The Myanmar Times reported that the Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs Association stated that according to the Myanmar Garment Industry Strategic Plan 2014-2024, it is estimated that Myanmar’s garment industry exports will reach 10 billion U.S. dollars and create 10 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. The goal is to create 10,000 job opportunities.
UKhing Maung Lwin, Deputy Minister of Commerce, said that as of August 2019, export volume in the 2018/19 fiscal year reached US$4.37 billion, compared with US$3.2 billion in the same period in 2018. An increase of US$1.17 billion. Myanmar’s garment exports have continued to increase since 2013, especially since they surged from US$800 million in the 2015/16 fiscal year to more than US$4 billion in this fiscal year.
UMyint Soe, chairman of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, said that with the increase in the number of factories in 2018, export volume is also growing. This year has also seen more investment in the industry, so export volumes are expected to continue to increase in 2020. Based on the aforementioned factors, the export target of US$10 billion should be achievable. In the short term, as the US-China trade war intensifies, more Chinese companies will relocate to Myanmar.
About 80% of the new investment in Myanmar’s reduced garment packaging business comes from China. UMyintSoe also said that garment investment from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan has entered Myanmar. Due to the U.S.-China trade war, the U.S. demand for garment manufacturing in countries other than China has also increased significantly. Although the EU and Japan have always been Myanmar’s main markets for exporting garments, the U.S. market is also growing now, and job opportunities are now growing. It is expected that by 2020 will increase, so there may be a labor shortage in the garment industry.
With the rapid development of the garment industry, the garment industry needs to ensure more social and labor human rights responsibilities than before. This is why the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association is covering the issues for its members. From legal to human resource affairs policy advocacy, although Myanmar exports garments to Japan, South Korea, Canada, the United States, China and other countries, the EU is still one of its largest garment export markets, accounting for 50% of garment exports. In addition, due to the impact of the Rohingya human rights crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the European Union stated that it is reviewing whether to grant preferential treatment to Myanmar’s exports. Experts predict that if the preferential tariffs on garment exports are revoked, Myanmar’s garment industry will suffer a negative impact.
