"Cost of living" is a bastardization of the concept of real wages that doesn't even make the slightest economic sense.
Should we boost salaries of people in Sydney so they can sustain living in the sun all year long with rich neighborhoods and a thriving city? And then pay people less in rainy and cold places, just because it’s poorer and disenfranchised and flats are cheap in the polluted area of the city, so your price-per-square-meter is lower? That is why the average cost of living there is lower, after all.
If we pay people at their living cost, people will flock to nice places, overpopulating them while cold places will die faster than Detroit.
There is no right answer to that. So let’s not “organize” it and let the markets decide.
Imagine if you are building cars worth $20000 for $5000 and undercut western companies. Your car is worth $20000 so instead of undercutting you can just sell it for $20000 and take $15000 profit which then leads to more demand for employees which then leads to increased incomes once unemployment is down.