Garment firms focus on social responsibility
Unions are welcome, and could help garment factories improve their corporate social responsibility functions, a leading manufacturer has said. U Aung Myo Hein, central executive committee member of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers’ Association, told The Myanmar Times that many factories in Myanmar had missed out on the global shift toward increasing social compliance over the past eight years. Speaking at a preparatory meeting for the Myanmar Garment and Textile Expo 2017, which will open in March, U Aung Myo Hein said about 180 factories had been playing catch-up on social compliance measures since 2013. “Since then, more than 200 FDI garment and textile factories have opened,” he said. Local factories did not really start compliance measures until 2015. “Myanmar is at the infant stage,” he said. “We’re moving forward at our own pace, and change takes time.”
