rather than their value. In March 2012, six of Thailand's largest garment manufacturers announced that they would move production to Burma, principally to the Yangon area, citing lower labour costs. In mid-2015, about 55% of officially registered garment firms in Myanmar were known to be fully or partly foreign-owned, with about 25% of the foreign firms from China and 17% from Hong Kong. Foreign-linked firms supply almost all garment exports, and these have risen rapidly in recent years, especially since EU sanctions were lifted in 2012. Myanmar exported $1.6 billion worth of garment and textiles in 2016.