Myanmar trying to establish itself as a leading textile manufacturing hub

With the change in the political scenario, Myanmar is trying to establish itself as a leading manufacturing hub. The ongoing quest for low cost production has drawn manufacturers’ attention to the clothing industry in Myanmar.

Myanmar will expand its textile and garment industry under the country’s new national export strategy as a means to boost economic growth, with the sector’s export earning targeted at $2 billion for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

According to the ministry of commerce, the export income from the textile and garment sector made up 40 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings from around the year 1990.

With foreign investment accounting for 90 percent, the sector created 100,000 job opportunities in 2014-15, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association.

Official statistics show that foreign investment in the manufacturing sector reached $5.458 billion as of February this year since late 1988 when the country opened to foreign investors. The country has a long history of making yarn, fabric and garment.

The five-year national export strategy, which also covers six other sectors and is aimed at tackling trade deficit, focuses on rice, peas and pulses, fishery products, timber and forest products, rubber and tourism.