Yangon – Myanmar’s garment factories are facing the risk of shutdown as the coronavirus in China has restricted imports of raw materials, according to the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA). Myanmar imports up to 90 percent of raw materials from China and the rest from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea for the garment industry […]
Thousands of Myanmar Workers Demand Higher Minimum Wage
YANGON—More than 5,000 workers marched on Sunday in Hlaing Tharyar Township, where Yangon’s biggest industrial zone is located, to call for higher wages ahead of an upcoming amendment to Myanmar’s minimum wage law. Under the 2013 Minimum Wage Law, the National Committee for Designating Minimum Wage has to amend the minimum wage at least every […]
Yangon Officials see High Public Interest in Land Sale
The Yangon Region government has received over the 12,000 applications for request of proposals (ROPs) for land sold by the government, a Yangon official said. There were over 15,000 application forms issued by the government when it first announced the land sale. The regional government started selling the ROP forms for K10000 (US$6.60) each on […]
Myanmar female garment workers in fear of violence
Business involved in Myanmar’s garment industry should take steps to ensure better safety and welfare of female employees, a new report recommends, as findings suggest women workers are in fear of rape and robbery. The report, ‘Women, work and violence in Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan,’ conducted by IMC Worldwide, University of Portsmouth and the International […]
Workers strike for immediate increase in minimum wage
Over500 workers of Jabp Jiawei Myanmar garment factory in Hlaing Tharyar, Yangon, organised a strike on Thursday demanding payment of the new minimum wage of K4800 (US$3.60) starting this month, according to strikers and factory officials. “We are asking for implementation of the minimum wage of K4800 since it was announced already and only needs […]
In dirt-poor Myanmar, smartphones are transforming finance
MYANMAR’S democratic transition sometimes seems marked as much by continuity as by change. Depressingly, the army continues its bloody persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the west, for example (see article). But elsewhere moves to open the country’s markets, started by the preceding military regimes, have gathered pace. New commercial and financial services are springing up. […]
Government to open vocational training schools for dropouts in Yangon
The Yangon government and the Ministry of Education will start collaboration in running vocational training schools in the region to help youth dropouts find gainful employment, Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said. “Children who drop out from school will finally have a chance to get access to education that they can afford,” U […]