According to Myanmar’s “Global New Light” report, according to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, from October 2020 to July 23, 2021, the import of raw materials by contract processing (CMP) companies has declined US$1.24 billion, a decrease of US$558 million from US$1.79 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Due to the decline in EU market demand, Myanmar’s garment exports fell by more than 20% in the past eight months of the 2020/21 fiscal year (October 2020 to May 2021) compared with the same period last year. At the same time, CMP companies’ raw material imports also declined. The total export value of ready-made garments manufactured under the contract processing (CMP) system from October 1 to May 28 of this fiscal year was US$1.1 billion, a sharp decrease from US$2.7 billion in the same period of the 2019/20 financial year.
Due to the surge in COVID-19 infections across the country, all CMP plants are temporarily closed during official holidays (July 17-25). The ready-made garment industry is one of the priority sectors to promote exports. Traders emphasized that under the preferential trade conditions of Western countries, the development prospects of the CMP garment industry are promising. Affected by the new coronavirus epidemic, logistics may be disrupted and it is still unable to return to normal. Myanmar’s manufacturing industry mainly focuses on garments and textiles produced on the basis of supplied materials processing (CMP), and contributes to Myanmar’s GDP to a certain extent. Myanmar mainly exports CMP garments to Japan, European markets, South Korea, China, and the United States. </p
