Garment factories in Myanmar may encounter temporary closures due to the shortage of raw materials, according to a press conference held by Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs Association, at the UMFCCI (headquarters) in Yangon on 21 February.

U Aung Myo Hein, CEC of the MGEA said: “There remian raw materials at around three factories with around 4,000 employees, until 10 March. They may temporarily suspend their operations until the Thingyan festival.”

Local garment factories have to import raw materials mainly from China. Imports of raw materials may face difficulty till April due to the spreading of coronavirus in China.

U Myint Soe, chair of MGEA said: “The association expects that garment factories can deal with the problem by reducing working hours and workloads. If not, they need to reduce the number of employees. There will be temporary shutdown of garment factories if the job cut is not ok and the lack of raw materials continue. It is impossible to make complete shutdown of factories.”

“There will be stiff competition as Vietnam and Cambodia will import garment raw materials. It is sure that the industry may face many challenges in May and June if the raw materials are unavailable till April,” said Daw Khaing Khaing Nwe, Secretary of MGEA.

Currently, more than 500,000 employees are working in the local garment industry, according to the MGEA.

According to the Commerce Ministry, Myanmar imported CMP raw materials worth over 870 million US dollars till 7 February of this fiscal year.