‘Developed economies need edge to compete with Asian manufacturers’

DEVELOPED economies can no longer compete with Asian manufacturing locations, such as China, the group chief executive of Ireland’s largest private company, Glen Dimplex said yesterday.

Sean O’Driscoll said for most worldwide industries, China was the benchmark by which international competitiveness was measured.

“The reality is that we cannot compete with them on functional, low cost products,” he told the Cork Chamber of Commerce/Irish Examiner monthly business breakfast briefing.