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2019 Myanmar Buyers' Forum 22-24 May, 2019 (23 May - Buyers'…
2019 Myanmar Buyers' Forum
22-24 May, 2019
Organizers
Link AVE
Link Smart Myanmar
22 May - Training centre visit
Link Aung Myin Hmu
Technical Training (66%):
Sewing machine operator - 40 days (with aptitude test (detail work), 1 nox with certificate)
QC training - 2 months / in-house
Supervisory skill training - 3-4 weeks (preferred by factory)
Sewing Machine Mechanic
Cutting room operator
Finishing room operator
Now free training due to donor-funded grant model
Next 2 years will be with training fee (end 2020/early 2021), plan to link with the skills development fund (SDF) after establishing a separate legal entity as non-profit association
AMH Training Center curriculum
66% technical & 34% industrial & basic skill
TOT (Training of Trainer)
Free lunch during training at AMH
CARE provides 1,800 MMK / day if need hostel to internal migrant labor
Funded by LIFT
14 of 43 training centers of Ministry of Border Affair (MOBA) in Yangon are for garment industry.
Myanmar’s Garment Industry Skills Training Centre with industrial-standard sewing machines at North Dagon in collaboration with MOLIP, who has provided the training premises (same building as Pinlon Hall - pre-departure training center for external migrant labors).
MGHRDC Training Centre, Yangon
2 free courses: 10-15 days basic sewing training & 10-15 days supervisor training course
Certify: level 1 (5 machines, 45 min. sewing) & level 2 (shirt w/out collar)
2 locations (1 km away from each other), visited 2/F of a building inside Government Technical Institute (GTI) compound, here is only for TOT by teacher from MOE.
Funded by MGMA & Ministry of Education (MOE), and supported by AVE
The Myanmar Garment Human Resources Development Center (MGHRDC) is a full-time training facility in north Yangon
Sunday Cafe II
Taking care by THONE PAN HLA (Women Garment Association) - 200 members
Hostel fee 13,000 MMK (8.67 USD) / month (other hostel cost: 25,000 MMK)
Allow to stay for 6 months only
Facility for:
18-20 people hostel (internal migrant women workers only)
Place for workers to discuss their issues on Sunday (50-300 workers)
Funded by GIZ & Smart Myanmar
24 May - Stakeholders Meeting
Link Bollore
Update:
Ahlone International port Terminal:Adani Group (India) is developing a container terminal.
Thilawa New Terminal: Kamigumi (Japan) concluded a concession agreement with the Myanmar Port Authority (MPA) with the loan from Government of Japan.
AEC: Ayeyarwady Economic Corridor: 1) Project at linking up with China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) and Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), 2) Deep-sea port, integrated developments, industries, petrochemical activities, 3) Link with Yangon through a Pathein-Yangon highway & railway, 4) Aim to focus Pathein's industrial zone on garments
Info:
No direct regular sailings from/to other overseas ports from Yangon at present except To/From - Singapore/Port Klang (4-6 days), Pasir Gudang, Shanghai (MCC) (13 days)
Liner services: available in Yangon only
Airfreight volume growth: weakened demand worldwide, slower growth in 2019
3 international airports: Yangon (RGN), Nay Pyi Taw (NYT), Mandalay (MDL)
Greater Yangon Land Use 2040 - Industrial Areas: Kyaukpyu SEZ - Rakhine State (planned), Thilawa SEZ - Yangon region (1st phase in 2015), Dawei SEZ - Tanintharyi Region (planned)
Link MGMA
Strong export growth of Myanmar's garment sector, averaged 20-30% during 2012-2017
2018: 4.6 Billion USD - 70% export growth from 2.7 Billion USD in 2017
592 factory members
Total employment in garment sector: >500,000
Top 2 nationalities (MGMA members): 200 Chinese factories, 50 Korean factories
Top 2 areas for members (industrial zone): Hlaing Thar Yar - 47%, Shwe Pyi Thar - 20%
New product specialties: technical ski wear & performance outerwear, sweaters & scarves, specialty sport gloves, socks, lingerie, wedding gowns, air bags
Providing Job & technical training, 11 assessment centers (7 in Yangon)
Work with ILO on Labor audit survey in Jun., 2019
Aim to achieve child labor fee by end Dec., 2019
Link EUROCHAM
30,000 members globally
Established in 2014
11 advocacy groups (garment advocacy group: H&M C&A, Lindex 1) EBA/GSP, 2) Labor law, 3) Industrial development)
Requesting Myanmar Govt. to maintain EBA
Link MOLIP
Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population:
5.3 mil. USD of garment & footwear export in 2017
Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) law passed, and working on regulation
Safety is priority.
Link EU Ambassador to Myanmar:
Business: 47% growth in garment sector, EU lead in export
Political: Rakhine not improved since last year, denied basic human rights of Rohinya
Buyers: appreciate effort on women empowerment, engagement, promoting industrial standard
Factories: welcome any nationalities but need to focus on workers & sustainability
EU focus on Labor Rights & Human Rights so Govt. should not ignore them in order to keep GSP.
Positive improvement on OHS law, settlement of dispute law, labor organization law, tripartite dialogue
23 May - Buyers' Forum
Link ILO
New law:
1) Occupational Health & Safety law (March 2019) - finalized (system approach, prevention)
2) Settlement of labour dispute law - president sent it back for discussion
3) Labour Organization law - drafting with a lot of debates
4) Child Labour law - held up in parliament, convention 138 will be ratified in 2019.
Link Luther (Law Firm)
Workers got law info from Facebook & friends.
Minimum wage will be reviewed once / 2 years.
Leave and Holidays Rules (April 2018)
Weekly rest day - employee is entitled to a minimum of 1 days off per work (paid)
Work on weekly rest day & public holidays (25 days) must be approved by Director General of the Factories & Labour Law Inspection Department and display notice at the workplace before working
14 weeks of paid maternity leave (6 weeks before & 8 weeks after confinement) & additional 4 weeks for twins, 15 days of paternity leave (after confinement), 6 weeks of miscarriage leave
Occupational safety and health law (17 chapters) was enacted on 15 Mar, 2019, but need to wait for notification by the President
2018 apparel & footwear exports (USD):
1) Japan - 1,073,678,000
2) Germany - 906,955,000
3) Korea - 446,077,000
4) Spain - 340,452,000
5) UK - 328,828,897
Funded by the EU & co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Established in 2013
18 staff / 12 trainers and engineers
110 factories participating in capacity building programs (labour law compliance, HR management, freedom of association, chemicals management, energy saving, etc.)
Smart Myanmar Program:
Labour Relation: 3 key areas - legal compliance, management system, communication
Pilot project with 9 factories
Labour Dispute / strike mostly due to illegal dismissal, rule & regulation
People working group (brands' initiative):
Meeting on 21 May (KappAhl, H&M, Lindex, Li&Fung) facilitated by Business Innovation Facility (BIF)
Shortlisted 12 factory improvement priorities from 2018 buyer's forum discussion to 1) Transparency, 2) Recruitment, 3) CoC 2.0 (factory ownership program) with Skill Development
Key common messages & learning, facilitation, coordination of trainings, pilot (study/collaboration), KPIs
Selected factory: Style Fashion (working with KappAhl, H&M, Lindex) for pilot
Quarterly meeting (Next meeting in August)
Link ETI
4 offices: UK, Hong Kong (for SEA & China), India, Bangladesh
Local partner in Myanmar: Smart Myanmar
Member survey 2019:
Important sourcing countries out of China: Vietnam / 58.1%, Cambodia / 51.6%, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh / 35.5%, Indonesia / 25.8%, Thailand /16.1%, Malaysia / 12.9%, African countries / 19.4%
Key training topics for SEA suppliers: 67% Social dialogue & workers engagement, 54.8% forced labor, 45.2% regular employment (terms of employment)
Key challenges in Myanmar: union engagement, multi unions mechanism, labour relations & cross culture conflicts, high turnover (-10%), unpredictable delivery, low productivity (50-70% of China factories), unstable macro environment (political, ethnics, religious conflicts), workplace ESH issues, lack of local capacity, child labour risks
ETI future plan:
1) Myanmar working group
2) Joint Efforts for Advocacy
3) Develop Guidance, Advisory Note to support members
4) Collaborations to build local capacity
5) Chinese Companies pre-entry intervention
Link MCRB
Responsible business challenges (same as last year):
Labour conditions & safety: unclear law, business unaware, ineffective enforcement
Environmental impact: lack of regulation or enforcement
Land acquisition: land disputes, inaccurate documentation, land acquisition by Govt. not as per international practice
Corruption: Business Integrity
Discrimination, and situation in Northern Rakhine
Pressure from international community / Humanitarian access to Northern Rakhine, human rights abuses
Wider peace process stalled
UN Fact Finding Mission (FFM) report in Sept 2018 with recommendations to business on:
Applying the UN Guiding Principles (UNGP) on Business & Human Rights
Economic relationships with the military
Extensive recommendations to Facebook & other social media
FFM - Implication for garment sector:
UNGP: Continuously undertake human rights due diligence; freedom of association, child labour, Health & Safety, pollution, discrimination, and harassment
No business with Military owned enterprises (supply chain implications - ports, banks, industrial zones, mobile telephone, beer)
Changed from 2018:
August 2018 Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan
New Ministry focused on investment (MIFER): investment promotion plan, project bank, repeated government references to responsible investment
Some financial sector liberalization (insurance, banking)
New political & conflict dynamics with the emergence & growing popularity of the Arakan Army (Buddhist Rakhine) in conflict with the Tatmadaw
NLD launched a Constitutional amendment Committee in Parliament
Elections - November 2020
Possible EU GSP Withdrawal:
Ongoing dialogue, fact finding mission
Concerns: human rights violations by military & security forces in Rakhine, Kachin & Shan States
Continued use of forced labour by Myanmar's armed forces, incl. child recruitment, need for further reforms on freedom of association and collective bargaining
EU GSP - expectations:
Myanmar's constructive cooperation with UN
Myanmar Govt. support to investigate & prosecute individuals committed crimes against humanity
Full humanitarian access in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan States
Implementation of the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, creating conditions for a voluntary, safe and dignified return of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
ETI 4 points plan for companies (responding to the human rights crisis):
1) Assess the extent to which actions empower the military, government, and civil society
2) Do not legitimize the undermining of human rights by appearing complacent in the face of ongoing violation
3) Ensure that workers have access to effective grievance mechanisms and provide remedy if any harm
4) Engage collectively with Govt., trade associations to underline that increased investment & continued presence in Myanmar depend on an enabling environment and the rule of law
Group discussion
2) Skill Development:
Needs for supervisor training, Industrial engineer, QA, Industrial Relation, Environment, etc.
Training should not be during peak season.
Localize factory staff
Career path
Business case for training, in-factory training
Priority: TOT in factory, localized, Role of HR manager/Capacity building, supervisor training, university courses
Coordinate with buyers: stakeholder mapping, LinkedIn group, Skill qualification needed for HR
3) Industrial Relation / Social Compliance:
Factory: transparency, capacity building, management system, long-term commitment
Union: skill capacity building, grievance channel
Government: simpler & faster, clarity on law
Brands: collaboration, meeting with union, internal communication (sourcing & compliance), long-term commitment
Program initiative: monitor, capacity building, not blacklisting/move away
1) Policy & Business Environment (issues):
Child Labour
Infrastructure issue - electricity cut
Human Right
Eco system
Tier 2
Incentive from Government for Tier 2
Different culture - foreign management
Continue engagement
2 Mobile Apps
by Smart Myanmar & GIZ
Shwe Job
(Awareness of H&S & law in English, Burmese, Chinese) / 10,000 downloaders
Link
SatYone Superstar
(Educational Interactive Game & Quiz for garment workers) / 7,000 downloaders
Link
