Affected By The Epidemic, Southeast Asian Countries Have Introduced Measures To Help Garment Manufacturing Industry.

Affected by the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, clothing retailers in many countries have been hit by the fact that stores have closed and sales have dropped sharply. In Southeast Asia, the garment production and export industries in Vietnam, Kampuchea and Burma face enormous difficulties. The clothing industry is of vital importance to the economic development of Southeast Asia. According to statistics, Vietnam's textile and garment industry has more than 2 million 800 thousand practitioners, and Vietnam's clothing exports account for 5.7% of the global market. For Kampuchea, the garment manufacturing industry has created 16% of GDP and 80% of its export earnings. There are about 500 garment factories in Burma, and 65% to 70% of its products are exported to the European Union.

The spread of the epidemic in Europe and the United States has led many international garment brands in Southeast Asia to postpone or cancel orders. In addition, some European and American garment purchasers offer deferred payment or discount on the unpaid and the goods in transit due to their financial difficulties. Due to the shrinking demand in the global garment market, many garment manufacturers in Southeast Asia are in a downtime. According to Vietnamese officials, exports to the European market in the one or two quarter of this year will drop by 8% or more. In Kampuchea, Burma and other countries, the pressure of employment in clothing related industries has generally increased.

To cope with the impact, Southeast Asian countries have launched a self rescue operation. Kampuchea implements a living subsidy policy for unemployed workers, of which the government pays $40 a month and the factory pays $30. In addition, the government also stipulates that some garment manufacturers can enjoy the "tax exemption period" from six months to one year, and the specific time limit will be determined according to the impact degree of the enterprises and the actual situation of the factory by the Ministry of Finance and Cambodia. Hong Sen, Prime Minister of Kampuchea, said the government had prepared a budget of $2 billion to hedge against the impact of the epidemic on the domestic economy.

The Burma government announced last month that it will set up a new Burma 100 billion yuan (500 million yuan) new coping fund, giving priority to the support of garment processing and manufacturing industries. The fund has a loan life of 1 years, with an interest rate of only 1%. The government of Burma also announced that eligible enterprises could delay the payment of quarterly and monthly business taxes until the end of the fiscal year (September 30th). The export industry will not be required to pay 2% of the export prepaid income tax until the end of the fiscal year. Burma has also set up a central coordinating committee to tackle the new crown disease. The committee will set up vocational training programs for workers affected by factory closures and provide new employment opportunities. The Secretary of the Ministry of labour, immigration and population, Burma, said that the government is working closely with enterprises and labour to tide over the crisis.