ABSTRACT
East Asia has gained fame as the world’s textile factory. The region operates much of the global capacity in synthetics and natural fibers, and churns out huge volumes of garments as well. China alone accounted for nearly 30 percent of the total value of global textile production in 2006, Japan 5 percent, Thailand and South Korea each about 2.5 percent. China’s apparel sector generated one-quarter of all value produced in garments worldwide, Japan 10.5 percent, Thailand 6 percent, and South Korea 1.5 percent (UNIDO 2008: 55).
