Cambodian garment and shoe factories resumed production on January 8 following a ban on demonstrations last week, a labour spokesman has said.

According to Heng Sour, spokesman of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, 906 out of the 909 garment and shoe factories have come back to production, and more than 90 percent of the workers have returned to work.

The situation has returned to normal after the government took strict measures over the illegal protests and issued a ban on all forms of demonstrations, he said, adding that the country saw no protest on January 8.

Employing about 600,000 workers, the garment sector, which is the kingdom's largest foreign exchange earner, generated more than 5 billion USD in revenues last year.

Starting since December 25, all garment and shoe factories in Cambodia had closed as thousands of workers went on strikes to ask for pay rise.

The demonstrations led to a clash between the police and strikers blocking a street and destroying factories' properties on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, leaving four protesters dead and 26 injured.

Van Sou Ieng, president of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said that the industry has lost roughly 200 million USD due to production stoppage in the past two weeks.-VNA