IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/spr/sprchp/978-981-99-3764-6_6.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Formalizing Foreign Manufacturer Status While Deepening Local Embeddedness: Korean Manufacturers in Myanmar’s Export-Oriented Apparel Industry

In: Knitting Asia, Weaving Development

Author

Listed:
  • Jinsun Bae

    (Carleton University)

Abstract

In Myanmar’s export-oriented apparel industry, foreign manufacturers, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the factories, play a significant role in the industry’s development. This paper focuses on Korean manufacturers that have maintained a long-standing and sizeable presence in the country. They played a part in starting Myanmar’s export-oriented apparel industry and sustaining it through economic sanctions. The industry experienced profound changes following the country’s 2011 reform and the subsequent easing of the sanctions. The Myanmar government strengthened its legal labor regime with the assistance of international actors, and newly available European and North American buyers require suppliers to comply with their private labor standards. Korean manufacturers adapted to these changes and formalized their collective identity as industry stakeholders. Central to this formalization process is Korean Garment Manufacturer Association in Myanmar. That formalization was propelled by greater participation of small and entrepreneurial manufacturers in the association’s governance and rapid industry-level changes necessitating better information flow within the membership and strategic representation of their collective interests to external actors. This historical overview underscores the Korean manufacturers’ high adaptability to changing local and value chain contexts. They have simultaneously pursued being competent suppliers for international buyers and conforming to local rules and norms. Since the Covid-19 pandemic and the return of the military junta, the industry’s growth has come to an abrupt halt. International buyers ceased sourcing from Myanmar, and a nosedive in orders forced factory closure and layoff of workers whose livelihoods are at severe risk. Korean manufacturers and their association are currently grappling with the question of how to adapt to this uncertain business environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jinsun Bae, 2023. "Formalizing Foreign Manufacturer Status While Deepening Local Embeddedness: Korean Manufacturers in Myanmar’s Export-Oriented Apparel Industry," Springer Books, in: Joonkoo Lee & Hyunji Kwon & Hyun-Chin Lim (ed.), Knitting Asia, Weaving Development, pages 127-163, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-99-3764-6_6
    DOI: 10.1007/978-981-99-3764-6_6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-99-3764-6_6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.