Asia

Gildan Activewear hopes to become an outsourcing supplier of choice to major clothing branded companies worried about poor working conditions in Asia.

The apparel company said Thursday that its growing facilities in Honduras can lure companies that are looking to repatriate their production to the Western Hemisphere following a building collapse in Bangladesh last month that killed more than 900.

"The last thing in the world they want is for their brands to be compromised or tainted by sourcing from suppliers that don't have proper working conditions," chief administrative and financial officer Laurence Sellyn said in an interview.

Asia is poised to become the world's "economic center of gravity," with Singapore set to have the richest residents in the world by 2050, with an estimated per capita income of $137,710, according to the 2012 Wealth Report.

The report predicts that Asia will boast wealthier residents than any other continent, with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea topping the list of richest locales. The only Western nation to make the top five is the U.S., which is expected to be at its strongest economically in 2016, with an estimated per capita income of $100,802 by 2050.

Dismal data from China and India may signal a further weakening of the global recovery, undermining hopes the dynamic emerging economies of Asia can help prop up growth.

China reported its industrial production rose 9.3 percent from a year earlier in April, below expectations and down from nearly 12 percent in March. Investment and retail sales also slowed, though easing inflation offers leeway for fresh moves to boost growth.

India's industrial output fell 3.5 percent in March from a year earlier on weak manufacturing and investment. Output for the year rose 2.8 percent, down from 8.2 percent the year before.

Jeff Lederer, president of Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Prime Line, and other members of Prime Line's product development team returned from a week in Asia with many new items the company will introduce in the next year. These items include several exclusive bag designs, drinkware, office and desk items.

Largo, Florida-based Corvest, a top-25 promotional products supplier and parent company of Adva-Lite, Toppers and It’s All Greek To Me, announced the launch of Corvest Asia. The operation is responsible for product sourcing, quality assurance, product safety processes and factory social compliance initiatives, as well as a variety of other duties.

Polymer Group Inc., Charlotte, N.C., announced it will establish a research "Center of Excellence" (COE) to develop new nonwoven technology platforms yielding differentiated, higher-performing materials for the global health care, hygiene and industrial markets.