The Asia Pacific region is positioning itself as a centre of industrial production and services, providing a high level of global industrial exports, particularly of technological and electrical goods. This has made the region an attractive location for foreign investors, as firms seek to take advantage of relatively low labour costs and available technical skills. However, there is a growing shortage of skilled labour as skills are lagging behind economic transition to highly industrialised and service facing economies...

In recent years manufacturers have largely focused on boosting volume sales of the premium and super-premium sections of their brand portfolios. However, the vast majority of spirits sold in the world, even in established markets for international spirits manufacturers such as the US, are either economy or standard products, and in most cases these products are driving volume growth. Margins may be lower, but with the large volumes involved, these products still offer producers huge potential...

Unilever's share of the global cosmetics and toiletries market climbed from 7.2% in 2006 to 7.3% in 2007. This is the first rise since a drop in 2005, when the company's share tumbled by 0.4 percentage points from 7.6% in 2004 to 7.2% in 2005, brought about through a number of markets. Current growth is mainly attributable to the firm's men's grooming and hair care portfolios...