Cambodia recently urged
global buyers to raise investment in its garment and footwear sector and to
introduce new technologies to help modernise the industry. Commerce ministry
secretary of state Ok Bung told envoys of global clothing brands and unions
recently that low productivity is resulting in lower ranking for the country in the
global value chain.
Representatives from companies, such as Inditex,
Debenhams, Kmart-Australia, H&M, Next, C&A and Primark, and
international union federation IndustriALL were present at the meeting. Issues now hampering the garment sector include high
production costs, low productivity and access to a limited number of markets,
said Ken Loo, secretary general of Garments Manufacturers Association of
Cambodia (GMAC). Frank Hoffer, executive director of non-profit
organisation Action, Collaboration and Transformation (ACT), requested the
ministry’s support to set up a workshop with buyers, unions, factory owners and
government agencies to hear all sides and jointly prepare a strategy to guide
development in the sector.
ACT is an initiative between international brands
and retailers, manufacturers and tradeunions
to address the issue of living wages in the textile and
garment supply chain. In
2016, Cambodia’s garment and footwear industry had 786 factories and a
workforce of more than 700,000 people. The main export markets are the European
Union, the United States, China, New Zealand and Japan. (DS)