It features Australian and overseas plants from arid environments within its 250 hectares.

Mattel said it especially wanted to make sure none of its overseas plants were exploiting workers.

Toyota has also embarked on a four-year program to open or expand 10 overseas plants, adding production capacity of 1.2 million vehicles by 2008.

Two or three overseas plants will also be included.

We're not talking about closing down factories, laying off workers, shipping jobs to overseas plants.

That would make its cost-per-wafer competitive with any overseas plant's.

That makes it increasingly hard for the Bosch plant to compete against overseas plants where wages and health care costs are lower.

The Japanese industry association said production at Japan's overseas plants jumped 10.6 percent from the previous year.

Standardize the procedures, get governments to agree on transparent methods of investment, and companies will set up more overseas plants.

Bridgestone's first overseas plant since the end of the war was opened in Singapore in 1965.