2008-02-06 10:11
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Cambodia's garment industry expects to see a decline of orders from American retailers amid fear of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, a Cabinet minister said Tuesday (5 Feb), as he warned the country's top export sector by value faces tough times.
"I am concerned that our garment sector would face some problems," Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said. "Now that the U.S. economy may head into a decline, purchasing orders from U.S. retailers may also decrease."
He said last year's garment exports to the U.S. were worth more than US$1.9 billion (€1.3 billion). The figure represents about two-thirds of Cambodia's total exports of clothing products in 2007, Cham Prasidh said.
Anti-dumping measures the U.S. has imposed on the import of Chinese goods have so far helped sustain Cambodia's garment export industry.
But at the end of 2008, the U.S. will phase out the measures against China as well as a monitoring mechanism on imports from Vietnam, another competitor, compounding pressure on the Cambodian garment industry, Cham Prasidh said at a press conference Tuesday.
"Competing for that market has not been an easy task," he said.
Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, agreed that the industry is facing "a very difficult" time and "stiffer competition" ahead.
Cambodia currently has 300 garment factories that employ 355,000 workers.
Cambodia ranks 12th among the 25 top countries from which the U.S. imports textile products, according the U.S. Census Bureau. (AP)
Source: Mysinchew.com (retrieved on Feb 8)
2 comments:
While posts relates to love and feeling were commented, an article talking about this has no comment at all. This post is so lonely. So I make it one, even not much. Do you think it is a good trade strategy that Cambodia has to be dependent on American market? How can we deal with the coming problem of falling down in garment export from Cambodia?
Thanks for dropping in to say sth in this post. Generally speaking, it's not a good idea for Cambodia's garment export to depend merely on the US market because her economy will be badly affected when that of the US faces hardship. But, it's undeniable that US's been the largest buyer of Cambodia's garment products, so it's our potential, isn't it? My answer to your 2nd Q is COMPETITIVENESS. Only could Cambodia improve its competitiveness in terms of price and productivity (in addition to compliance to labor standard) that our garment export can grab bigger market shares in the US and EU and may attract more markets in other countries. This isn't an easy task, though.
There are still many things that I have to learn in order to do a fruitful research on this issue.
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