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| Singapore ports may soon be the gateway
to the world for Myanmar exporters. |
REPRESENTATIVES from the Singapore business community last week
visited Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia to explore ways to improve
transport links between the three countries’ garment industries
and key international markets.
The August 12-19 tour came in anticipation of the lifting on
January 1, 2005, of a World Trade Organisation quota system that
regulates garment exports, which is expected to cause upheaval
in the global textile industry.
The delegation consisted of representatives from more than 20
logistics companies, led by Mr Lim Meng Hui, the assistant director
of International Enterprise Singapore (IES), a government body
that promotes businesses overseas. IES, along with the Civil Aviation
Authority of Singapore (CAAS), organised the Enhancing Competitiveness
in the Textile and Garment Industry in Myanmar seminar, held August
18 at Traders Hotel in Yangon.
At the meeting the delegates discussed ways to prepare for the
lifting of the quota system with Myanmar business people. The
Singapore companies hope they can help garment makers in Myanmar,
Cambodia and Vietnam face increased competition from China and
India – where production costs are among the lowest in the
world – by optimising their transport and logistics management,
said a statement released by IES and CAAS.
After the quotas are lifted, “textile and garment makers
from Indochina will face increased competition from global players,
especially China,” the statement said.
“China will get the biggest share of the global garment
market because it can export as many products as it produces to
the US and Europe,” said U Zaw Min Oo, the managing director
of Crocodile Garment Company. He said Myanmar would benefit from
sending exports to Europe through ports in Singapore.
The chairman of Myanmar International Freight Forwarders’
Association, U Aung Kyaw Min, agreed that looking to Singapore
for help in improving transport links to key overseas markets
would be a good move.
