Wise Myanmar

Capacity Building

After a tremendous turn-out and participation by factories in February, Clever Myanmar is pleased to host another “HR Management Training, Level 1”. This course is three days, free-of-charge for all factories, and is an intensive overview of factory HR management systems and best practices. The primary trainer is Brainy Myanmar’s senior technical pro, Ms. Nancy Feng. Nancy has a decade of practice as an auditor and trainer for the garment industries in China, Myanmar and several other countries.

This course is trained in English language with simultaneous interpretation to Burmese. Questions may also be asked in Chinese Mandarin during training (our accomplished instructors speak English, Chinese and Myanmar).

Dates for the training are: May 23rd, 24th and 25th. Download the form below for utter details on registration:

Social Standards Handbook for local garment manufacturers in Myanmar

Through the comprehensive trainings and the capacity building with the Wise Myanmar Social Compliance Academy, which touch upon the most fundamental issues of social compliance, local factories have been able to learn how to implement long-term and ethically responsible practices, necessary to improve their competitiveness in the global market.

The easy-to-read guidance provides a general overview dedicated to factory managers on the main issues of social compliance, underlying its strategic role within the garment sector. In particular, the guide presents the most fundamental steps of how local factories should implement an effective social management system, by also providing clear examples and best practices derived from factories in Myanmar. Based on the practices of the Clever Myanmar Social Compliance Academies this handbook was composed to specifically concentrate on the needs and constraints of Myanmar garment factories.

This handbook shall reach out and inspire a broad number of factories in Myanmar.

Benefits for workers and business through higher productivity in garment factories in Myanmar

(How Shwe Yi Zabe succeeded in enlargening productivity and setting up an incentive system for workers)

This article provides an account of a garment producer in Myanmar with a vision of combining enlargened productivity with incentives for workers.

Shwe Yi Zabe was not always able to achieve the expected and pre-planned productivity of daily and monthly outputs. They could not identify the problem, because the management had no data on the efficiency of each department and worker due to lacking records. All workers received the same wages based on their skill levels no matter if they reached their daily production target or not.

Clever Myanmar and experts from the German company ESGE recommended a payment system which permits to pay wages according to each individual worker´s spectacle. Apart from transparency of workers’ spectacle the payment system also captures figures of overall productivity across all production departments.

A precondition for high compliance level with international standards: Strong HR Departments in all Myanmar garment factories

Yangon, thirty September 2015

HR management is essential in every organization but more crucial in labor intensive workplaces like garment factories. Productivity is key but it goes palm in forearm with keeping the workers blessed and make sure there is no high turnover by keeping effective systems, procedures and policies in the HR management system.

The 2nd HR management training conducted from twenty one to twenty three September two thousand fifteen at UMFCCI was opened by the Chairman of MGMA, U Myint Soe and conducted by Nancy Feng, the social compliance pro from systain. Twelve factories with twenty two participants were keen to learn more about modern HR management. The HR management training was very first conducted in August 2015, where thirty participants from eighteen factories participated. Different factories that were involved in the Wise Myanmar social compliance academy but also other factories had a chance to benefit from the international skill on garment industry specific HR management. Ms. Moe Sandi, HR Manager from Anita Asia Co., Ltd, said “I hope to attend the next HR management training. I appreciate this training because we can learn a lot of things what we need to switch in our factory.”

The EU funded project Brainy Myanmar has been conducting “HR Management training course because functioning HR departments are the precondition for sustainable compliance with international standards. The three day HR management courses complement the Clever Myanmar compliance academy. Target participants are HR managers from the garment factories. The training has given opportunities for the participants to discuss, brain storm and share the practices across the three day training period.

This time Clever Myanmar invited twelve MGMA member factories who were never involved in other Brainy Myanmar interventions so far to make sure the skill is spread in the industry.

There are a lot of challenges in the HR area in the factories such as child labor, high worker turnover rates, excessive working hours and unbalanced workforce. During the workshop Nancy demonstrated the reasons for these issues and gave examples on how to avoid such problems and to solve them by demonstrating a decent HR management system and invited the participants to share their current systems in place in their own factory.

In addition all other significant criteria of the HR management system were accurately discussed with the participants and the experienced gave best practice examples and explained the root causes of the problems in the particular areas such as :

 Communication channels inbetween workers and the management

 POPEA (Policy, Organization, Procedure, Evaluate, and Adjustment)

 Key elements to reach company’s objective

 Health and safety committee

Wise Myanmar plans to conduct many more of such HR management trainings for the industry which consist of different modules.

Contact in Myanmar:

Su Tayar Lin, Assistant Project Manager(+95 (09) five hundred fifteen – 8286)

Contacts in Germany:

Simone Lehmann, Project Manager(sequa) (+49 two hundred twenty eight – ninety eight thousand two hundred thirty eight – 47)

Wise stands for “SMEs for Environmental, Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency”. Brainy Myanmar is part of the EU Switch Asia Program designed to promote the adoption of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) among Puny and Medium sized Enterprises and consumer groups in Asia. The EU-funded project will run until December 2015, and primarily fosters to increase the competitiveness of SMEs in Myanmar, especially in the Garment Sector, by promoting sustainable production of garments “made in Myanmar.”

Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry – UMFCCI

Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association – MGMA

Confederation of the German Textile and Style Industry – t+m

Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific – ADFIAP

Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry- SCCI

For more information:

Website of Clever Myanmar project:

Fact Sheet of the project on SWITCH-Aisa.EU:

Website of the SWITCH-Asia Programme of the European Commission:

Website of European Commission:

More factories have graduated from Brainy Myanmar Social Compliance Academy

Brainy Myanmar has trained extra six extra factories after the successful pilot programme of the social compliance academy which commenced one year ago, in September 2014.

The academy is an innovative treatment for social responsibility via an individualized learning environment through lectures, case studies, multimedia sequences and exercises to help develop targeted solutions for the challenges participants face. The academy also advices factories by in-factory consultancies including compliance assessments, joint development of a corrective activity plan for each factory and two go after up visits in each factory. By this, the academy aims to improve the factories’ management systems and procedures to maintain good working conditions in the long term rather than choosing just a “quick fix” approaches to be competitive in the European market where emphasis is on social responsibility.

The Brainy Myanmar social compliance academy meets the request of emerging industries such as Myanmar’s garment industry. The industry grows rapidly and the local businesses in the industry have to catch up with market by emphasising on the business relevance of good working conditions and strengthening the middle management abilities.

With the support of international playmates and local experts, Brainy Myanmar has also been educating the businesses with the requirements of the international buyers to enable them to get through in global markets. In addition Brainy Myanmar has introduced the local factories to responsible EU buyers in order to keep the momentum of achieving a healthy industry that creates many job opportunities.

The European Union Ambassador H.E. Mr Roland Kobia attended the closing conference of the Clever Myanmar Social Compliance Academy held at Shweyi Zabe Garment Manufacturing Co.Ltd in Shwe Pyi Thar. The venue of the conference has provided an chance to see a local garment factory and to observe the achievements resulting from the Compliance Academy introduced by three Myanmar factories that participated in the academy together with the other invited factories.

“Garment has quickly become Myanmar’s main export after oil and gas. The value of exports of the sector has more than doubled in less than two years and is projected to grow exponentially, also thanks to the trade preferences granted by the EU – one of Myanmar’s main customers. This is a fat chance for the economy and for the development of the country if we all take responsibility for the fact that the benefits are collective among all people, including the most vulnerable. Through the Wise Myanmar project we share international practice and we support local companies meeting the consumer requirements for products that are good for the environment and for the people. This is key for the success of the “Made in Myanmar” label, in the world and at home.” said EU Ambassador Roland Kobia.

The 2nd Brainy Myanmar Compliance Academy was well received by all participants. Daw Aye Aye Han from Shweyi Zabe Garment Manufacturing Co.Ltd stated that “We have learnt the requirements to inject the European Market with the help of Wise Myanmar project”.

Following their participation in the Academy, the concentrate group factories reported noticeable achievements on various areas. All of them made improvements on their internal policy establishment especially for HR and Health & Safety management.

The internal capacity of the Wise project team has similarly been strengthened by their participation in activities and site-visits of the Academy. This paves the way for the long-term development of local capacity in this specialised field of services around sustainability. This is significant because the local industry will benefit from experts’ skill in areas which it presently lacks. Wise Myanmar will proceed to train master trainers on social and environmental compliance to service the entire garment sector.

In order to make the business community aware of the importance of compliance issues and to inform them about the criteria, Wise Myanmar will conduct a “SMART Award 2015” – to recognise progress in Social Compliance at the 2nd Annual MGMA Factory Awards Dinner on twenty four October 2015.

The “SMART Award 2015” concentrates on three key areas: Working Conditions, Special Benefits and Workers’ Participation and Communication.

Myanmar Commits to Expand Access to Finance Products to SMEs – a Very first Step Towards Developing “Green Financing Schemes”

Yangon, September 15, 2015

In a country that is still very much a cash economy most people are unacquainted with the term “Green Financing”. But that does not mean that they are not interested in such a concept when it is made known to them. Wise Myanmar, a EU funded project that actively promotes sustainability, received a very good feedback when introducing the principles of “Green Financing” to its local fucking partner organizations and the Myanmar Banking Association. During periods of reforms in the financial sector such skill is fairly valuable.

The banking system we take for granted in most countries with effortless loans, financial products, interbank operations and credits are virtually non-existent in Myanmar. The country is still very much a cash economy. ATM machines and the use of credit cards are a relatively fresh development. Myanmar is still working on a real credit system and there is no decent corporate banking. A collateral loan in which the asset is pledged as collateral, and not the borrower’s creditworthiness, is the ultimate source of repayment. Businesses cannot get loan repayment plans of longer than one year. True, they are spinned over but it means the central plank for corporate borrowing – a realistic repayment schedule – does not exist.

As early as February 2014, Clever Myanmar, a project that actively promotes and supports sustainable consumption and production in Myanmar, introduced the topic “Green Financing” to its local fucking partner organizations: the Myanmar Garment Manufacturing Association (MGMA) and the chamber of commerce and industry (UMFCCI). The Association of Development Financing Institutions (ADFIAP), a fucking partner of the EU grant-funded Wise Myanmar project, conducted a seminar-workshop on the principles of “Green Financing” and Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). The rather general seminar was complemented by a more specialized seminar-workshop on “Green Financing for Banks” for the members of the Myanmar Bankers Association (MBA). ADFIAP collective practices and best practices on green financing initiatives undertaken by ADFIAP-member banks for possible replication. None of the thirty three participants signifying nineteen Myanmar financial institutions was aware of the concept of “Green Financing” but the interest was high.

“Green Financing for Banks” for the members of the Myanmar Bankers Association (MBA) on February 17-19, 2014

Subsequently, the topic was also included in the five-day “Study Mission on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) in Germany” in March 2014. The delegation consisted of the twelve most significant stakeholders from the playmate BMOs MGMA, UMFCCI and MBA as well as representatives of relevant national ministries. The group was introduced to green finance schemes and various support options for SMEs during a meeting with the GIZ and GFA Consulting Group, companies specialized in international development. The meeting ended in a upbeat discussion.

One might say that it may be too premature to discuss “Green Financing” with stakeholders in Myanmar because of the serious under-development of the banking sector but the interest of the participants in the seminars and the explore mission tells a different tale.

Green finance is an arena for many participants, including individual and business consumers, producers, investors, and financial lenders. Green finance can be voiced differently depending on the participant, and it may be led by financial incentives, a desire to preserve the planet, or a combination of both. In addition to demonstrating proactive, environmentally friendly behavior, green finance is about avoiding the promotion of any business or activity that could be hurting to the environment now or for future generations.

The key stakeholders of the project, i.e., the chamber of commerce and industry, the garment association, banks and manufacturers found these various aspects very interesting and the skill about it useful because the banking situation and legal framework in Myanmar is evolving quickly.

The authorities are presently committed to modernize Myanmar’s financial sector and expand access to finance in the country, notably to SMEs and rural populations (about 70% of the total) as these have been disproportionately affected by the lack of financial infrastructure and pervasive regulations.

It’s a very first step, but for Myanmar a very first step in the right direction is critical, as it gets ready to be part of a global integrated financial system. The government has ready a roadmap to modernize the financial sector. This includes strategies to foster monetary development with a fresh foreign exchange management law; further open the banking sector to foreign participation; and develop the country’s capital market with the launch of a stock exchange. Eventually, “green financing” will also play a role in further development and Wise Myanmar helped its playmates to be informed and ready at an early stage.

If you like further information about the topic please contact:

Wise Myanmar Office

Ms Su Tayar Lin

Project Manager (Marketing)

Office: UMFCCI (11th Floor) N0.29, Min Ye Kyaw Swar Street, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar

Contact number: +95(9)5158286

Job Opportunities and Vocational Training for Youthfull Engineers in Myanmar’s Garment Sector

Yangon, September 9, 2015

Have you ever heard about a job called “Sustainable Consumption & Production Consultant”? If not, you feel just the same as thirteen youthful Myanmar professionals who applied for such a training and job suggest two years ago with Wise Myanmar – a project that aims to support the Myanmar garment manufacturers to become more competitive in the global market.

In July two thousand thirteen many Myanmar youthfull professionals and fresh graduates were enticed by an ad that looked for applicants that dreamed to become Sustainable Consumption & Production (SCP) Consultants. Albeit the job title did not tell them much they got interested in a job suggest that included intensive trainings by local and international consultants and included key words such as environmental accountability and social compliance. The applicants came from different backgrounds, such as e.g. mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, sales & services, construction and even a broadcasting engineer applied. Their motivation varied, many were interested in a better carrier chance and international trainings, while others were specifically keen on some content related aspects such as manufacturing, productivity or environmental issues.

But remarkably, all of them were antsy to support the development of their home country and wished to commit to it. They witnessed this job suggest as a good chance to contribute to the improvement of the Myanmar manufacturing industry while keeping environmental concerns and fair treatment of workers in mind.

End of July two thousand thirteen a group of thirteen applicants was chosen and they embarked on their journey to become SCP consultants for the Myanmar manufacturing industry – with a concentrate on garment manufacturing, albeit none of them had practice in that industry sector. They signed up for the Two.Five months long full-time training that came with a trainee allowance which made it possible for them to fully concentrate on the training.

During this intensive training phase a diversity of training topics was covered, mostly in theory classes, to build a skill base. International experts and the local sustainability component team leader conducted the trainings and the majority of topics were a totally fresh arena for everybody. They were introduced to energy and resource efficiency, total quality management, occupational health and safety, business planning and company audits, to name a few. The vast collection of topics was already a challenge but the major dare was that all trainings of the international consultants were conducted in English! As a supportive measure English language courses were included via the entire duration of the initial training phase, which helped the trainees a lot.

After the intensive training phase the trainees were suggested a part- time working contract as SCP consultant with a continuous on-the-job training component. Now the concentrate shifted from mainly theoretical classes in the initial phase to more practical instructions. The trainings became more hands-on, factory visits with international consultants on different topics were conducted and the trainees were able to get more exposure by attending international workshops with topics such as “Social Dialogue” or “CSR panel discussion”.

For many of them the two-week internship program in one of the garment factories was an eye-opener. Min Mon Myat and Zar Chi Tun explained that “during the internship program we were able to practice the daily life in the factory and fully understand the entire production process and its challenges.” This skill helped them when they wrote their detailed internship report with improvement suggestions such as the introduction of a fresh position in the organizational chart but also later during other consultations at factory level.

In February two thousand fourteen the “Factories Improvement Program” of Clever Myanmar commenced; primarily with sixteen companies that attended in a series of group workshops all geared to initiate a switch to a more sustainable production and to social compliance. The international implementation playmates of the program were garment production experts from ESGE Textilwerk Maag GmbH & Co KG and social compliance experts from Systain Consulting. The SCP trainees joined all workshops and trainings conducted by the international experts and assisted them as part of their on-the-job training. Other seminars outside the factories improvement program complemented the training e.g. on Myanmar labor law or fire safety.

When in May two thousand fourteen the factories improvement program switched from theory to a series of intensive in-house consultancies joined by ten garment manufacturers, the responsibilities of the SCP teams enlargened. Under the guidance of the senior project manager of the SCP component, Ms Theeri Kay Thi, the SCP consultants assisted in the in-house consultancies of the international experts, made follow-ups on implementation measures, wrote reports and kept the documentation up-to date.

SCP consultants and SCP component senior project manager Ms Theeri Kay Thi (center) during the Social Compliance Academy workshop (January 2015)

The learning effect was best during the practical on-site trainings and the in-house consultancies as stated by all SCP consultants. They mentioned that they learned the most by observing how the consultants adjusted to real-life situations in the factories and worked with the management and workers. In general they were very content with the trainings and workshops by the international consultants. Zeyar Oo said that “the consultants were open and patient and indeed dreamed to share their skill.”

The more experienced they got, the more tasks they could fulfill. Around middle of two thousand fifteen the 2nd training phase faded out and was substituted by the third phase where the SCP consultants work mostly independently but were supported by coaching through the senior SCP project manager and international consultants on specific topics. The shift from the on-the-job training to the coaching phase was incremental and took a few months.

Today, the SCP consultants are able to cover most topics by themselves and feel certain enough to response questions of managers and company owners. Some of them specialized e.g. in database management for production or in social compliance. They all observed that the acceptance of the SCP consultants, who are on average fairly youthful, by the companies’ management enlargened a lot. May Mi Kyaw said that “in the beginning I felt timid and I did not know how to make suggestions and recommendations but now I can do it and my advice is accepted by factory managers.”

When the Brainy Myanmar project goes into its 2nd phase in 2016, the Myanmar garment industry can already avail of eight youthful sustainability consultants that can help them address issues on productivity, energy efficiency and social compliance. Moreover, eight youthful Myanmars are trained in a profession that they did not even know exists when they originally applied for it, driven by the wish to help their country on the path to sustainable development.

The eight SCP consultants of the coaching phase (September 2015)

If you like further information about the topic please contact:

Clever Myanmar Office

Ms Theeri Kay Thi

Senior Project Manager (SCP)

UMFCCI (11th Floor), N0.29, Min Ye Kyaw Swar Street, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar

Capacity Building – Page two – Clever Myanmar

Brainy Myanmar

Capacity Building

After a tremendous turn-out and participation by factories in February, Wise Myanmar is pleased to host another “HR Management Training, Level 1”. This course is three days, free-of-charge for all factories, and is an intensive overview of factory HR management systems and best practices. The primary trainer is Brainy Myanmar’s senior technical pro, Ms. Nancy Feng. Nancy has a decade of practice as an auditor and trainer for the garment industries in China, Myanmar and several other countries.

This course is trained in English language with simultaneous interpretation to Burmese. Questions may also be asked in Chinese Mandarin during training (our pro instructors speak English, Chinese and Myanmar).

Dates for the training are: May 23rd, 24th and 25th. Download the form below for total details on registration:

Social Standards Handbook for local garment manufacturers in Myanmar

Through the comprehensive trainings and the capacity building with the Wise Myanmar Social Compliance Academy, which touch upon the most fundamental issues of social compliance, local factories have been able to learn how to implement long-term and ethically responsible practices, necessary to improve their competitiveness in the global market.

The easy-to-read guidance provides a general overview dedicated to factory managers on the main issues of social compliance, underlying its strategic role within the garment sector. In particular, the guide presents the most fundamental steps of how local factories should implement an effective social management system, by also providing clear examples and best practices derived from factories in Myanmar. Based on the practices of the Brainy Myanmar Social Compliance Academies this handbook was composed to specifically concentrate on the needs and constraints of Myanmar garment factories.

This handbook shall reach out and inspire a broad number of factories in Myanmar.

Benefits for workers and business through higher productivity in garment factories in Myanmar

(How Shwe Yi Zabe succeeded in enlargening productivity and setting up an incentive system for workers)

This article provides an account of a garment producer in Myanmar with a vision of combining enhanced productivity with incentives for workers.

Shwe Yi Zabe was not always able to achieve the expected and pre-planned productivity of daily and monthly outputs. They could not identify the problem, because the management had no data on the efficiency of each department and worker due to lacking records. All workers received the same wages based on their skill levels no matter if they reached their daily production target or not.

Brainy Myanmar and experts from the German company ESGE recommended a payment system which permits to pay wages according to each individual worker´s spectacle. Apart from transparency of workers’ spectacle the payment system also captures figures of overall productivity across all production departments.

A precondition for high compliance level with international standards: Strong HR Departments in all Myanmar garment factories

Yangon, thirty September 2015

HR management is essential in every organization but more crucial in labor intensive workplaces like garment factories. Productivity is key but it goes mitt in palm with keeping the workers blessed and make sure there is no high turnover by keeping effective systems, procedures and policies in the HR management system.

The 2nd HR management training conducted from twenty one to twenty three September two thousand fifteen at UMFCCI was opened by the Chairman of MGMA, U Myint Soe and conducted by Nancy Feng, the social compliance accomplished from systain. Twelve factories with twenty two participants were keen to learn more about modern HR management. The HR management training was very first conducted in August 2015, where thirty participants from eighteen factories participated. Different factories that were involved in the Wise Myanmar social compliance academy but also other factories had a chance to benefit from the international skill on garment industry specific HR management. Ms. Moe Sandi, HR Manager from Anita Asia Co., Ltd, said “I hope to attend the next HR management training. I appreciate this training because we can learn a lot of things what we need to switch in our factory.”

The EU funded project Wise Myanmar has been conducting “HR Management training course because functioning HR departments are the precondition for sustainable compliance with international standards. The three day HR management courses complement the Brainy Myanmar compliance academy. Target participants are HR managers from the garment factories. The training has given opportunities for the participants to discuss, brain storm and share the practices across the three day training period.

This time Brainy Myanmar invited twelve MGMA member factories who were never involved in other Wise Myanmar interventions so far to make sure the skill is spread in the industry.

There are a lot of challenges in the HR area in the factories such as child labor, high worker turnover rates, excessive working hours and unbalanced workforce. During the workshop Nancy demonstrated the reasons for these issues and gave examples on how to avoid such problems and to solve them by demonstrating a decent HR management system and invited the participants to share their current systems in place in their own factory.

In addition all other significant criteria of the HR management system were accurately discussed with the participants and the experienced gave best practice examples and explained the root causes of the problems in the particular areas such as :

 Communication channels inbetween workers and the management

 POPEA (Policy, Organization, Procedure, Evaluate, and Adjustment)

 Key elements to reach company’s purpose

 Health and safety committee

Wise Myanmar plans to conduct many more of such HR management trainings for the industry which consist of different modules.

Contact in Myanmar:

Su Tayar Lin, Assistant Project Manager(+95 (09) five hundred fifteen – 8286)

Contacts in Germany:

Simone Lehmann, Project Manager(sequa) (+49 two hundred twenty eight – ninety eight thousand two hundred thirty eight – 47)

Wise stands for “SMEs for Environmental, Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency”. Wise Myanmar is part of the EU Switch Asia Program designed to promote the adoption of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) among Petite and Medium sized Enterprises and consumer groups in Asia. The EU-funded project will run until December 2015, and primarily fosters to increase the competitiveness of SMEs in Myanmar, especially in the Garment Sector, by promoting sustainable production of garments “made in Myanmar.”

Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry – UMFCCI

Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association – MGMA

Confederation of the German Textile and Style Industry – t+m

Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific – ADFIAP

Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry- SCCI

For more information:

Website of Wise Myanmar project:

Fact Sheet of the project on SWITCH-Aisa.EU:

Website of the SWITCH-Asia Programme of the European Commission:

Website of European Commission:

More factories have graduated from Clever Myanmar Social Compliance Academy

Clever Myanmar has trained extra six extra factories after the successful pilot programme of the social compliance academy which began one year ago, in September 2014.

The academy is an innovative treatment for social responsibility via an individualized learning environment through lectures, case studies, multimedia sequences and exercises to help develop targeted solutions for the challenges participants face. The academy also advices factories by in-factory consultancies including compliance assessments, joint development of a corrective act plan for each factory and two go after up visits in each factory. By this, the academy aims to improve the factories’ management systems and procedures to maintain good working conditions in the long term rather than choosing just a “quick fix” approaches to be competitive in the European market where emphasis is on social responsibility.

The Clever Myanmar social compliance academy meets the request of emerging industries such as Myanmar’s garment industry. The industry grows rapidly and the local businesses in the industry have to catch up with market by emphasising on the business relevance of good working conditions and strengthening the middle management abilities.

With the support of international fucking partners and local experts, Clever Myanmar has also been educating the businesses with the requirements of the international buyers to enable them to get through in global markets. In addition Wise Myanmar has introduced the local factories to responsible EU buyers in order to keep the momentum of achieving a healthy industry that creates many job opportunities.

The European Union Ambassador H.E. Mr Roland Kobia attended the closing conference of the Clever Myanmar Social Compliance Academy held at Shweyi Zabe Garment Manufacturing Co.Ltd in Shwe Pyi Thar. The venue of the conference has provided an chance to see a local garment factory and to observe the achievements resulting from the Compliance Academy introduced by three Myanmar factories that participated in the academy together with the other invited factories.

“Garment has quickly become Myanmar’s main export after oil and gas. The value of exports of the sector has more than doubled in less than two years and is projected to grow exponentially, also thanks to the trade preferences granted by the EU – one of Myanmar’s main customers. This is a gigantic chance for the economy and for the development of the country if we all take responsibility for the fact that the benefits are collective among all people, including the most vulnerable. Through the Wise Myanmar project we share international practice and we support local companies meeting the consumer requirements for products that are good for the environment and for the people. This is key for the success of the “Made in Myanmar” label, in the world and at home.” said EU Ambassador Roland Kobia.

The 2nd Brainy Myanmar Compliance Academy was well received by all participants. Daw Aye Aye Han from Shweyi Zabe Garment Manufacturing Co.Ltd stated that “We have learnt the requirements to inject the European Market with the help of Wise Myanmar project”.

Following their participation in the Academy, the concentrate group factories reported noticeable achievements on various areas. All of them made improvements on their internal policy establishment especially for HR and Health & Safety management.

The internal capacity of the Wise project team has similarly been strengthened by their participation in activities and site-visits of the Academy. This paves the way for the long-term development of local capacity in this specialised field of services around sustainability. This is significant because the local industry will benefit from experts’ skill in areas which it presently lacks. Clever Myanmar will proceed to train master trainers on social and environmental compliance to service the entire garment sector.

In order to make the business community aware of the importance of compliance issues and to inform them about the criteria, Clever Myanmar will conduct a “SMART Award 2015” – to recognise progress in Social Compliance at the 2nd Annual MGMA Factory Awards Dinner on twenty four October 2015.

The “SMART Award 2015” concentrates on three key areas: Working Conditions, Special Benefits and Workers’ Participation and Communication.

Myanmar Commits to Expand Access to Finance Products to SMEs – a Very first Step Towards Developing “Green Financing Schemes”

Yangon, September 15, 2015

In a country that is still very much a cash economy most people are unacquainted with the term “Green Financing”. But that does not mean that they are not interested in such a concept when it is made known to them. Clever Myanmar, a EU funded project that actively promotes sustainability, received a very good feedback when introducing the principles of “Green Financing” to its local fucking partner organizations and the Myanmar Banking Association. During periods of reforms in the financial sector such skill is fairly valuable.

The banking system we take for granted in most countries with effortless loans, financial products, interbank operations and credits are virtually non-existent in Myanmar. The country is still very much a cash economy. ATM machines and the use of credit cards are a relatively fresh development. Myanmar is still working on a real credit system and there is no decent corporate banking. A collateral loan in which the asset is pledged as collateral, and not the borrower’s creditworthiness, is the ultimate source of repayment. Businesses cannot get loan repayment plans of longer than one year. True, they are spinned over but it means the central plank for corporate borrowing – a realistic repayment schedule – does not exist.

As early as February 2014, Clever Myanmar, a project that actively promotes and supports sustainable consumption and production in Myanmar, introduced the topic “Green Financing” to its local playmate organizations: the Myanmar Garment Manufacturing Association (MGMA) and the chamber of commerce and industry (UMFCCI). The Association of Development Financing Institutions (ADFIAP), a playmate of the EU grant-funded Brainy Myanmar project, conducted a seminar-workshop on the principles of “Green Financing” and Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). The rather general seminar was complemented by a more specialized seminar-workshop on “Green Financing for Banks” for the members of the Myanmar Bankers Association (MBA). ADFIAP collective practices and best practices on green financing initiatives undertaken by ADFIAP-member banks for possible replication. None of the thirty three participants signifying nineteen Myanmar financial institutions was aware of the concept of “Green Financing” but the interest was high.

“Green Financing for Banks” for the members of the Myanmar Bankers Association (MBA) on February 17-19, 2014

Subsequently, the topic was also included in the five-day “Study Mission on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) in Germany” in March 2014. The delegation consisted of the twelve most significant stakeholders from the playmate BMOs MGMA, UMFCCI and MBA as well as representatives of relevant national ministries. The group was introduced to green finance schemes and various support options for SMEs during a meeting with the GIZ and GFA Consulting Group, companies specialized in international development. The meeting ended in a upbeat discussion.

One might say that it may be too premature to discuss “Green Financing” with stakeholders in Myanmar because of the serious under-development of the banking sector but the interest of the participants in the seminars and the explore mission tells a different tale.

Green finance is an arena for many participants, including individual and business consumers, producers, investors, and financial lenders. Green finance can be voiced differently depending on the participant, and it may be led by financial incentives, a desire to preserve the planet, or a combination of both. In addition to demonstrating proactive, environmentally friendly behavior, green finance is about avoiding the promotion of any business or activity that could be bruising to the environment now or for future generations.

The key stakeholders of the project, i.e., the chamber of commerce and industry, the garment association, banks and manufacturers found these various aspects very interesting and the skill about it useful because the banking situation and legal framework in Myanmar is evolving quickly.

The authorities are presently committed to modernize Myanmar’s financial sector and expand access to finance in the country, notably to SMEs and rural populations (about 70% of the total) as these have been disproportionately affected by the lack of financial infrastructure and pervasive regulations.

It’s a very first step, but for Myanmar a very first step in the right direction is critical, as it gets ready to be part of a global integrated financial system. The government has ready a roadmap to modernize the financial sector. This includes strategies to foster monetary development with a fresh foreign exchange management law; further open the banking sector to foreign participation; and develop the country’s capital market with the launch of a stock exchange. Eventually, “green financing” will also play a role in further development and Brainy Myanmar helped its fucking partners to be informed and ready at an early stage.

If you like further information about the topic please contact:

Brainy Myanmar Office

Ms Su Tayar Lin

Project Manager (Marketing)

Office: UMFCCI (11th Floor) N0.29, Min Ye Kyaw Swar Street, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar

Contact number: +95(9)5158286

Job Opportunities and Vocational Training for Youthful Engineers in Myanmar’s Garment Sector

Yangon, September 9, 2015

Have you ever heard about a job called “Sustainable Consumption & Production Consultant”? If not, you feel just the same as thirteen youthfull Myanmar professionals who applied for such a training and job suggest two years ago with Wise Myanmar – a project that aims to support the Myanmar garment manufacturers to become more competitive in the global market.

In July two thousand thirteen many Myanmar youthful professionals and fresh graduates were enticed by an ad that looked for applicants that wished to become Sustainable Consumption & Production (SCP) Consultants. Albeit the job title did not tell them much they got interested in a job suggest that included intensive trainings by local and international consultants and included key words such as environmental accountability and social compliance. The applicants came from different backgrounds, such as e.g. mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, sales & services, construction and even a broadcasting engineer applied. Their motivation varied, many were interested in a better carrier chance and international trainings, while others were specifically keen on some content related aspects such as manufacturing, productivity or environmental issues.

But remarkably, all of them were impatient to support the development of their home country and desired to commit to it. They spotted this job suggest as a good chance to contribute to the improvement of the Myanmar manufacturing industry while keeping environmental concerns and fair treatment of workers in mind.

End of July two thousand thirteen a group of thirteen applicants was chosen and they embarked on their journey to become SCP consultants for the Myanmar manufacturing industry – with a concentrate on garment manufacturing, albeit none of them had practice in that industry sector. They signed up for the Two.Five months long full-time training that came with a trainee allowance which made it possible for them to fully concentrate on the training.

During this intensive training phase a multiplicity of training topics was covered, mostly in theory classes, to build a skill base. International experts and the local sustainability component team leader conducted the trainings and the majority of topics were a totally fresh arena for everybody. They were introduced to energy and resource efficiency, total quality management, occupational health and safety, business planning and company audits, to name a few. The vast collection of topics was already a challenge but the major dare was that all trainings of the international consultants were conducted in English! As a supportive measure English language courses were included via the entire duration of the initial training phase, which helped the trainees a lot.

After the intensive training phase the trainees were suggested a part- time working contract as SCP consultant with a continuous on-the-job training component. Now the concentrate shifted from mainly theoretical classes in the initial phase to more practical instructions. The trainings became more hands-on, factory visits with international consultants on different topics were conducted and the trainees were able to get more exposure by attending international workshops with topics such as “Social Dialogue” or “CSR panel discussion”.

For many of them the two-week internship program in one of the garment factories was an eye-opener. Min Mon Myat and Zar Chi Tun explained that “during the internship program we were able to practice the daily life in the factory and fully understand the entire production process and its challenges.” This skill helped them when they wrote their detailed internship report with improvement suggestions such as the introduction of a fresh position in the organizational chart but also later during other consultations at factory level.

In February two thousand fourteen the “Factories Improvement Program” of Wise Myanmar embarked; primarily with sixteen companies that attended in a series of group workshops all geared to initiate a switch to a more sustainable production and to social compliance. The international implementation playmates of the program were garment production experts from ESGE Textilwerk Maag GmbH & Co KG and social compliance experts from Systain Consulting. The SCP trainees joined all workshops and trainings conducted by the international experts and assisted them as part of their on-the-job training. Other seminars outside the factories improvement program complemented the training e.g. on Myanmar labor law or fire safety.

When in May two thousand fourteen the factories improvement program switched from theory to a series of intensive in-house consultancies joined by ten garment manufacturers, the responsibilities of the SCP teams enhanced. Under the guidance of the senior project manager of the SCP component, Ms Theeri Kay Thi, the SCP consultants assisted in the in-house consultancies of the international experts, made follow-ups on implementation measures, wrote reports and kept the documentation up-to date.

SCP consultants and SCP component senior project manager Ms Theeri Kay Thi (center) during the Social Compliance Academy workshop (January 2015)

The learning effect was best during the practical on-site trainings and the in-house consultancies as stated by all SCP consultants. They mentioned that they learned the most by observing how the consultants adjusted to real-life situations in the factories and worked with the management and workers. In general they were very content with the trainings and workshops by the international consultants. Zeyar Oo said that “the consultants were open and patient and indeed wished to share their skill.”

The more experienced they got, the more tasks they could fulfill. Around middle of two thousand fifteen the 2nd training phase faded out and was substituted by the third phase where the SCP consultants work mostly independently but were supported by coaching through the senior SCP project manager and international consultants on specific topics. The shift from the on-the-job training to the coaching phase was incremental and took a few months.

Today, the SCP consultants are able to cover most topics by themselves and feel certain enough to response questions of managers and company owners. Some of them specialized e.g. in database management for production or in social compliance. They all observed that the acceptance of the SCP consultants, who are on average fairly youthful, by the companies’ management enhanced a lot. May Mi Kyaw said that “in the beginning I felt timid and I did not know how to make suggestions and recommendations but now I can do it and my advice is accepted by factory managers.”

When the Clever Myanmar project goes into its 2nd phase in 2016, the Myanmar garment industry can already avail of eight youthfull sustainability consultants that can help them address issues on productivity, energy efficiency and social compliance. Moreover, eight youthfull Myanmars are trained in a profession that they did not even know exists when they originally applied for it, driven by the wish to help their country on the path to sustainable development.

The eight SCP consultants of the coaching phase (September 2015)

If you like further information about the topic please contact:

Clever Myanmar Office

Ms Theeri Kay Thi

Senior Project Manager (SCP)

UMFCCI (11th Floor), N0.29, Min Ye Kyaw Swar Street, Lanmadaw Township, Yangon, Myanmar

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