Myanmar’s garment industry moves towards “Made in Myanmar”

According to an article titled “Not Made in China” recently published on a foreign media website, in addition to recognized garment industry centers such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, the time is ripe for new players to join the clothing game: countries such as Myanmar, Haiti and Ethiopia The hope is to revive the once-thriving industry, or even develop the apparel industry entirely from scratch.
Recently, the Secretary-General of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (Mgma) stated that Myanmar’s garment industry is shaping a new brand image of “Made in Myanmar” and strives to promote Myanmar-produced clothing to the world.
From Myanmar OEM to Myanmar manufacturing, Myanmar’s garment industry has begun to show its eagerness to develop.
​Myanmar clothing will be “100% made in Myanmar” in the future
According to the “Myanmar Chinese Network”, the Secretary-General of Mgma said that although some clothes labeled “Made in Myanmar” are currently only sewn in Myanmar, the materials, funds and technology to manufacture these clothes in the future are possible. From Myanmar local enterprises.
Chairman Mgma pointed out that Myanmar now enjoys the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences, so orders from this market have increased recently. East Asia and Southeast Asia are the key markets for Myanmar’s clothing exports, especially the Japanese market. The Japan External Trade Organization supports the Myanmar garment industry to strengthen exchanges with Japanese industries. The agency will organize regular talks to share each other’s production experience and help the Myanmar garment industry improve its brand image.
At present, the business type undertaken by local clothing manufacturers in Myanmar is mainly to produce and process orders for designated styles, and their customers are mainly from Japan, China, Malaysia, and Germany.
​Advantages: Low labor costs and preferential tariffs
In recent years, Myanmar has gradually been regarded by international buyers as an untapped garment production center and a target country for purchasing orders due to its low labor costs, abundant labor force, and favorable tariff preferences for exports to Europe and the United States. Myanmar’s textile and apparel industry, which can create a large amount of foreign exchange and employment opportunities, has high hopes from Myanmar’s industry. However, some recent comments from the international industry have pointed out that Myanmar’s textile and apparel industry still needs to face a series of challenges in order to become a pillar industry that drives economic growth.
As an emerging garment manufacturing country, Myanmar has advantages including low labor costs, sufficient labor, and tariff-free and quota-free exports to the EU. In addition, technical support provided by the Japan External Trade Organization and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce, and Myanmar’s domestic market consumption scale of 60 million It has also become an important factor supporting industrial development. Win Aung, chairman of the Federation of Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the EU’s GSP and the suspension of sanctions against Myanmar by both the EU and the United States will help the development of Myanmar’s garment industry. In addition, Myanmar is one of the 10 ASEAN member states. When the ASEAN economy is fully established in 2015, Myanmar will also share a population of 600 million with other member states Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. consumer market with consistent tariff preferences.
Thailand’s Thai-Chinese Farmers Research Center once made a research report on Myanmar’s textile industry. The report pointed out that Myanmar is regarded as a new investment destination with development potential among ASEAN countries. The Thai-Chinese Farmers Research Center believes that Myanmar is one of the countries worth investing in for Thai textile and garment enterprises looking for production bases to survive. Myanmar’s garment manufacturing industry is booming because of the needs of other major manufacturing countries, including Thailand. To spread production risks, Myanmar is increasingly paying attention to investing in the garment industry. Myanmar’s main advantage is that compared with other neighboring countries that are also garment production bases, Myanmar’s labor wages and production costs are the lowest.
​Disadvantages: turbulent working environment and backward supporting facilities
Objective factors such as Myanmar’s turbulent working environment and backward industrial supporting facilities will still restrict industrial development. Maplecroft, a British corporate consulting firm, pointed out in its “2013 Human Rights Risk Overview” report that despite Myanmar’s reforms over the past year and a half, Myanmar’s risk image in the eyes of foreign investors remains “extremely high.” The labor law implemented in October 2011 allows workers to go on strike and organize unions. Labor clearly realizes that the time has come to improve their wages and working conditions.
According to a report by The Myanmar Times, workers in about 70 garment factories went on strike from May 1 to July 30, 2012, demanding higher wages and better working conditions.
At the same time, even though the Myanmar Garment Trade Union has established training centers and technical schools, finding and retaining skilled garment factory workers in Yangon is still a problem. Garment factories complain that once workers are trained to become skilled workers, they leave the factory and go to factories across the border in Thailand to find better-paying jobs.
Another reason why Myanmar’s garment manufacturing industry is weak in the global market is that the quality of its productivity is still lower than that of Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh. The Yangon Electricity Supply Bureau has announced that starting from January 1, 2013, several industrial areas in the Yangon region will implement power outages from 4 pm to 11 pm. All textile factories and almost all garment factories must provide their own diesel generators to supplement some of the electricity. According to surveys, the total electricity cost of Myanmar’s garment factories is about 30% to 40% of the total labor cost. The most serious thing is that due to unstable voltage, the manufacturer’s textile machinery and equipment accelerate depreciation.
removeIn addition to kenaf and jute, cotton is also one of Myanmar’s main crops. However, due to backward supporting facilities in the upstream industry, investment must be introduced to support the rapidly expanding export garment industry. The industry calls for specific incentive measures or adjustment of import tariffs for the production of industrial washing equipment, accessories and packaging materials in order to help attract investment in the spinning and dyeing pulp industries.