Asian garment industry to undergo further segmentation

The Asian garment manufacturing industry will undergo further segmentation in the next three to four years as competition becomes more intense, experts said. China, Thailand and Vietnam will mainly produce high-end clothing, while Bangladesh, Laos, Burma and Cambodia will mainly produce low-end clothing. … Lu Qijian, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia said that Cambodia’s garment and textile exports make up more than 80 percent of the country’s gross export business. Its contribution to the nation’s GDP accounts for 15 percent to 18 percent. The garment export income of Bangladesh makes up about 78 percent of the country’s annual foreign exchange income. … Cheap labor has always been an advantage of the Asian textile and garment industry as it is more evident in South Asian countries. But in recent years, labor costs have been rising. Minimum wage in Vietnam has gone up by 20 percent, and Indonesia and Laos are at 20 percent and 22 percent this year. The average monthly salary for a Cambodian is almost 100 dollars, which leads to labor shortage issues. … In 2012, Cambodia imported from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and South Korea raw materials worth $3.12 billion.

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