Till May 10 of 2018-2019 Fiscal year, the total export earnings from the CMP garment sector hit over 2.56 billion US dollars. The export earnings has increased threefold, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The CMP garment sector is the major export promotion. The export earnings increased from over 800 million USD in 2015-2016 FY to 2.561 billion USD till May 10, 2018-2019 FY, said Deputy Minister for Commerce Aung Htoo.

In 2018, the export earnings of the garment sector hit nearly 4.6 billion USD. The total export earnings are expected to hit 10 billion USD by 2024, said Khaing Khaing Nwe, secretary of Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs Association at the 5th anniversary of the association at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) on May 11.

The garment sector sees a five-fold increase in the number of workers while the income has increased tenfold. We are making constant efforts to double the productivity, Khaing Khaing Nwe added.

The local garment sector sees the massive inflow of foreign investments. The association has more than 500 members and the garment sector has  more than 500,000 workers.

The garment industry is a labour-intensive business and is a major business which helps the country shift to an industrialized country. The association can work for the technical transfer through the establishment of training schools, for the development of the CMP garment industry which can create the jobs for the grass-roots and turn out skilled workers.

The association has appointed a labour officer, in cooperation with the ILO in order to give the monthly educative talks on the labour law and help in solving the employer-employee disputes.

Aung Htoo said: “This industry creates jobs for about 500,000 workers, most of whom are female. The sector can export products worth over four billion USD. It contributes a lot to the employment and the GDP.”