Myanmar to emulate Bangladesh to boost its garment sector

Myanmar, the emerging Southeast Asian nation, has drawn an ambitious plan to follow Bangladesh’s success in the garment sector and become one of the major hub for sourcing apparel, stated Pwint San, deputy commerce minister of Myanmar in an interview to a national daily.

“In our country, the garment industry is booming. We hope we will be a hub for sourcing garment items,” the minister said. He further added that Myanmar will go after RMG like Bangladesh did. San also said that his country looks forward to Bangladesh as a good trading partner, and always encouraged people-to-people and government-to-government contact.

Apparel exports accounts for 10-12 percent of the country’s total exports. In 2013, it earned US$1.2 billion foreign exchange in 2013, up from US$396 million in 2009. An export target of US$10 billion has been set for next ten years.

Japan is the prime market for Mynamar’s apparel, accounting for 48.8 percent of the country’s garment exports, followed by South Korea (33.3 percent), the European Union (14.6 percent), Germany (5.4 percent) and China (2.5 percent).

According to the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association at present there are 240 textile and apparel companies in Myanmar and is growing steadily. Its export basket includes coats, suits, jackets, swimwear, trousers, shirts, dresses and skirts. The textile and apparel industry engaged around 220,000 persons.