New cross-border route to Japan
A NEW cross-border route is to be opened to Thailand to transport Myanmar-made garments bound for Japan.
At present, manufacturers have the choice either of transportation by sea, which can take up to three weeks, or the much quicker air route, which is also much more expensive. The overland route, via Myawaddy/Mae Sot, would be faster than shipping, and much cheaper than air transport.
“We’ve already done a feasibility study and a trial project that was successful. The industry will use these routes for the Japanese market for urgent deliveries in the future,” said U Myint Soe, president of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, last week.
The project is on hold because of the closure of the checkpoint, but is expected to resume when the situation has been resolved.
Mr Eitaro Kojima, managing director of Yangon office of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), said damage caused to the port of Yangon by Cyclone Nargis had delayed sea transportation.
“We proposed an alternative trading route across the border,” an official from Myanmar International Freight Forwarders Association said.
“This route is only for urgent deliveries. We’ll continue to use the sea route normally because of cost,” said U Myint Soe.
“The land route is more expensive than shipping cargo,” said U Myint Soe, who said the cross-border route would be used for the Japanese market only.
Success Creator, a member of Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, and some Japanese buyers had agreed to use the route via Myawaddy-Mae Sot.
Myanmar logistics companies will work with Thai companies to carry the goods from Yangon to Myawaddy and from Mae Sot to Bangkok port.
During the import trial period, knitted fabrics from Bangkok were transported to Mae Sot after customs clearance, then on to Yangon, a journey of about 53 hours. Normally, it takes about at least 10 days to 18 days to transport goods from Bangkok to Yangon depending on the transhipment schedule, shipping experts say.
Mr Hideki Arai, garment buyer from Asahi Kasei Trading Company, said that a land route between Bangkok and Yangon could change Myanmar’s business environment dramatically.
When shipping garments from Myanmar to Japan, exporters have to go via Singapore. Using this route it normally takes about three weeks for the goods to arrive in Nagoya port from Yangon.
Land transport it also four times more expensive than shipping, but eight to 10 times cheaper than air transport, said an official from Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association.
