State Secretary and spokesman for the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, Cambodia, Heng Sokkung, has reported that, following the COVID-19 pandemic, 77 new factories, including 34 belonging to the clothing, footwear and travel goods sectors, opened in Cambodia in the first quarter this year. Nevertheless, several factories have now seen a decline in purchase orders, but will recover after the crisis, it added.
A ministry report showed that exports of apparel, footwear, and travel goods were valued at $9.32 billion in 2019, representing more than 83 per cent of total industrial product exports in the country.
For Cambodia, most of the factories of clothes, footwear and travel goods still function as normal since, given the pandemic, China has continuously supplied raw material, six factories had been permanently shut down during this year’s January-March stretch, affecting 6,052 staff.
The country’s clothing, footwear, and travel goods industry comprises about 1,100 factories that employ 750,000 people.
