MADE and partners will engage with all organisations with an interest in the Myanmar apparel sector. It will also make use of previous experience and guidelines from other initiatives such as FWF, ETI and Clean Clothes Campaign.
FAQ
21. How does MADE work with other initiatives (e.g. Fairwear Foundation, Ethical Trading Initiative)?
22. Why are exports from Myanmar increasing?
Apparel exports from Myanmar in 2022 were estimated at approximately USD 9.3 billion. While this is the highest level to date, cumulative sector exports would have been expected to have reached over USD 14 billion by 2022, based on prior growth trends, and the total stock of existing manufacturing investments. The disruption caused by the pandemic and political crisis has therefore significantly reduced the expected growth of the sector, by around 35%.
What growth has taken place in 2022 appears to be due to significant latent industrial capacity which was started pre-pandemic. During 2019 and 2020 alone, 220 new apparel manufacturers registered investments with the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration in Myanmar. These ranged from small to very large factories, the majority of which had planned to employ a thousand or more workers at full capacity. It takes several years to bring a large manufacturing enterprise into full operation. The increase in exports seen in 2022 is therefore likely to be due to some of these pre-2021 investment decisions coming on-stream.
Whether or not the growth of the sector continues, MADE intends to support existing and new brands and their suppliers to undertake heightened human rights due diligence and establish effective HR management and workplace relations, and improve social and environmental performance, including decent wages.
23. Does MADE contradict those calling for withdrawal of all foreign investment from Myanmar?
Yes. The EU and MADE partners believe that the interests of workers in Myanmar are best served by ongoing sourcing from Myanmar, provided that this is pursued responsibly and creates decent jobs. The objective of MADE is to support the hundreds of thousands of factory workers who would be left unemployed by a major withdrawal of investment in the sector, and the family members they support. Roughly 380,000 jobs across Myanmar’s apparel sector are directly reliant on EU trade and would be at acute risk if European trade and buyer engagement in the sector reduces.
24. How will MADE promote freedom of association?
The MADE project team, and members of the Alliance, are committed to supporting freedom of association, consistent with international labour conventions and with the Guidelines on Freedom of Association in Myanmar (‘FoA Guideline') negotiated in 2019 under the ACT on Living Wages programme.
Member Companies which join the Alliance must also make a commitment to communicate to suppliers and other business partners that they expect compliance with the FoA Guidelines.
The MADE project will support the implementation of these Guidelines through training in its factory programmes. Furthermore, under the SMART Factories Programme, the right of factory workers to freely associate is monitored and supported.
Freedom of association will be an ongoing topic for MADE’s Forum on Supply Chain Conduct. Actions could include making collective statements in support of FoA principles and labour rights defenders.
