Manufacturing
Garments and textiles
Garment industry facing subcontracting threat: ILO
Cambodia’s garment factories appear to be ramping up their use of subcontractors, which tend to get the least attention from regulators and raise the most fears of abuse among labor rights groups, according to a report released on Monday. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/garment-industry-facing-subcontracting-threat-ilo-2-130670/
Garment exports surge up EU list
Cambodia’s garment manufacturing industry has eclipsed rival Vietnam as a supplier of products to the European Union and is on course to overtake India, a visiting industry insider said yesterday. ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/garment-exports-surge-eu-list
Trade fair fees reduced for local garment firms
Germany-based apparel industry trade fair organiser Messe Frankfurt France signed a memorandum of understanding with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia yesterday to offer discounted exhibitor fees to Cambodian manufacturers in a deal valued at €400,000 ($450,000). ...
The Phnom Penh Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/trade-fair-fees-reduced-local-garment-firms
Competition, economic status leave garment sector at risk
Cambodia’s upgrade to lower-middle income status and looming competition from an E.U.-Vietnam trade deal pose major risks to the country’s garment and footwear export industry, a European business representative said on Thursday. ...
Hang Sokunthea
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/second2/competition-economic-status-leave-garment-sector-risk-130460/
Let workers return home for elections: Unions
Two of the country’s biggest garment workers’ unions have asked the government to make factories give their workers three days of paid leave and provide loans for travel expenses to allow them to return to their hometowns to vote in the upcoming local elections. ...
Chhorn Phearun and Hannah Hawkins
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/let-workers-return-home-elections-unions-130376/
US exports rebound
Exports to the United States rebounded in the first quarter of the year, an increase of almost two percent on the same period last year, despite fears over protectionist trade policies to be ushered in by US President Donald Trump. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/38644/us-exports-rebound/
In wage protest, hundreds of garment workers block road
More than 1,000 garment workers from a factory in Kandal province’s Takhmao City blocked a public road on Wednesday in protest over unpaid wages that have left them struggling to afford food and pay their rents, a union official said. ...
Buth Kimsay
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/in-wage-protest-hundreds-of-garment-workers-block-road-129890/
Labour minister praises robust garment sector growth
Cambodia’s minister of labour applauded the strong growth and employment levels for the garment and footwear sector yesterday, though industry representatives noted a slight slowdown due to increased competition from regional players. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/labour-minister-praises-robust-garment-sector-growth
Japan pledges to boost silk industry
A Japanese beauty company is to invest in Cambodian silk production to supply the local market and export to Asia and the United States. Il Brille, which runs two beauty salons and a shop in Phnom Penh, uses silk in cosmetic treatments and products for customers. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/37173/japan-pledges-to-boost-silk-industry/
GTI growth from higher orders and lower costs
Taiwanese-owner garment manufacturer Grand Twins International (GTI), which posted a 44 percent surge in revenue and a massive 390 percent in net profit last year, attributed the surge to an increase in orders and the decrease of raw material costs, administration costs and total commissions, ...
The Phnom Penh Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/gti-growth-higher-orders-and-lower-costs
Factories told to cool off for hot season
According to the official announcement, manufacturers in the textile, garment and footwear industry must do more to stop employees from fainting and suffering ill health as a result of working under excessive temperatures. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36898/factories-told-to-cool-off-for-hot-season/
Silk weavers find it tough
Today, mulberry trees are a rarity in Cambodia – most of them having been destroyed during the Khmer Rouge era – and silk weavers in Phnom Penh’s main silk producing area in Koh Dach, an island on the Mekong river, have no choice but to ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36568/silk-weavers-find-it-tough/
Employers seek delay in garment pay reform
Plans to pay garment workers twice a month will be difficult for employers to implement, industry representatives have warned. The Labor Ministry is amending laws so companies will be required to pay staff twice a month, in a bid to protect workers from being abandoned by ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/36429/employers-seek-delay-in-garment--pay-reform/
Pay protest amid fears owners skipped town
More than 600 workers from the capital’s Bodykids Fashion Wear factory protested on Friday and Saturday after management failed to pay them their February wages. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pay-protest-amid-fears-owners-skipped-town
Decline in labor complaints compared with last year
Labor dispute complaints in the garment and textile sector declined last year compared with 2015, according to the Arbitration Council, which attributed the drop to the Trade Union Law. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35923/decline-in-labor-complaints-compared-with-last-year/
Equipment sale ordered to pay wages
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has issued a warrant for the temporary seizure of Top World Garment Cambodia Ltd’s property in order to get the employer to appear and find a solution for workers still owed their December salaries. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/equipment-sale-ordered-pay-wages
Cambodian exports to US down
Cambodia’s total exports to the United States declined last year compared with 2015, due to uncertainties in the US presidential race and rising exports from Vietnam and new market player Myanmar. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35260/cambodian-exports-to-us-down/
Court taxes unemployed workers
About 100 workers from the Chung Fai Knitwear factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district protested in front of the capital’s municipal court yesterday, demanding a judge remove a fee they are unable to pay. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35171/court-taxes-unemployed-workers/
Minister plans railway for workers
The Labor Ministry is considering constructing a railway line connecting Phnom Penh and select provinces to special economic zones (SEZ) or industrial areas in response to the high number of road accidents involving commuting workers. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/34978/minister-plans-railway-for-workers/
ILO warns of Brexit threat to garments
Cambodia’s critical garment export sector could face major risks in both the short and long term from the U.K.’s surprise vote last year to exit the E.U., the International Labor Organization (ILO) has warned. ...
Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/ilo-warns-of-brexit-threatto-garments-123535/
Garment workers continue protest
Nearly 1,700 garment factory workers in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet town entered day five of their protest yesterday against a factory over wage cuts as well as allegations that the factory was responsible for the assault of a union representative. Protestors accused Lu Thai (Cambodia) of ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/33115/garment-workers-continue-protest/
Advocates, employers tussle over compliance
Local garment sector stakeholders failed to find common ground at a meeting on supply chain safety protocols, with the government and employers expressing reluctance to take on an additional level of responsibility. ...
Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/advocates-employers-tussle-over-compliance
Preah Sihanouk factories close
Two garment and textile factories in Preah Sihanouk province have signaled their insolvency, and called on creditors to file for compensation with their administrators before Monday. ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31366/preah-sihanouk-factories-close/
Government, labor body cement ties
Because of improved working conditions in garment and footwear factories across the Kingdom, the government yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue implementing the Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program for three more years. During a celebration commemorating the 15th anniversary of BFC, Labor Minister ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/30981/government--labor-body-cement-ties/