Myanmar to expand textile, garment industry

Myanmar will expand its textile and garment industry under the country's new national export strategy as a means to boost economic growth, with the sector's export earning targeted at $2 billion for the 2015-16 fiscal year, media reported on Tuesday.

With foreign investment accounting for 90 percent, the sector created 100,000 job opportunities in 2014-15, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association.

The five-year national export strategy, which also covers six other sectors and is aimed at tackling trade deficit, focuses on rice, peas and pulses, fishery products, timber and forest products, rubber and tourism.

According to the ministry of commerce, the export income from the textile and garment sector made up 40 percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings from around the year 1990.

Official statistics show that foreign investment in the manufacturing sector reached $5.458 billion as of February this year since late 1988 when the country opened to foreign investors.

The manufacturing sector, which ranked third in the foreign investment line-up after power and oil and gas, accounted for about 10 percent of the total of $54.086 billion as of February this year.