Workers at a garment-textile firm in Cambodia (Source: Phnom Penh Post)
Phnom Penh (VNA) – Cambodia earned 3.7 billion USD from the export of garment products, including clothes, footwear, and travel goods –in the first half of this year, down 5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to Cambodian news agency AKP.
According to Heng Sour, spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, the decrease was due to the order suspension from the targeted markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was quoted as saying that purchasing dropped globally, and the decrease was seen not only in Cambodia, but also in other garment-producing nations such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 450 factories in Cambodia suspended production in the garment, footwear and travel goods sector, and 83 factories were formally closed.
However, Vongsey Vissoth, Permanent Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance claimed that Cambodia’s exports to the international market remained positive.
In the first five months of this year, Cambodia saw growth in the export of non-garment products, he said, adding that the country saw growth in some products such as bikes, rice, electronic components and some agricultural raw materials.
Cambodia exported 9.3 billion USD worth of garment products, footwear and travel goods in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent, according to a report from the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation./.
