Export of textiles, garments, footwear and travel products have registered, in fact, bounced back to the annual growth of an average of approximately 10 percent over the past 10 years thus becoming the key sector for the Cambodian economy.

After just one year of a minor decline in growth due to Covid-19 in 2020, the garment industry bounced back last year to its pre-pandemic trajectory. Members and guests at the 15th annual general meeting of the Garment Manufacturers Association Cambodia (GMAC) expressed optimism saying it is able to mark 2021 as yet another year of strong growth for the sector in Cambodia, continuing the trend of the previous 10 years which saw an average growth of 10 percent annually.

Based on the successes of the past year, the meeting was an occasion to reflect on the industry’s prospects for 2022. The out-going president Oknha Van Sou Ieng was made an honorary chairman by the Executive Committee and the former deputy chairman Oknha Kong Sang was welcomed in as the newly elected President.

Among the figures present at the AGM, held at the Association’s premises in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, was also the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, Ith Sam Heng who said that the export of textiles, garments, footwear and travel products and bags sector is the key sector for the Cambodian economy and remains as the country’s most important export sector.

Collectively these products of the garment industry represent by far Cambodia’s number one export which is estimated to have totalled almost $10 billion in 2021, or about 63 percent of the country’s total export value and employing close to 1 million people.

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Author: Anthony McGonigle

Source: Khmer Times

Publication date: 18 January 2022