Complete the following statement to show how the production process in the garment industry is spread across countries. The brand tag says 'Made in Thailand' but they are not Thai products. We dissect the manufacturing process and look for the best solution at each step. We are doing it globally. In making garments, the company may, for example, get cotton fibre from Korea, ...
...have the yarn spun and woven in China, and the garments assembled in Thailand for export to markets in Europe and America.
Explanation
This fill-in-the-blank question tests students' understanding of how MNCs spread production across countries. The textbook context explains that MNCs divide the production process into small parts and locate each stage where it is most cost-effective. The context states that 'China provides the advantage of being a cheap manufacturing location' and 'Mexico and Eastern Europe are useful for their closeness to the markets in the US and Europe.' The completed statement demonstrates how garment production is fragmented globally—raw materials (cotton) from one country, manufacturing (spinning/weaving) in another with cheap labour (China), assembly in Thailand, and final sale in markets like Europe and America. This illustrates the concept of interlinking production across countries to maximize profits by minimizing costs at each stage.