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It was only 9 in the morning, but workers at the factory of Best Industrial Company Limited, a garment manufacturer, were already busy cutting and sewing fabric to be made into clothes.
This time, the factory had received an order for 340,000 football shirts from a Europe-based company, the largest it ever had since the United States and European Union lifted sanctions on Myanmar two years ago.
"We have seen hard times. We laugh and we cry about it. But in the end we survive," said Khine Khine Nwe, the managing director of the company, while recalling the days when her factory could not operate thanks to the economic sanction gradually imposed by the United States and the European Union on Myanmar since the 1990s.
It was not until recent years when foreign companies renewed their business links with Myanmar companies.
Khine, who is also Secretary General of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA), noted that in the year 1999 there were 300 to 400 textile factories in Myanmar, including sub-contract garment manufacturers such as her company.
Those companies could employ a total of 300,000 to 400,000 workers. But ever since the EU and the US imposed tighter sanctions on Myanmar in 2003, many companies were closed down and the size of the total workforce also dropped to 60,000 people.
She said the EU had not placed any sanctions on the Myanmar`s garment sector, but the image of the country took a beating at the time and dissuaded foreign companies from continuing to operate there.
"Luckily, the US and EU revoked their sanctions...