemed less clear cut. Although China's apparel exports had indeed soured, a surprising outcome was that exports to the US from Cambodia (and several other neighbours such as Indonesia and Vietnam) had also increased. This article focuses specifically on Cambodia (which of all the Southeast Asian countries surveyed has shown the greatest growth in apparel exports) and examines some of the CSR initiatives that help explain why gloomy prognostications have not yet become true. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.