The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Myanmar manufacturing for months, especially for garments. But a new report shows that lower demand from abroad is also damaging the garment industry. Orders from Europe, normally highest in August, have sunk to barely a quarter of normal levels, a Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) representative told the Irrawaddy. MGMA vice chairman U Kyaw Win said the members of his organization received 20% to 25% of the volume of orders, compared to the same time last year. “Previously, we usually have the final orders for winter clothing by October. But the orders declined this year. And we have not yet received any orders for summer clothing,” he told the Irrawaddy.

Garments being a major manufactured good in Myanmar, a blow to the industry is a blow to the very core of Myanmar’s economy. Prior to the pandemic, the industry had grown steadily. In January MGMA claimed it was on track to reach USD 10 billion in exports by 2024. Labor was the industry’s chief concern, with workers in Pathein, Hlaingthaya and other manufacturing hubs holding protesting for a higher minimum wage and other benefits. Even after the pandemic shut down hundreds of factories and sent tens of thousands workers home, the Ministry of Commerce expressed optimism. In June, Ministry deputy secretary U Khin Maung Lwin told the Myanmar Times that he expected renewed foreign demand to revive the industry. Yet the global pandemic has dragged on, and the August losses could mean the garment industry’s road to recovery will be longer than expected.