How about the textile and apparel industry in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand in the first half of the year?

On the morning of July 31, China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and the textile and apparel association from Cambodia, Laos,Myanmar and Thailand jointly launched the first work exchange meeting in 2020 online. At the meeting, representatives from various countries had full exchanges on the operation of the textile and apparel industry in various countries in the first half of 2020, the difficulties encountered by the various industries under the impact of the pandemic, and the response measures,and made a deep discussion on how to make better use of the “Lancang-Mekong Textile and Apparel Industry Dialogue” working mechanism platform to strengthen inter-industry cooperation and promote the coordinated development of regional industrial chain in “post-pandemic era”.

Kaing, deputy secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), first introduced the relevant situation in Cambodia.Under the dual pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic and the abolition of EBA,the Cambodian textile and apparel industry is facing great difficulties. Since the beginning of the year, about 250 companies have suspended or closed operations, and 150,000 workers are unemployed, mainly female workers. According to the GMAC survey, it is estimated that only 30% of the member companies’ orders in the third quarter of this year will be the same as last year, and the rest will have varying degrees of decline. In the fourth quarter, less than 20% of members expect orders to be the same. Due to the cancellation of the EBA tariff preference measures, the export prices of Cambodian clothing products to the EU market have relatively increased, and orders from the EU have dropped significantly. In order to save costs, many garment manufacturers currently stop production. Te Cambodian government has certain support for related companies. Te company pays workers a minimum wage of USD 30 a month and the government subsidizes USD 40 to help companies withstand the impact of the pandemic.

Eddie, the central executive committee member of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association(MGMA), and Rosaline, secretary general, respectively introduced the situation in Myanmar. Te Myanmar garment industry has experienced a shortage of raw materials caused by the pandemic in China in January and February, and the suspension of production after the outbreak in Myanmar in March. After the holiday in April,Myanmar began to resume work and production, but due to the pandemic and other factors, the absenteeism rate of workers has increased significantly. From the perspective of export data, Myanmar’s overall garment exports declined slightly in the first six months, mainly because production was relatively normal at other times except for the country’s suspension of production from March to April. Especially in May-June, neighboring countries transferred some orders to Myanmar due to the pandemic, so Myanmar’s clothing exports have increased in these two months. Te pandemic has a greater impact on Myanmar’s economy, and the sharp drop in European and American orders has dealt a major blow to the future development of the apparel industry. Te survey shows that 70% of garment factories are not confident that orders will return to previous levels. At present, many companies are also seeking new development opportunities, such as the production of masks and other pandemic prevention materials.

The apparel industry in Laos is relatively small, and the impact of the pandemic this time is the largest among all countries. Xaybandith, chairman of the Association of Lao Garment Industry, said that the Lao garment industry is highly dependent on imports, and the closure of ports due to the pandemic has had a significant impact on the supply of raw materials for the industry.Affected by the pandemic, imports from Tailand, China, Vietnam and other places are still relatively smooth, but import inspections are extremely strict.Starting from April, only the requirements for pandemic prevention work have been met, and only factories with employee dormitories or employees living near the factory can obtain start-up certificates for production, so the vitality of the entire industry is seriously insufficient. Some companies hope to find new opportunities by converting production of anti-pandemic materials, but due to various reasons such as raw materials and equipment, only three companies have successfully converted. At present, Lao apparel companies are generally facing the problem of shortage of orders and will face greater pressure for future development.

Tailand has a relatively complete textile and apparel industry chain, but the impact of the pandemic on Tailand’s industry cannot be underestimated.Jumnong, chairman of the National Federation of Tai Textile Industry (NFTTI),said that the export of Tailand’s textile and apparel industry has fallen by 17%year-on-year, while imports have fallen by 19%. Among them, imports from China decreased by 12%, and imports from ASEAN decreased by 16%. Due to insufficient orders, most Tai textile and garment enterprises are currently operating by reducing production, and some factories only operate 4 days a week. Dyeing and printing companies that were originally operating at full capacity are currently shut down for one day a week. However, some companies are looking for new ways in the crisis, developing antibacterial products and exporting them to Japan, and have achieved good results. Since the beginning of this year, some factories have looked for new opportunities and expanded their production capacity, and more than a dozen new factories have started operation. Te TaiTex project under government support is also actively supporting the development of the industry.

Xu Yingxin, vice chairman of the CNTAC, introduced the development of China’s textile and garment industry to representatives of other associations in the past six months. From January to June, China’s clothing exports fell by 19.4% year-on-year; although textile exports increased by 27.8% year-onyear, they were mainly driven by anti-pandemic materials such as masks.Since March, the decline of China’s textile and apparel products has gradually narrowed. From January to June, the national retail sales of clothing, shoes,hats, and knitting textiles of units above designated size fell by 19.6% yearon-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 11.3 percentage points from January to February. The national online retail sales of clothing products fell by 2.9% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed 15.2 percentage points from January to February. At present, the government has introduced a series of measures to help companies bail out, and CNTAC is also working hard as a bridge between government and enterprises. At the same time,many companies actively help themselves by optimizing management, innovating products, and developing new markets and new channels. At present, the global pandemic situation is still severe, and the industry is facing unabated pressure. CNTAC hopes to continue to strengthen cooperation with other national associations,unite and work together to ensure the stability of the regional supply chain and industrial chain, and provide solid assistance for the revitalization of the global textile and apparel industry.

After the countries exchanged their own situations, they began to conduct in-depth discussions on strengthening the cooperation between industries in the Lancang-Mekong region. Everyone agreed that maintaining close communication and cooperation between industries in various countries is in the interests of all parties. Under the impact of the pandemic, no one party can be alone. Only by strengthening mutual trust and cooperation can we jointly resist the impact of the pandemic. Te associations of various countries have jointly agreed to hold regular inter-industry dialogues and adhere to the dialogue and cooperation mechanism of the Lancang-Mekong textile and apparel industry. Everyone also firmly believes that the pandemic will be controlled eventually, and they are confident that the global textile and apparel industry will regain its vitality.