Word: importances
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...government. Corruption, red tape and the poor enforcement of laws [deter] investors; our country's strategic location?in the middle of the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean?and our high-quality workers cannot offset that. In the global economy, anything that a country lacks, it can import and outsource?except for two items: good governance and national pride, which must be homegrown...
...compete almost entirely on price, such as those in the toys and textiles industries, say even this 2.1% increase in the yuan's value will hurt sales to cost-conscious U.S. retailing giants such as Wal-Mart and Target. Yu Zhihua, export manager for the Hangzhou Silk and Garment Import Export Corp. in Hangzhou, says her profit margins are so thin already that she can't afford to lower prices to offset the 2.1% difference in currency values. "We expect contracts that would have gone to us will switch to Bangladesh and Indonesia," Yu says...
Overdosed on Starbucks? Burned out on the bar scene? Check out the chocolate lounge, a kind of petite pleasure palace first popularized in 17th century Europe, where chocolate was the exotic new import from South America. (A Frenchman reportedly opened the first chocolate-drinking house in London in 1657.) As reimagined for 21st century America, the lounges--there are now dozens in the U.S.--range from elegant Continental-style establishments like Manhattan's La Maison du Chocolat, where a cup of Guayaquil or Caracas hot cocoa sets you back $7, to the more mass-market Ethel's Chocolate Lounges, created...
...civil-service pay hike, a tax cut for businesses, $500 million in loans for rural villages, and a promise to increase the minimum wage. Critics contend that these policies will make little difference. "When you have drought, bird flu, stagnating tourism, decelerating growth in exports and a ballooning oil-import bill," says Chris Baker, co-author of Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand, "I can't see how a small income stimulus is going to do anything." Thaksin's political rivals saw defensiveness in his actions. "He certainly seems to have lost the impression that he is invincible," says...
...Oprah," saying the store was setting up a "private public relations event." Winfrey told Hermès' U.S. president she would never shop at Hermès again. She will, though, discuss the event on her show. That means the media will finally address that age-old issue of social import: the right to browse $6,000 handbags after hours...