Garment, shoe exports set to surpass $4bn

Buoyed by strong demand from the economies of Europe and North America, the total amount of garment, shoe and textile exports that left Cambodia last year was on target to surpass the $4 billion mark, dwarfing 2010’s total of $2.88 billion, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said yesterday. According to the most recent data released by the Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia exported $3.89 billion of garments, textiles and shoes in the first 11 months of 2011. Cambodian exports to the European Union, which dropped tariffs on goods from Cambodia last year, increased by 62 percent to $1 billion between January and November, while exports to the US – Cambodia’s largest market for garment exports – increased by 14 percent to $1.89 billion. Shoe exports to the EU also surged, hitting $124.5 million, a rise of 41 percent. Manufacturers and economists said that the data had exceeded expectations and that the large increase in exports was in part due to rising labor costs in countries such as China pushing manufacturers to set up factories in other countries, such as Cambodia…