Chinese, Japanese and South Korean companies are flooding into Myanmar as the country’s neighbour Bangladesh is struggling with problems such as low wages, plentiful labour and image in the international market. The international textile sector has discovered Myanmar as the next best destination on the basis of 200,000 workers in more than 300 factories in compared to Bangladesh which has around 4,000 textile factories.
As per Myanmar Garment Makers Association (MGMA), one new factory opened every week in 2014. In 10 years, Myanmar wants to have 3,000 factories. The aim is to increase exports from the current $1 billion a year 10 times over and to provide a million jobs. And investors are answering the call.
Experts say Myanmar is benefiting from waning Bangladesh, where factory mishaps drew attention to poor working conditions in garment factories. The timing is also good in the politics of Myanmar, which is opening up after decades under a closed military junta. There is a sense of opportunity since a nominally civilian government came to power in 2011. Garment makers in Myanmar are evidently in the starting blocks.
The smaller Myanmar companies at present sew and package, but the big clients want a complete service, from supplying fabric and thread to dealing with customs and loading for shipment.
