Wednesday, 04 Aug 2021 12:50 PM MYT
A foreign worker works at a plastic containers factory during an enhanced lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Klang July 8, 2021. — Reuters pic
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TOKYO, Aug 4 — Fresh outbreaks of the Delta coronavirus variant in South-east Asia have crippled its factory sector, disrupting global supplies of goods such as rubber gloves, semiconductors and SUVs and threatening the US$3 trillion (RM12.7 trillion) region’s recovery.
A series of factory surveys this week showed business activity across most South-east Asian economies fell sharply in July, a contrast to more resilient manufacturing economies in Northeast Asia and the West, where business growth has slowed but remained in expansion.