Korean Textile Industry Analysis

4.5. Evaluation on Korea and Myanmar’s Textile Industry and lessons for Myanmar

4.5.1. Evaluation on Development of Korean Textile Industry The experiences of Korean economic and social transformation are a relevant model for developing countries. Within a few decades, Korea achieved the economic success even though it has been faced several obstacles. Throughout the history of Korea, the textile industry played as a prominent role in contribution of the country’s social and economic development. Korea’s textile industry became to flourish by transferring from the initial import-substitution into export-industrialization with the contribution of self-supply of raw materials. It can be said that Korea could able to improve the nation’s

Not only with that capital funds provides by the government’s foreign currency loan and the aid from UNKRA and UNCURK but also by using cheap and skilful labor force, the textile industry could created self-sufficient base. It can be assessed the reason of success throughout the era of Import Substituting Textile Industry was mainly depended on the effective supports by the government foreign currencies and the suitable allocation for reconstructing facilities and the relevant policy applications of limitations for foreign imports and price stabilization. With these main policy directions, the Korean government achieved major performance like completion of import substitution policy. As a result of it, the Korean textile industry succeeded to produce raw materials like cotton, wool and other natural fibres for self-sufficient and could improve the textile production and export of fibres. But one thing that most of the scholars criticized was these efforts of government led to the over- production of local demand. Then this experience created to find the way of restructuring in future’s textile

The reason was that the weakness in technological skills in comparison with the developed countries. Therefore, the textile industry faced similar excessive production like before and heading to the expansion of production facilities and thus old machines were needed to replace so that this problem could be handled. Also restructuring was needed to fund to solve that problem. At the same time, the wages became a high increased rate because of the strong labor unions which led Korea economy to leave the domestic firms forced to move to the