Myanmar and Bangladesh may work together in fighting global business challenges. Bangladesh is looking for a gateway to southeast Asia through Myanmar. After decades of sanctions, Myanmar has recently been opened to businesses. Currently the country has around 400 garment factories that employ between 3,50,000 and 4,00,000 workers. Bangladesh’s nearly 3,500 factories employ about four million workers.

Myanmar exports apparels worth $1.8 billion and it has set a $10 billion target for the next 10 years. Bangladesh too aims to double current exports worth $50 billion dollars by 2020. But neither country enjoys GSP privilege in the US market. So they feel working together would be a good idea. Bangladesh has voiced concerns that the recently formed TPP might adversely impact its exports to the US and some other TPP countries.

Myanmar wants to learn from the Bangladesh growth story in garment exports. Some time back Myanmar sent a delegation to visit Bangladesh’s factories and learn about business operations. Another delegation may be sent shortly. Both countries feel they must be fully equipped with proper business rules before embarking on a joint endeavor.