
Tens of thousands march in Dhaka and industrial towns as negotiations continue over pay scale
AI-generated summary
Garment workers in Bangladesh have been demanding higher pay, with protests occurring in Dhaka and industrial towns including Gazipur, Ashulia, and Narayanganj. The statutory Minimum Wage Board agreed that a revised pay scale would take effect from December but has not yet recommended a specific figure.
Tens of thousands of workers have marched through Dhaka and the key industrial towns of Gazipur, Ashulia and Narayanganj in recent days demanding higher pay. Protests turned violent in several hubs, with factories vandalised and roads blocked during clashes with police, forcing hundreds of plants to suspend operations.
On Wednesday, the statutory Minimum Wage Board agreed that a revised pay scale would take effect from December, but it has yet to recommend a specific figure as negotiations between factory owners and worker representatives continue. Workers want the monthly minimum wage to be raised to 30,000 taka (US$237) from 12,500 currently.

The 7th Marine Cooperation and Governance Forum was held in Sanya, Hainan. Officials and scholars from ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia made suggestions on Hainan Free Trade Port and ASEAN blue economic cooperation, covering areas such as fishery processing logistics, marine disaster early warning, and the linkage between the Pinglu Canal and the New Western Land-Sea Corridor.

Taiwan and the United States signed a reciprocal trade agreement (ART). TSMC Deputy General Manager Zhuang Zishou personally purchased 34,000 Yunlin peanut blessing bags worth 15 million yuan. The Huwei Town Farmers Association held a peanut field pulling event for thousands of people. Affected by the collapse of the Taiwan stock market, people sought solace in agricultural experience. The farmers' association's contract purchase price was 2 to 3 yuan higher than the market to ensure farmers' income.

ASE Semiconductor has passed the review of the "Welcome Taiwanese Businessmen to Return to Taiwan Investment Action Plan" and plans to invest 123.7 billion yuan to add smart production lines in Tainan City and Kaohsiung City to expand high-end packaging and testing capacity, covering the Tainan Park of Southern Taiwan, and promote the development of southern Taiwan's semiconductor industry cluster.
The 2026 Global Aviation Medical Rescue Conference and the first Huantian International Rescue Conference were held in Guangzhou on November 6. The Huantian International Rescue Center systematically introduced the three core businesses of professional aviation medical rescue, international rescue, and international air tourism. The rescue covers more than 100 countries and regions. Zhang Chao, director of the Marketing Department of the Marketing Center of COMAC, predicts that China’s aviation medical service market will reach US$1.2 billion by 2030.

On November 6, the "China Airlines 900" sailed from Chishui Port in Wuzhou, Guangxi, marking the completion of customs declaration and shipment of Wuzhou's first foreign trade cargo via the Pinglu Canal, and the official opening of the Wuzhou-Pinglu Canal-Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam foreign trade route. The new route's single-container comprehensive logistics cost has been reduced by about 10%, and the transfer link has been greatly streamlined. It has changed the long-term pattern of Wuzhou's foreign trade going eastward and has shortened the time and space distance between eastern Guangxi, southern Hunan and Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

On November 7, 2026, the Taiwan stock market opened with a plunge of more than 3,700 points, falling below the 40,000-point mark. Investor Chen Zhiqiang laughed at himself that his book loss was about one million yuan in one week, which is equivalent to a golf card. He also revealed that the stock continued to fall while his wife continued to shop, which made him dumbfounded.