90% Of Cambodian Garment Units Owned By Chinese Investors

Around 90 percent of garment manufacturing factories in Cambodia are owned by Chinese companies or investors.

This was revealed in a report by Research and Markets titled ‘Cambodia Garment Manufacturing Market Report 2023-2032: Youthful Demographic Dividend Fuels Consumer Market Growth’.

The report said that that the Cambodian apparel sector was highly appealing for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), primarily from China.

“Most of the clothing factories are foreign-owned and Chinese-owned factories comprise around 90 percent. A few investments have also come from European companies,” the report added.

The report underlined Cambodia’s advantages of low costs including those of labour which has led to a surge in FDI in the industry.

Between 2018 and 2022, Cambodia’s clothing sector experienced fluctuating growth in export value, with a CAGR of 3.01 percent in that period.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Cambodia’s apparel manufacturing industry, leading to a year-on-year decrease of 10.63 percent in the sector’s total export value, amounting to $7.38 billion.

“In 2021, the Cambodian government eased control measures, facilitating a rapid recovery in the export of Cambodia’s garment sector,” Khemer Times reported.

Consequently, the total export value reached $8.018 billion in 2021 and $9.035 billion in 2022, reflecting year-on-year growth rates of 8.53 percent and 12.69 percent, respectively.

Cambodia exported $8.12 billion worth of garments in 2023, a drop of 11 percent from the previous year, as per the data revealed by the General Department of Customs and Excise.