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11215 results in International economics

Page 237 of 561

Whither Myanmar's Garment Sector?
  • Nick J. Freeman
  • Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    24 January 2020
    Print publication:
    14 March 2019
  • The EU has threatened to suspend Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) status for Myanmar, under which the country's exports can enter Europe without any tariffs or quotas. The official reason cited by the EU is a growing concern over human rights violations and issues around labour rights in Myanmar. If this threat were to be carried out, the business sector that will be most affected is Myanmar's burgeoning garment sector, which employs around 700,000 people, most of whom are women. The principal worry in Myanmar is that if EU buyers and brands have to start paying tariffs to import Myanmar-made garments, then they will opt to shift their sourcing to other countries. Without GSP, Myanmar's garment exports may no longer be price competitive. As one of the few manufacturing sectors in Myanmar to employ semi-skilled women, many of whom migrated from poor rural areas, the garment sector has come to play an important socioeconomic role in the country. Whether or not the EU decides to withdraw GSP status, Myanmar's garment sector faces a number of challenges. How Myanmar's policymakers and garment industry leaders respond to global industry trends will be just as important, in the long run, in determining the sector's commercial sustainability.

  • Whither Myanmar's Garment Sector?

  • Nick J. Freeman
  • Book:
    Whither Myanmar's Garment Sector?
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    24 January 2020
    Print publication:
    14 March 2019, pp 1-18

  • Summary

    MYANMAR's GARMENT SECTOR AND THE EU's THREAT TO SUSPEND GSP PREFERENCES

    In 2013 Myanmar was reinstated into the EU Single Market's “Generalized Scheme of Preferences” (GSP), under which goods from the country — and forty-six other least developed countries — may enter the EU duty- and quota-free, in conformity with the “Everything But Arms” (EBA) trade scheme. This followed the positive progress that Myanmar had recently made in transitioning away from a military-led government, and served as “recognition of [Myanmar's] efforts to launch ambitious political, social and labour reforms”. However, in October 2018, following a fact-finding mission to Myanmar, the EU cautioned that Myanmar's GSP privileges might be suspended because of “deeply worrying developments highlighted in various United Nations reports, in particular as regards human rights violations in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States and concerns around labour rights”.

    In 2017, Myanmar exported goods to the EU collectively valued at €1.55 billion, of which the largest proportion by far, 72 per cent, was ready-made garments. Not coincidentally, one of the few manufacturing sectors to display significant growth in Myanmar over the last five years has been the garment sector. Some of that growth has been domestically generated, but a significant proportion stems from foreign investment in the sector, bringing in not just capital, but also non-financial inputs, such as global industry knowledge and expertise, and the all-important networks and relationships with international buyers.

    Thus, the dynamics that lie behind Myanmar's recent garment sector growth is multifaceted, and comprises the following elements:

  • • Significant foreign investment inflows from Asian manufacturing companies (such as those from China and South Korea), leading to newly established export-oriented garment factories in Myanmar, and particularly in and around Yangon's industrial zones.

  • • A marked reduction in the number of domestically owned garment companies in Myanmar, which are unable to compete and therefore effectively shut out of the export market. Most are typically left supplying cheap garments and uniforms to the relatively modest domestic market.

  • • An increase in export volumes for garments, principally to the EU, that is partly dependent on GSP privileges that allow Myanmar-based (but not necessarily Myanmar-owned) garment producers to compete with overseas rivals on the in-store prices for garments sold in the EU market.

  • Whither Myanmar's Garment Sector?

  • Nick J. Freeman
  • Book:
    Whither Myanmar's Garment Sector?
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    24 January 2020
    Print publication:
    14 March 2019, pp vii-viii

  • Summary

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • • The EU has threatened to suspend Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) status for Myanmar, under which the country's exports can enter Europe without any tariffs or quotas. The official reason cited by the EU is a growing concern over human rights violations and issues around labour rights in Myanmar.

  • • If this threat were to be carried out, the business sector that will be most affected is Myanmar's burgeoning garment sector, which employs around 700,000 people, most of whom are women.

  • • The principal worry in Myanmar is that if EU buyers and brands have to start paying tariffs to import Myanmar-made garments, then they will opt to shift their sourcing to other countries. Without GSP, Myanmar's garment exports may no longer be price competitive.

  • • As one of the few manufacturing sectors in Myanmar to employ semi-skilled women, many of whom migrated from poor rural areas, the garment sector has come to play an important socioeconomic role in the country.

  • • Whether or not the EU decides to withdraw GSP status, Myanmar's garment sector faces a number of challenges. How Myanmar's policymakers and garment industry leaders respond to global industry trends will be just as important, in the long run, in determining the sector's commercial sustainability.

  • Foreword

  • Nick J. Freeman
  • Book:
    Whither Myanmar's Garment Sector?
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    24 January 2020
    Print publication:
    14 March 2019, pp v-vi

  • Summary

    The economic, political, strategic and cultural dynamism in Southeast Asia has gained added relevance in recent years with the spectacular rise of giant economies in East and South Asia. This has drawn greater attention to the region and to the enhanced role it now plays in international relations and global economics.

    The sustained effort made by Southeast Asian nations since 1967 towards a peaceful and gradual integration of their economies has had indubitable success, and perhaps as a consequence of this, most of these countries are undergoing deep political and social changes domestically and are constructing innovative solutions to meet new international challenges. Big Power tensions continue to be played out in the neighbourhood despite the tradition of neutrality exercised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

    The Trends in Southeast Asia series acts as a platform for serious analyses by selected authors who are experts in their fields. It is aimed at encouraging policymakers and scholars to contemplate the diversity and dynamism of this exciting region.

    THE EDITORS

    Series Chairman:

    Choi Shing Kwok

    Series Editor:

    Ooi Kee Beng

    Editorial Committee:

    Su-Ann Oh

    Daljit Singh

    Francis E. Hutchinson

    Benjamin Loh

  • Chapter 3 - Inflation, Relative Prices, and Expectations

  • Leslie Lipschitz, Bowdoin College, Maine, Susan Schadler
  • Book:
    Macroeconomics for Professionals
    Published online:
    09 January 2019
    Print publication:
    24 January 2019, pp 53-94

  • Summary

    Chapter 2 focused on output, income, and expenditure in real terms, that is, in the prices and costs of a particular base year. But nominal values (i.e., current money values), which reflect both aggregate inflation and changes in relative prices, are equally important.1 Price and cost changes add several additional dimensions to macroeconomic analysis. Not only can we account for output, income, and expenditure in easy-to-measure nominal terms, but we also get the tools to assess inflationary or deflationary conditions and the influences of relative prices on the allocation of resources, the international competitiveness of a country, and the distribution of income.

  • Chapter 1 - Introduction, Motivation, and Overview

  • Leslie Lipschitz, Bowdoin College, Maine, Susan Schadler
  • Book:
    Macroeconomics for Professionals
    Published online:
    09 January 2019
    Print publication:
    24 January 2019, pp 1-6

  • Summary

    Macroeconomics is ubiquitous and nobody questions its importance. Media commentary on breaking economic data – perhaps the gross domestic product (GDP) and its growth, employment, inflation, or the balance of payments – is almost inescapable. Political campaigns often revolve around starkly conflicting views on exchange rates, movements of jobs across borders, or concerns about government deficits and debt. For a discipline that is called a science, macroeconomics displays a confusing divergence of views on real-world developments.

  • Chapter 5 - The Fiscal System

  • Leslie Lipschitz, Bowdoin College, Maine, Susan Schadler
  • Book:
    Macroeconomics for Professionals
    Published online:
    09 January 2019
    Print publication:
    24 January 2019, pp 147-190

  • Summary

    Fiscal policy is where political theory and ideology intersect with the everyday practice of governance, and, ultimately, the economics of budget constraints. Legislators have to make practical decisions on how much to spend, how to allocate this spending, which activities and citizens to tax and at what rates. The public debate usually appeals to broad principles – the appropriate role of government in the economy, the dangers of distorting market signals, and the balance between efficiency and equity – with positions reflecting ideological predilections.

  • Chapter 7 - The External Accounts

  • Leslie Lipschitz, Bowdoin College, Maine, Susan Schadler
  • Book:
    Macroeconomics for Professionals
    Published online:
    09 January 2019
    Print publication:
    24 January 2019, pp 225-267

  • Summary

    In this chapter we establish a framework for analyzing how a country’s economy interacts with the rest of the world. In focusing on how the domestic economy and monetary, fiscal, and financial sector policies influence and are influenced by the rest of the world, it draws on and provides some synthesis of the first six chapters of the book. The chapter covers four broad topics

  • Chapter 4 - Monetary Policy and Accounts

  • Leslie Lipschitz, Bowdoin College, Maine, Susan Schadler
  • Book:
    Macroeconomics for Professionals
    Published online:
    09 January 2019
    Print publication:
    24 January 2019, pp 95-146

  • Summary

    Money is the source of much confusion in economic thinking. Many people do not differentiate clearly between monetary holdings and command over real resources, between money and real wealth. Casual discussion about money and wealth brings to mind the story of a central bank governor of a high-inflation country who tells his dictatorial president-for-life that the country is running out of money. The governor has in mind hard currency holdings (foreign exchange reserves) that can be used to buy goods, as opposed to local currency that can be produced at will but has become almost worthless over years of high inflation.

  • Chapter 6 - Financial Stability

  • Leslie Lipschitz, Bowdoin College, Maine, Susan Schadler
  • Book:
    Macroeconomics for Professionals
    Published online:
    09 January 2019
    Print publication:
    24 January 2019, pp 191-224

  • Summary

    A strong financial sector is a force for good. It intermediates funds from savers to borrowers, facilitating both investment and intertemporal consumption smoothing. Without this intermediation, economic activity would be severely constrained. Leverage, that portion of an undertaking financed by borrowing rather than owners’ equity, makes it possible for a resource-constrained entrepreneur to undertake a profitable venture. Insofar as the returns on the investment exceed the cost of borrowing, leverage amplifies the rate of return on equity.

Page 237 of 561