Garment, textile and footwear exports increase 13% YoY in first nine months

Cambodia exported more than $7.97 billion worth of garment, textile and footwear (GTF) products in the first nine months of this year, up 13.18 per cent year-on-year from $7.04 billion, a report from the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s General Department of Customs and Excise said. The US accounted for $2.5 billion of the exports and the EU $2.4 billion – with $670 million going to the UK, Japan $711 million, Asean member states $121 million and other countries $1.5 billion, the report said. Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) secretary-general Kaing Monika said that the Kingdom’s GTF product exports performed well in the first nine months of this year. Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng attributed the growth in exports to the rise in the number of investors in the sector over the last few years. “Most of the Chinese factories that come to Cambodia help boost our exports. It’s a good sign that the country’s economy is growing fast,” he said. Despite ongoing Sino-US trade tensions and facing a possible suspension of its access to the EU’s EBA agreement, the Kingdom’s economic activity will remain strong with real gross domestic product growth expected at around seven per cent this year. This is owing to continued export growth and strong construction activity, while inflation is expected to remain stable at around 2.5 per cent, the IMF said. (Source: Phnom Penh Post)