Myanmar : Garment Industry Threatened By US Sanctions

The garment industry of Myanmar is worried over the impacts from possible sanctions against Myanmar by the United States. Possible US ban on all imports from Myanmar would affect the jobs of 350,000 garment industry employees if the legislation of the US Senate on June 11 to impose such ban is passed by the House of Representatives and endorsed by President Bush. If orders ceased out of sanctions, the garment factories in Myanmar would have to be suspended and employees in the industry would be hard hit, the sources said. There are more than 200 garment factories in Yangon, most of which manufacture clothes for the US and European markets through orders from traders in Singapore, China's Hong Kong and South Korea, and 80 percent of the garment products in Myanmar are destined for the United States with the rest to Europe. According to official statistics, Myanmar had 400 garment factories in 2001, exporting products worth 400 million US dollars to the United States during the year. Impacted by a slowdown in the sector, the number of factories in operation had dropped to only over 200.