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1. Living with Technology
The majority of Vietnamese people live modest lifestyles with an ecological impact far gentler than American standards. But as incomes rise in Vietnam and more can afford glossy gadgets and cars, questions of sustainability loom.
Vietnam is among 10 nations most threatened by rising oceans caused by climate change, according to the Worldwatch Institute.
Vietnam has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but its clean technology market remains fledgling, and ecological concerns aren't quite chic. For example, some Vietnamese teens favor electric bicycles--not out of a desire to pollute less, but because they aren't allowed to drive motorbikes to school.
Electricity now lights up in rural regions that relied on kerosene and were flattened by bombs a generation ago; demand is expected to double by 2010. A pioneering wind power plant is being built outside of Hanoi, but the government is investing more aggressively to expand polluting coal-fired power plants. The first nuclear power plant is targeted for 2020.
Although state leaders are making efforts to clean up natural resources and punish industrial polluters, the need for clean water and air remains pressing. Waterways in Ho Chi Minh City look less muddy than several years ago, but hundreds of tons of garbage are still dumped daily into canals.
There are three million motorcycles in Vietnam, up from a paltry few a decade ago. Add to that half a million cars, just the start of the coming auto boom. Environmental experts blame low-quality fuel for a spike in air pollution, higher than safe levels set by the World Health Organization.
Just jump on a motorbike; the thick exhaust fumes are an instant taste of the challenges ahead.
This report was prepared and written by Elza Wenzel the associate editor.
Article Source is from-Living with technology-CNET.com
2. Economic pains in China’
According to Polly Ko of the Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong, which neighbors Hong Kong.’The greatest economic pain is being felt in the south of China, where about 14,000 out of the 50,000 to 60,000 Hong Kong-run factories could close in the next few months.
A contributing factor is mainly because of "Wages rising, and materials costing more. Overall, costs are definitely higher, says Duncan Du, who is the general manager of Shenzhen Oriental e-Tecs Ltd., an electronics maker in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Purely a fishing village that bordered Hong Kong in the 1970s Shenzhen has boomed extensively for a good number of years now but due to rising costs many multinational manufacturers — including Intel Corp., iPod-maker Hon Hai Technology Group and Japanese companies like Canon Inc. and Sony Corp. are adapting and expanding operations to other countries.
Thousands of smaller Hong Kong, Taiwan or Chinese-run factories in south China's traditional export hub of Guangdong are closing or moving out.
For example as many as 300 of some 1,000 shoe factories in the Guangdong factory zone of Dongguan have closed down, according to a report by the China Light Industry Council. It said half of the shoe factories set up by Taiwan investors had already shifted production to Vietnam.
Costs have climbed so much that three-quarters of businesses surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai believe China is losing its competitive edge.
The higher costs mean Western consumers are bound to face steeper prices for iPods, TVs, tank tops and many other imported products made by small Chinese subcontractors.
"Americans continue to want to buy at lower prices," said Kevin Burke, president and CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association. "They are used to going to the store during Christmas and getting something cheaper than a year ago."
‘That's no longer a sure thing.’
Chinese inflation, meanwhile, has risen to its highest in more than 11 years, jumping 7.1 percent in January, as snowstorms worsened food shortages. The biggest price hikes have been for food, but longer-term pressures on prices for manufactured goods will persist, analysts say.
"China needs to reprice its exports and that has to be accepted by international buyers," says Andy Xie, an independent economist based in Shanghai.
But raising prices is tough for Chinese manufacturers when the quality of their products is suspect after a slew of scandals over tainted or potentially dangerous products.
At the same time, despite its huge pool of unskilled rural laborers, China's supply of experienced, skilled talent falls far short of demand. The gap has been pushing wages up by 10 percent to 15 percent a year.
A new labor law requiring stronger employment contracts is expected to raise costs even more.
Prices for plastics and other materials have climbed 30 percent or more, and electricity rates are surging, too. The government has also slashed export tax rebates — originally given to promote exports — on more than 2,800 products accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Chinese exports.
The steady appreciation of China's currency, the yuan, also contributes to the problem.
At IKEA's Shanghai store, a stroll down the aisles finds most products made in China, rather than Europe or the U.S. But a growing share of the goods come from less developed markets: stuffed toys from Indonesia, wooden train sets from Bulgaria, colorful rugs and throws from India, bed sheets from Ethiopia, baskets and wooden trays from Vietnam.
Associated Press writers Anne D'Innocenzio in New York and Cassie Biggs in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Source from: http://biz.yahoo.com
