It has been two months since the coup in Myanmar. The continued violent conflicts have made many people worry that this Southeast Asian country will eventually move towards civil war. According to the Associated Press, the United Nations Secretary-General’s special envoy for Myanmar Burgener warned on Wednesday that a “civil war of unprecedented scale” was likely to break out in Myanmar.
On March 27, Myanmar’s Military Day, at least 114 people were killed in more than 40 cities across Myanmar , including children, making it the bloodiest day since the coup. Countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States have issued statements condemning this brutal act of massacre of “unarmed civilians.” Subsequently, the Myanmar military suddenly launched air strikes on areas controlled by Karen ethnic armed forces, forcing thousands of people to flock to Thailand to seek asylum. “Free Myanmar Wanderers” said that about 2,500 people, including 200 students, have crossed the Salween River into Thailand.
After the bloody conflict on Army Day in Myanmar, the national defense of 12 countries including the United States, Britain, Japan and Germany The ministers issued a joint statement condemning the Myanmar military and calling for an end to the violence. U.S. President Joe Biden described the incident as “absolutely unacceptable” and said sanctions were being planned in response. Later, the Office of the United States Trade Representative stated in a statement that it would suspend all trade between the United States and Myanmar effective immediately. As my country’s neighbor and trading partner, Myanmar’s national status also has a greater impact on us, especially the textile and garment industry.
Current situation of Myanmar’s textile and garment industry
Myanmar is located in the northwest of the Indochina Peninsula in Asia It borders India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand, with a land area of 676,000 square kilometers. It is the country with the largest land area in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is mainly based on agriculture, with more than 60% of the agricultural population. The country has a shortage of industrial electricity and is classified as one of the least developed countries. Oil and natural gas exports dominate its economy.
Myanmar currently has more than 600 garment factories, more than half of which are foreign capital and joint ventures. About 45% of investment in the garment industry comes from China, and the Myanmar-China Garment Chamber of Commerce has been established. Garment factories are mainly concentrated around Yangon, employing about 500,000 local workers. Myanmar’s apparel exports amounted to nearly US$5 billion in 2019, with the main export markets being Japan, the European Union, South Korea, China and the United States. Due to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), Myanmar garments exported to the EU can enjoy duty-free benefits.
Myanmar’s textile industry is highly dependent on my country
But the development of Myanmar’s industrial chain is not Balanced, the garment industry is growing rapidly, and the upstream textile industry is developing slowly. There are no large-scale textile mills and printing and dyeing factories. Raw materials such as yarns and fabrics mainly rely on imports. China is the main source of imports of raw materials.
In 2019, China exported more than 18 billion yuan of textiles to Myanmar, accounting for 2.07% of my country’s total textile exports, ranking 13th among textile exporting countries. In 2020, due to the global epidemic, Myanmar’s textile production was affected to a certain extent, and textile imports from my country decreased to 16.6 billion yuan. However, it accounts for 19.14% of the total value of all fabrics exported by my country and is the largest proportion of products imported from my country by Myanmar. This shows that Myanmar’s textile industry is highly dependent on Chinese textiles.
At the same time, in recent years, well-known companies including Lu Thai have invested in Myanmar. As countries along the Belt and Road, China and Myanmar have close economic and trade exchanges and are important partners of our country.
Unrest affects textile and clothing exports
In 2020, Myanmar’s response to the United States Exports of textiles and clothing amounted to US$445 million, accounting for 0.5% of the total imports of textiles and clothing in the United States. Although the total share is relatively small, due to the epidemic in 2020, when the total textile and apparel imports of the United States decreased by nearly 20%, imports from Myanmar increased by 31.24% year-on-year, ranking first in the year-on-year growth of U.S. imports in 2020, indicating that the future Growth potential remains high.
However, due to the turmoil after the coup in Myanmar this year, its domestic textile and clothing production will inevitably be hit to a certain extent. American buyers have tried their best to avoid purchasing from Myanmar, and imports to the United States have declined to a certain extent. Moreover, after the United States announced the suspension of exchanges, it further hit Myanmar’s exports to the United States, which will also reduce the import of raw materials from China. On the other hand, the risk of domestic orders currently cooperating with Myanmar has intensified, and there may be defaults and delays.
2021��While the global epidemic situation is improving and the economy is recovering, Myanmar is deeply mired in the shadow of civil war. Under the turmoil, not only the people cannot live a stable life, but it is also not conducive to the economic and trade exchanges between China and Myanmar. In particular, our textile and apparel industry has always accounted for the largest part of Myanmar’s imports from my country. During the turmoil, it will inevitably be the most affected. </p
