PHNOM PENH: Cambodia exported garment and footwear products in equivalent to 7.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, up 14.5 percent from a year earlier, the Industry Ministry reported on Monday.
The figure for 2014 stood at 6.2 billion U.S. dollars, according to the ministry’s annual meeting that opened Monday. Main markets for the products are European countries, the United States, and Canada.
Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon said the growth clearly showed the strength and competitiveness in the country’s garment and footwear industry.
“Cambodia’s economic growth was estimated at around 7 percent last year, and the garment industry played an important role to maintain this growth,” he said, adding that the government would try to seek new foreign markets for the products.
The garment and footwear sector, the country’s largest foreign currency earner, has 1,007 factories employing 754,188 workers. Monthly minimum wage for a worker is 140 U.S. dollars.
