ILO and Switch-Asia providing assistance for training

To support and grow the garment industry, international agencies such as Switch-Asia and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have begun providing assistance in the form of training and channelling foreign investors to local businesses. The ILO’s Chief Technological Consultant, Michal Strahilevitz-Ben Eliezer said Myanmar has a good potential to grow its garment business in the future and it is estimated that the number of labourers in the industry will increase to around 5.5 million.

Agencies are following the local and international principles of labour such as avoiding child labour and having excessive working hours. There are currently 200,000 labourers in the industry and 93 per cent are young females. They receive around US $ 110-120 on average, including bonuses.