IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jet/dpaper/dpaper430.html

Myanmar's apparel industry in the new international environment : prospects and challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Kudo, Toshihiro

Abstract

Myanmar’s apparel industry had long been denied access to Western markets due to sanctions against its military government. The birth of a "civilian" government in March 2011 improved Myanmar’s relations with the international community, and Western sanctions were largely lifted. Regained market access is expected to trigger rapid growth of Myanmar’s apparel exports. This paper examines this impact with a comparison to Vietnam’s apparel industry.The industry’s prospects are getting bright, but the business environment has recently changed drastically in Myanmar. A new challenge for Myanmar’s apparel industry is remaining globally competitive. This paper also examines advantages and disadvantages that apparel firms in Myanmar experience. Although its abundance of low-wage workers remains a source of competitiveness, Myanmar needs its government to play a more active role to build the foundation of the industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Kudo, Toshihiro, 2013. "Myanmar's apparel industry in the new international environment : prospects and challenges," IDE Discussion Papers 430, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    • Handle: RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ir.ide.go.jp/record/37745/files/IDP000430_001.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2013
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kudo, Toshihiro, 2005. "The Impact of United States Sanctions on the Myanmar Garment Industry," IDE Discussion Papers 42, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    2. Koji Kubo, 2013. "Real exchange rate appreciation, resource boom, and policy reform in Myanmar," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 27(1), pages 110-126, May.
    3. Fukunishi, Takahiro & Yamagata, Tatsufumi, 2013. "Slow and steady wins the race : how the garment industry leads industrialization in low-income countries," IDE Discussion Papers 412, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    4. Amakawa, Naoko, 2010. "Industrialization in Late-Developing ASEAN Countries," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9789971694036, December.
    5. repec:wbk:wbpubs:13191 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Koji Kubo, 2014. "Myanmar's non-resource export potential after the lifting of economic sanctions: a gravity model analysis," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 21(1), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Ronald Findlay & Cyn-Young Park & Jean-Pierre A. Verbiest, 2016. "Myanmar: building economic foundations," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 30(1), pages 42-64, May.
    3. Tin Htoo NAING & Yap Su FEI, 2015. "Multinationals, Technology and Regional Linkages in Myanmar's Clothing Industry," Working Papers DP-2015-14, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    4. Meyer, Klaus E. & Thein, Htwe Htwe, 2014. "Business under adverse home country institutions: The case of international sanctions against Myanmar," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 156-171.
    5. Yamagata, Tatsufumi, 2007. "Prospects for Development of the Garment Industry in Developing Countries: What Has Happened Since the MFA Phase-Out?," IDE Discussion Papers 101, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    6. Tin Htoo Naing & Su-Fei Yap, 2016. "Multinationals, technology and regional linkages in Myanmar's clothing industry," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 131-149, January.
    7. Kudo, Toshihiro, 2006. "Myanmar's Economic Relations with China: Can China Support the Myanmar Economy?," IDE Discussion Papers 66, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    8. Hanh NGUYEN, 2021. "Expectations versus reality: The well‐being of female migrant workers in garment factories in Myanmar," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(2), pages 219-242, June.
    9. Charles A. Rarick & Thaung Han, 2010. "Economic Sanctions Revisited: Additional Insights Into Why They Fail," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 68-70, June.
    10. Myo Myo Myint & Rajah Rasiah, 2012. "Foreign Capital and Garment Export from Myanmar: Implications for the Labour Process," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 4(3), pages 151-172, October.
    11. Koji Kubo, 2013. "Rice Yield Gap between Myanmar and Vietnam: A Matter of Price Policy or Public Investment in Technology?," Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, June.
    12. Guanie Lim & Andrew Jia-Yi Kam, 2024. "Chinese Investment in Malaysia: (De)Industrialization amidst Greater Financial and Trade Connectivity," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(3), pages 571-600, June.
    13. Kyaw Kyaw Lynn, 2015. "An Analysis of the Relationship between Foreign Trade and Economic Growth in Myanmar during 1990-2014," International Journal of Business and Administrative Studies, Professor Dr. Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, vol. 1(4), pages 114-131.
    14. Mari Tanaka, 2020. "Exporting Sweatshops? Evidence from Myanmar," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 442-456, July.
    15. Sthabandith Insisienmay & Vanthana Nolintha & Innwon Park, 2015. "Dutch disease in the Lao economy: Diagnosis and treatment," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 403-423, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • J39 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Other
    • L67 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Consumer Nondurables: Clothing, Textiles, Shoes, and Leather Goods; Household Goods; Sports Equipment

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jet:dpaper:dpaper430. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Michitaka Imamitsu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/idegvjp.html .

    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.