Every year, Cambodia imports over400 tonnes of raw silk at a cost of some 25 million USD in order to meetthe massive demand for handmade silk products in the country.
According to Cambodia ’s news agency AKP, the soaring demand forsilk coincides with an increase in the number of souvenir-hungry foreigntourists visiting the country.
Trading of silk products has been on the increase since 2010 after Cambodia ’s tourism industry became more developed.
Local silk manufacturers soon became dependent on the tourism highseason as they have far more foreign customers than domestic ones.
Each year, the country produces around 2,400,000 metres of silktextiles, providing jobs for over 25,000 Cambodians and earning thestate revenue of as much as 50 million USD, according to figuresreleased by the Ministry of Commerce.-VNA