Industry

After decades as a primarily agrarian society, over the past six years Myanmar has made considerable progress towards the development of a sustainable industrial base. Its key manufacturing sectors – which include textiles and garments, food and beverage (F&B) products, and construction materials – have attracted growing investment and,...

The fast fashion business model has revolutionised the apparel industry. By streamlining design, production and distribution, the latest clothing trends can be transferred from the catwalk to the sales rack in a matter of weeks. One of the keys to the success of the model is the near-shoring of suppliers. Inditex, owner of numerous brands...

In recent years Peru’s steel production has remained steady, at some 1.1m tonnes annually. With the development of major mining and infrastructure projects, the country imports about half of its total steel consumption. Around 70% of the demand is for long steel products, of which 60% has traditionally been supplied by local producers. For...

Traditional exports, principally metals, have helped make Peru one of the fastest growing Latin American economies over the last decade. However, falling commodities prices have taken their toll on export revenues and GDP growth. The focus of the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE) in recent years has, therefore, been on diversifying the Peruvian...

In late 2015 in the desert of southern Oman, work is due to start on a $600m solar plant capable of producing a peak output of 1 GW of thermal energy. By comparison, the current largest photovoltaic (PV) solar plant in the world – the Solar Star project in California – produces 579 MW, or a little over half as much energy as the plant being...

For the Omani power sector, 2015 was a year to look back and take stock. In the 10 years since market reforms were introduced, the industry has witnessed a 164% increase in supply and a 75% increase in the number of accounts.