On May 11-12, 2018, the Social Responsibility Office of China National Textile and Apparel Council, together with the Ethical Trade Organization (ETI) and the SMART Myanmar project, held the "Myanmar Business Environment, Communication and Dialogue Mechanism Seminar" in Yangon, Myanmar. More than 40 representatives from more than 20 Myanmar Chinese-funded garment enterprises and foreign brands participated in this seminar. This is the first capacity building activity held overseas since the launch of the "Belt and Road" and responsible overseas investment and regional cooperation projects in the textile and garment industry in 2015.
 
At the seminar, Dr. Liang Xiaohui, chief researcher of the Responsibility Office of China Textile Federation, introduced the background of the project, as well as the basic framework and overseas implementation plan of the 2018 version of the CSC9000T textile and apparel corporate social responsibility management system. He pointed out that Chinese enterprises are accelerating the speed and scale of overseas investment, but also encounter new challenges and risks, such as cultural conflicts of multinational companies, labor disputes and community relations issues. Therefore, carrying out compliance and due diligence management to prevent and control social and environmental risks will be one of the priorities for enterprises to invest and operate overseas. To this end, the Responsibility Office of the China Textile Federation has carried out in-depth and extensive overseas research in the past few years, and has built a local support network to promote social responsibility work in Southeast Asia and Africa. In the next three years, the responsibility office of the China Textile Federation will actively coordinate domestic and foreign resources and launch a systematic plan for the social responsibility and sustainable development capacity building of China's overseas textile and garment enterprises.

One of the event partners, the Ethical Trade Institute (ETI), was launched in the United Kingdom and is a multi-party action alliance composed of brands, trade unions, and enterprises. All parties to the alliance commit to work together to improve working conditions in the supply chain, conduct responsible ethical sourcing, and identify and promote good practices consistent with ETI's fundamental principles. At the seminar, Ms. Gao Yun, the representative of ETI, introduced the basic requirements of the ETI Code. She emphasized that in Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, there are completely different forms of employee organization and labor union activities than in China. For inexperienced Chinese companies, they should strengthen their understanding of local laws and regulations and related mechanisms.

Another partner of the seminar, the SMART Myanmar project, is an EU-supported cooperation project involving NGOs, brands, etc., which aims to promote and support the sustainable production of "Made in Myanmar" garments and improve the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Myanmar's garment industry. Competitiveness. As the trainer of this seminar, Ms. Feng Lan from the SMART Myanmar project analyzed in detail the current situation and causes of Myanmar's business environment and labor disputes in the subsequent training sessions, and introduced Myanmar's labor, occupational safety and health and environmental protection. relevant legal requirements. According to the characteristics of Myanmar culture, the trainer analyzed the methods of communication and management with Myanmar employees. The workshop focused on how to set up and operate a dialogue mechanism in the factory, as well as the legal process of labor negotiation. The training uses a large number of real-life cases, and through participatory discussions, the participants deepen their understanding and obtain practical theories and methods.

This training seminar was not only well received by the participants, but also local stakeholders in Myanmar, such as Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA), Myanmar Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA), etc. Construction activities are appreciated and supported. In addition, this training seminar was also supported by the Myanmar Chinese Enterprise Chamber of Commerce and its Textile and Apparel Branch. The Chamber of Commerce not only actively organized member companies to participate in the training, but also many members of the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce also participated in the training.

For more information about this training event, as well as the arrangements for the overseas social responsibility capacity building of China Textile Federation, please contact Ms. Zheng Jian, Director of International Projects of China Textile Federation: zhengjian@ctic.org.cn.