Fijilive.com
13/03/2009
Cambodia's garment exports have dropped by half amid the global economic downturn, the commerce minister said Thursday, as a union leader announced tens of thousands of job losses.
Cambodia's garment industry is the impoverished country's largest source of income, providing 80 percent of its foreign exchange earnings and employing an estimated 350,000 people last year.
But Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said more than a dozen factories had closed within the first two months of 2009 as exports to the United States, Cambodia's biggest market for textiles, have plummeted.
"We used to export around 200 million dollars per month. Now last month, in February, we exported only half (that figure)," Cham Prasidh told a conference on the effects of the financial crisis in Cambodia.
The head of the Cambodian Free Trade Union, the country's largest workers' group, said more than 40,000 garment factory workers had lost their jobs since last year.
"The world economic crisis severely affects Cambodia through its garment sector, as thousands of workers lost their jobs and factories closed down," he said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen, opening the conference, appealed to business and government officials to find ways to address challenges facing the country's economy, which enjoyed double-digit growth until last year.
He urged them to "diversify the markets for our garments and other manufactured goods markets to East Asia, the Middle East and Africa."
Hun Sen also said the country should diversify its agricultural sector in order to attract more investment from agri-business.
The International Monetary Fund said last week that Cambodia's economy would shrink by 0.5 percent this year, as the country's garment, tourist and construction industry suffered the effects of the global financial crisis.
AFP
13/03/2009
Cambodia's garment exports have dropped by half amid the global economic downturn, the commerce minister said Thursday, as a union leader announced tens of thousands of job losses.
Cambodia's garment industry is the impoverished country's largest source of income, providing 80 percent of its foreign exchange earnings and employing an estimated 350,000 people last year.
But Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said more than a dozen factories had closed within the first two months of 2009 as exports to the United States, Cambodia's biggest market for textiles, have plummeted.
"We used to export around 200 million dollars per month. Now last month, in February, we exported only half (that figure)," Cham Prasidh told a conference on the effects of the financial crisis in Cambodia.
The head of the Cambodian Free Trade Union, the country's largest workers' group, said more than 40,000 garment factory workers had lost their jobs since last year.
"The world economic crisis severely affects Cambodia through its garment sector, as thousands of workers lost their jobs and factories closed down," he said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen, opening the conference, appealed to business and government officials to find ways to address challenges facing the country's economy, which enjoyed double-digit growth until last year.
He urged them to "diversify the markets for our garments and other manufactured goods markets to East Asia, the Middle East and Africa."
Hun Sen also said the country should diversify its agricultural sector in order to attract more investment from agri-business.
The International Monetary Fund said last week that Cambodia's economy would shrink by 0.5 percent this year, as the country's garment, tourist and construction industry suffered the effects of the global financial crisis.
AFP
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