A cargo plane carrying raw materials for Myanmar garment factories landed in Yangon at 10:30 pm yesterday.
The AQ-1359 flight was loaded with 15 tonnes of raw materials from Guangzhou city of southern China.
To lessen impacts on the country’s garment industry amid Covid-19 crisis, the Ministry of Commerce, the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, the Chinese embassy in Myanmar and the China Enterprises Chamber of Commerce are working together to import raw materials for local garment factories under the cut-make-pack (CMP) system through Muse border checkpoints with the daily capacity of 50 vehicles, as well as by air.
Director-General U Min Min from the Department of Trade said the latest arrival of raw materials will be immediately supplied to the 11 local garment factories.
Daw Khaing Khaing Nwe, the Joint Secretary General of UMFCCI and the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, said, “The raw commodities will be sent to the factories after Customs clearance process tomorrow. It is expected more raw materials will arrive here soon.”
U San Khun, the chairman of Chinese Textile and Garment Association in Myanmar, said, “We are importing raw materials by sea, across the border and by air. Although transportation costs for flights are high, this way is very effective and useful for supplying commodities without delay.”
Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association’s Chair U Myint Soe said, “This is a fruitful result of cooperation among Chinese businesspersons, their government, the Ministry of Commerce and the Customs officials. It could also reduce unemployment rate in Myanmar garment industry, while about 20 garment factories have shut down due to the shortage of raw materials.”
There are over 400 garment factories in Yangon, creating around 500,000 jobs, and the majority of these workers are young women.
Khin Yadana, Min Thit (MNA)
(Translated by Aung Khin)
Photo: THAN HTAIK
Ref: The Global New Light of Myanmar
