Burma: Business Opportunities And New Competitors Of Thailand'S Textile And Garment Industry

According to the March 16th report of Thailand Taihua Farmers Research Center, in recent months Myanmar Attracted international attention, it is regarded as a new investment destination with potential for development in ASEAN countries. The Thai Farmers' research center thinks that Thailand is one of the countries worthy of investment for finding a production base to maintain its survival in Burma textile and garment enterprises. The main reasons are as follows:

At present, Thailand is still a trading partner for Burma, and textile accounts for it. bilateral trade Most of the share. Thailand has always been the largest source of textile imports in Burma, and the total value of Thailand's textile exports has increased significantly over the years. The reason is that the development of the garment industry in Burma is good, so as to increase the demand for textile materials for producing raw materials. The clothing trade between Burma and Thailand has also maintained the same growth trend, because Burma consumers love Thailand products and the Burma government has increased the purchasing power of the people by implementing the policy of increasing income.

Burma's garment manufacturing industry is booming because the other manufacturing powers including Thailand need to diversify production risks and pay more attention to Burma's investment in garment industry. The main advantage of Burma is that Burma has the lowest labor wages and production costs compared with other neighbouring countries that are also the same as garment production bases.

In view of the above factors, the Thai Farmers' Research Center predicts that the total value of Thailand textile and clothing products exported to Burma will reach 2.45-2.55 billion in 2012, an increase of 30-35% over the same period last year.

The Thai Farmers' research center points out some problems that should be paid attention to in the textile and clothing industry in Burma. Although Burma has many advantages in terms of business opportunities, we must admit that there are still many obstacles that cause enterprises to worry. For example, most workers want to work in Thailand, which leads to the shortage of labour in Burma. In developing domestic production processes and training skilled workers to improve efficiency, Burma still relies on foreign capital and expertise. Burma is still subject to sanctions from western countries such as the United States and the European Union. Although many believe that western countries will gradually eliminate sanctions against Burma after the general election in April this year, when the cancellation is unpredictable, the role of Burma as a producer and exporter in the world textile and garment market is still very limited. Therefore, Burma still needs a period of time to strengthen its textile and garment industry. At the same time, some investors still have concerns about the unstable administrative, economic and financial systems in Burma. At the same time, the lack of infrastructure and the limitations in the initial stage of development have become an important obstacle to the convergence of production enterprises and the international market.

The main focus of attention is that if Burma can successfully eliminate the above limitations, it can effectively attract more foreign enterprises to carry out comprehensive production and operation in Burma. Recently, Burma announced that the floating exchange rate system will be introduced from April this year, which shows that Burma is developing in a good direction in enhancing investor confidence. This means that Burma has the strength to become a competitor to catch up with Thailand rapidly, just like Vietnam before. Therefore, Thailand enterprises should pay close attention to the situation in Burma, formulate business planning as soon as possible, and find more trading partners in the region, and actively expand new market channels. In addition, Thailand enterprises should pay close attention to the development of Burma special economic zone near Thailand border, because the special economic zone can provide convenience for Thailand enterprises to invest and operate in Burma.