Hundreds Of Thousands Of Garment Workers Or Unemployment In Southeast Asia Are Caused By European And American Enterprises "Running Away"

In some Asian developing countries, clothing manufacturing industry is often one of the pillars of their domestic economy. According to the Wall Street Journal, with the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in the world, shops in North America and Europe, the hardest hit areas of the epidemic, have generally closed down, and major clothing brands have cancelled orders of billions of dollars, leading to the loss of sales of a large number of clothes to be delivered in these Asian countries.

Moreover, European and American enterprises affected by the epidemic also demanded that garment enterprises in some Asian countries substantially reduce their ex factory prices on the ground of irresistible factors in their contracts.

As a result, hundreds of factories in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Rangoon in Myanmar have been forced to close down.

01、 Hundreds of thousands of garment workers are out of work, and nearly half of the new poverty-stricken population is in Southeast Asia

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), clothing exports account for about 85% of Bangladesh's total exports, which has brought more than 4 million jobs to the country. In Cambodia, nearly 20% of all households have members working in the sewing industry. 75% of the country's total exports of clothing and backpacks. In addition, Vietnam and India are also major exporters of clothing products.

In Cambodia, about 260 garment factories have stopped production. Among them is a clothing factory called gladpeer, which produces various kinds of clothing for enterprises such as H & M and Carrefour. In April, the company laid off more than 3500 local workers in Cambodia. "If there are no new orders, they have no choice but to close indefinitely," said Albert Tan, general manager of the company. Buyers have not made it clear when there will be a substantial return of business, and the possibility of reopening the factory this year seems increasingly slim. "

It is reported that with the massive closure of garment factories, hundreds of thousands of garment workers in Asia will be laid off or temporarily unemployed, most of whom are women. Although the wages of these workers are not high, their income can be guaranteed, and they can get standard working meals, basic medical care and education, which can create basic conditions for their relatives to find jobs with higher income.

Before the outbreak, textile workers took a bus home from work, according to the Wall Street Journal

In recent months, many workers have returned to their hometown. They have to live frugally and even borrow money to support themselves. According to the prediction of the Asian Development Bank, the economic growth rate of developing countries in Asia this year is only 0.1%, which is the lowest level in 60 years.

According to the world bank's prediction, the number of poor people (living on less than $1.9 a day) will increase by 71-100 million this year. This is a strong rebound since 1998, with about half of the new poverty population mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia.

02、 Industry: clothing industry will be restructured internally, and European and American enterprises will turn to "close investment"

Before the outbreak of the epidemic, the global clothing industry has shown a trend of reverse growth. After the outbreak of the epidemic, many big cities have taken "blockade" to prevent and control the epidemic, and the low consumption is likely to last for a long time. Some analysts believe that this will deepen the chaotic situation of the world clothing industry and accelerate its internal restructuring.

Bangladesh is one of the world's largest garment exporters. "I don't think the industry can go back to where it was before the outbreak, we're going through a lot of changes," said lubana hooker, chairman of the country's top apparel manufacturers industrial group

Raymond Robertson, a professor at Texas A & M University, said: "at present, the whole clothing industry has no choice but style. That's why the stagnation of the clothing industry is not just a temporary phenomenon. "

In recent months, JC Penney, an established department store in the United States, Neiman Marcus, a luxury chain, and J. crew, a fashion group, have filed for bankruptcy protection. "Mass elimination could lead to the closure or acquisition of 20-30 per cent of the entire value chain, including brands, wholesalers and department stores," said Achim Berg, senior partner at McKinsey consulting global fashion and apparel companies

According to Berger's prediction, in the near future, European and American enterprises will turn more to "close investment", rather than continue the policy of "low-cost labor investment". "In the future, European and American companies will shift production to Eastern Europe, North Africa and Turkey and Mexico," Berg said. This is mainly considered to shorten the time from order placement to delivery, while greatly improving flexibility and agility. European and American garment enterprises are relying too much on the production factories in the Far East before rethinking. "

On the other hand, this is certainly not good news for Asian countries with garment manufacturing as an important economic pillar.