The Textile And Garment Industry In The Lancang Mekong Region Held Its First Online Work Conference

On the morning of July 31, China Textile Federation and the Lancang Mekong region textile and clothing merchants association from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand jointly launched the first work exchange meeting in 2020 online. This is also the first formal working meeting held by the Lancang Mekong textile and clothing merchants association since the establishment of the working mechanism of "Lancang Mekong textile and clothing industry dialogue" last October. Xu Yingxin, Vice President of China Textile Federation, President of the Textile Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Executive Director of the China Textile International Capacity Cooperation Enterprise Alliance, Yuan Hongping, Deputy Secretary General of the China Textile Federation and Director of the Foreign Affairs Office, attended the meeting, and Lin Yunfeng, Vice President of the Textile Industry Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Secretary General of the Alliance, presided over the meeting.

At the meeting, representatives from all countries had a full exchange on the operation of the textile and clothing industry in each country in the first half of 2020, the difficulties encountered by the industry in each country under the impact of the epidemic and the countermeasures, and how the national associations in the "post epidemic era" could better use the working mechanism platform of the "Lancang Mekong textile and clothing industry dialogue" to strengthen inter industry cooperation The promotion of coordinated development of regional industrial chains was discussed in depth.

Cambodia

Kaing, Deputy Secretary General of the Cambodian Garment Association, first introduced the relevant situation in Cambodia. Under the dual pressure of the COVID-19 epidemic and the cancellation of EBA (European Union Trade Most Favored Nation Treatment), Cambodia's textile and clothing industry is facing great difficulties. Since the beginning of the year, about 250 enterprises have shut down or closed down, and 150000 employed workers have lost their jobs, mainly female workers. According to the GMAC survey, it is estimated that only 30% of member enterprises' orders in the third quarter of this year will be the same as last year, and the rest will decline to varying degrees. The number of members whose orders are expected to be flat in the fourth quarter is less than 20%. Due to the cancellation of EBA tariff preference measures, the export price of Cambodian clothing products to the EU market has risen relatively, and the orders from the EU have declined significantly. In order to save costs, many garment manufacturers have stopped production. The Cambodian government has some support for relevant enterprises. The enterprises pay workers a minimum wage of $30 per month and the government subsidies of $40 to help enterprises resist the impact of the epidemic.

Myanmar

Eddie, the Central Executive Committee of the Myanmar Garment Association, and Rosaline, the Secretary General, introduced the situation in Myanmar respectively. The garment industry in Myanmar has experienced the shortage of raw materials caused by the epidemic in China in January and February, and the shutdown phase after the start of the epidemic in Myanmar in March. After the New Year holiday in April, Myanmar began to return to work and production, but many workers' absenteeism rate increased significantly due to the epidemic and other factors. From the export data, Myanmar's overall clothing exports declined slightly in the first six months, mainly because production was relatively normal except for the domestic production stoppage in March and April. In particular, from May to June, neighboring countries transferred some orders to Myanmar due to the epidemic, so Myanmar's clothing exports increased in the past two months. The epidemic has a great impact on Myanmar's economy, and the sharp decline of orders in Europe and the United States has caused a great blow to the future development of the clothing industry. According to the survey, 70% of garment factories are not confident that orders will return to the previous level. At present, many enterprises are also looking for new development paths of anti epidemic materials such as masks.

Laos

The clothing industry of Laos is relatively small, and this epidemic has the largest impact among all countries. Xaybandith, chairman of the Lao Garment Industry Association, said that the old garment industry was highly dependent on imports, and the closure of ports due to the epidemic had a significant impact on the supply of raw materials for its industry. Affected by the epidemic, imports from Thailand, China, Vietnam and other places are still relatively smooth, but import inspection is extremely strict. Since April, only those factories that meet the requirements for epidemic prevention and have dormitories or employees living near the factory can obtain the work permit for production, so the vitality of the whole industry is seriously insufficient. Some enterprises hope to find new exports by changing production of epidemic prevention materials, but only three enterprises have successfully changed production due to various reasons such as raw materials and equipment. At present, garment enterprises in Laos are generally faced with the problem of order shortage, and there is great pressure for future development.

Thailand

Thailand has a relatively complete textile and clothing industry chain, but the impact of the epidemic on Thailand's industry should not be underestimated. Jumnong, chairman of the National Textile Industry Federation of Thailand, said that at present, the export of Thailand's textile and clothing industry fell by 17% year on year and the import fell by 19%. Among them, imports from China decreased by 12% and imports from ASEAN decreased by 16%. Due to the shortage of orders, Thai textile and clothing enterprises are currently operating in the mode of production reduction, and some factories only start work four days a week. The printing and dyeing enterprises that used to operate at full capacity also have to stop work for one day a week. At the same time, the collection of existing orders is also difficult. However, the epidemic may also be a double-edged sword. Some enterprises have found a new way out in the crisis, developed antibacterial products and exported them to Japan, and achieved good results. Since this year, some factories have sought new opportunities, expanded their production capacity, and more than a dozen new factories have begun to operate. The ThaiTex project supported by the government is also actively supporting the development of the industry.

China

Xu Yingxin, vice president of China Textile Federation, introduced the development of China's textile and clothing industry in the past half year on behalf of China to representatives of other national associations. President Xu said that China was the first region affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. China's textile and clothing industry has withstood various pressures and worked together to produce epidemic prevention materials when the epidemic broke out. Through unremitting efforts, it not only meets the domestic demand for epidemic prevention, but also actively assists overseas epidemic prevention and control. At present, China's textile and clothing industry is generally facing the adverse situation of declining domestic and foreign demand. From January to June, China's clothing exports fell 19.4% year-on-year; Although textile exports increased by 27.8% year on year, they were mainly driven by anti epidemic materials such as masks. Since March, the decline of China's textile and clothing products has gradually narrowed. From January to June, the retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, needles and textiles of units above the designated size nationwide dropped by 19.6% year on year, 11.3 percentage points lower than that of January to February. The retail sales of online clothing products nationwide fell 2.9% year on year, 15.2 percentage points lower than that in January and February. At present, the government has introduced a series of measures to help enterprises rescue, and the China Textile Federation, as a bridge between government and enterprises, is also working hard. At the same time, many enterprises actively save themselves by optimizing management, innovating products, developing new markets and channels, etc. At present, the development of the global epidemic is still serious, and the pressure on the industry remains unabated. China Textile Federation hopes to continue to strengthen cooperation with the associations of various countries, work together to ensure the stability of the regional supply chain and industrial chain, and provide a solid support for the revitalization of the global textile and clothing industry.

After exchanging their own situations, countries began to conduct in-depth discussions on strengthening inter industry cooperation in the Lancang Mekong region. All agreed that it is in the interests of all parties to maintain close communication and cooperation between industries of various countries. Under the impact of the epidemic, no party can be isolated. Only by strengthening mutual trust and cooperation can we jointly resist the impact of the epidemic. The associations of all countries jointly agreed to hold regular inter industry dialogues and adhere to the dialogue and cooperation mechanism of the Lancang Mekong textile and clothing industry. We also firmly believe that the epidemic will eventually be controlled, and we are confident that the global textile and clothing industry will be revitalized.