The Associated Press
Cambodia's garment industry is feeling a new threat posed by the imminent accession of neighboring Vietnam to the World Trade Organization, officials said Tuesday.
Last week, the WTO formally invited Vietnam to become its 150th member, paving the way for the country to join within 30 days of its National Assembly ratifying the accord.
While the news about Vietnam's entry has been much anticipated, it is "actually an increased threat to the Cambodian garment industry," Ken Loo, secretary-general of Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said Tuesday.
"We are so much alike in cost structure and geographical location, so we're direct competitors," he said.
The neighboring countries both have low-cost work forces and large garment sectors. Cambodia has been a WTO member since 2003.
Whether or not the Cambodian industry can maintain the pace of growth seen over the last five years "is going to be a huge question mark that I think nobody can answer" right now, Loo said, adding that there are currently some 320,000 garment workers employed in the country's 286 factories.
The industry is Cambodia's leading foreign exchange earner. Garment exports grew 10.6 percent last year to US$2.2 billion (€1.7 billion), largely because of restrictions imposed by the United States and the European Union on garment imports from China.
Last year, about 71 percent of Cambodian garments were exported to the U.S. and 23 percent to EU markets.
The World Bank, during a video conference Tuesday to release its update on economic growth for East Asia and Pacific, also noted the new threat to Cambodia's garment exporters.
"It is likely that Vietnam, which is also a major low-cost garment producer, would compete with Cambodia" for market space, Homi Kharas, the bank's chief economist for East Asia and Pacific, said during the video conference from Washington D.C.
Robert Taliercio, the bank's economist for Cambodia, said any further expansion by the United States of the antidumping measures against China beyond 2008, when the measure is set to expire, "would continue to give some breathing room for Cambodia."
Loo, of the garment makers' group, described the safeguard measure as "one of the main contributing factors" to the recent successful growth of the Cambodian garment industry.
He said exports over the last nine months were worth about US$1.86 billion (€1.45 billion), a 16 percent increase from the same period in 2005.
But facing the new external factor posed by Vietnam, "we need to ensure that our house is in order internally," he said.
He said Cambodia needs to improve further on its efforts to tackle corruption, bureaucratic hurdles and labor disputes for the industry to remain competitive.
Last week, the WTO formally invited Vietnam to become its 150th member, paving the way for the country to join within 30 days of its National Assembly ratifying the accord.
While the news about Vietnam's entry has been much anticipated, it is "actually an increased threat to the Cambodian garment industry," Ken Loo, secretary-general of Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said Tuesday.
"We are so much alike in cost structure and geographical location, so we're direct competitors," he said.
The neighboring countries both have low-cost work forces and large garment sectors. Cambodia has been a WTO member since 2003.
Whether or not the Cambodian industry can maintain the pace of growth seen over the last five years "is going to be a huge question mark that I think nobody can answer" right now, Loo said, adding that there are currently some 320,000 garment workers employed in the country's 286 factories.
The industry is Cambodia's leading foreign exchange earner. Garment exports grew 10.6 percent last year to US$2.2 billion (€1.7 billion), largely because of restrictions imposed by the United States and the European Union on garment imports from China.
Last year, about 71 percent of Cambodian garments were exported to the U.S. and 23 percent to EU markets.
The World Bank, during a video conference Tuesday to release its update on economic growth for East Asia and Pacific, also noted the new threat to Cambodia's garment exporters.
"It is likely that Vietnam, which is also a major low-cost garment producer, would compete with Cambodia" for market space, Homi Kharas, the bank's chief economist for East Asia and Pacific, said during the video conference from Washington D.C.
Robert Taliercio, the bank's economist for Cambodia, said any further expansion by the United States of the antidumping measures against China beyond 2008, when the measure is set to expire, "would continue to give some breathing room for Cambodia."
Loo, of the garment makers' group, described the safeguard measure as "one of the main contributing factors" to the recent successful growth of the Cambodian garment industry.
He said exports over the last nine months were worth about US$1.86 billion (€1.45 billion), a 16 percent increase from the same period in 2005.
But facing the new external factor posed by Vietnam, "we need to ensure that our house is in order internally," he said.
He said Cambodia needs to improve further on its efforts to tackle corruption, bureaucratic hurdles and labor disputes for the industry to remain competitive.
4 comments:
Where that shit are you happy now? go back to Hanoi and wait for lightning strike your midle head, Vietnamese!
Cambodia can not compete Vietnam on cost because it is more corrupt. It should stick to labour working working condition that has so far given it a niche market.
SiS
DEAR EVERYONE
Please stop respond to YOUR OWN SHADOW. He tries to get your attention. Just ignore him and go on with your regular comments for the article. Thank you so much.
HI KI-MEDIA AND ALL !
AFTER ONE WEEK OF TENSE AND RUDE DISCUSSION BETWEEN " THE PATRIOT & OWN SHADOW", OUR SURVEY CAME TO A FINAL CONCLUSION AS FOLLOWS:
1- ON KI-MEDIA PROFESSIONALISM OF CREATING AND REPORTING ABOUT POLITICS IN CAMBODIA:
-(i)FIRSTLY, YOUR REPORTS ARE RELEVANT AND CONFORM WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN THE PRESS ABOUT CAMBODIA POLITICS. THAT IS GOOD FOR ALL OF US KHMER LIVING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE MOTHERLAND.
-(ii)IN YOUR TITLE IN ORANGE, YOU INTENDED TO SHOW YOUR POLITICAL PARTY' S CHOICE. IT IS NOT A PROBLEM BECAUSE FREEDOM OF BELIEF AND IT IS YOUR POLITICAL RIGHT TO SUPORT MR. SAM RAINSY' S PARTY.
-(iii) IN ORDER TO BE MORE PROFESSIONAL IN THE NET, IS KI-MEDIA LOOKING FOR A NEW DIRECTION?
2- ON KI-MEDIA READERS AND SUPPORTERS:
(i) WE CONCLUDED THAT MOST OF THE READERS AND SUPPORTERS LIVE ABROAD:US, AUSTRALIA, CANADA ETC...
(ii) DURING OUR ONE WEEK SURVEY, WE USED STRONG LANGUAGES AND WE APOLOGY IF WE MAY OFFENCE BUT IT WAS PURELY INTEND TO TEST THE WATER AND GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION AND CULTURE OF ALL OF US.
(iii) THE SURVEY SHOWS THERE ARE TWO CATEGORIES OF READERS:
- THE FIRST GROUP OF READERS ARE VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR COMMENTS, VERY POLITE AND BALANCED VIEWS: THEY ARE CULTIVATED AND EDUCATED... BRAVO!
THEIR VIEWS COULD BE AS A LESSON FOR ALL AND THE SAKE OF THE COUNTRY. THEY ARE BRAVE AND PATRIOTIC. CAMBODIA IS PROUD OF THEM!!!!
- THE SECOND GROUP OF READERS ARE MORE OR LESS PATHETIC ABOUT GIVING COMMENTS ABOUT POLITICS IN CAMBODIA: TOO MUCH PASSION OF HATE BECAUSE OF POLITICS AND NOT ENOUGH MATURITY, EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE. THEY MUST LEARN ABOUT THE SOCIAL WAY OF BEING A RESPECTABLE KHMER WITH OUR OWN WAY OF SAVOIR-VIVRE, OF COURTESY AND KINDNESS. PLEASE TRY TO FORGET ABOUT THE NEGATIVE ASPECT OF LIFE ABROAD AND GET MORE IN CONTACT WITH THE PREACHING AND LEARNING OF BUDDHISM. YOU WILL BE MORE RESPECTFUL BY YOUR OWN ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY.
IN CONCLUSION, WE AGAIN APOLOGY FOR THE ONE WEEK SURVEY THAT WE CONCLUDED RIGHT NOW.
LONG LIVE TO CAMBODIA AND CAMBODIAN LIVING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE!
STRONG LINKS AND BONDS OF SOLIDARITY BETWEEN KHMER AND KHMER!
MUTUAL RESPECT FOR THE SAKE OF THE MOTHERLAND!
THANK YOU FOR READING US! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO AGREE OR DISAGREE, OR TO INSULT. THIS IS JUST A SURVEY!!!!!!!
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