Cambodia exported $8.630 billion worth of garments, footwear and other textile-related items in the first nine months of this year, despite heightened global uncertainty, marking a 23.79 per cent surge over the $6.971 billion registered in the same period last year, according to Customs.
The aforementioned category of items, corresponding to chapters 61-64 of the harmonised tariff schedule, accounted for just over 50.00 per cent of the value of the Kingdom’s total exports over the period, or $17.258 billion, statistics from the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) statistics indicate.
Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) secretary-general Ken Loo told The Post that exports of these items were slowing in the second half of this year, whereas the January-June figure had represented a year-on-year jump of nearly two-fifths.
Loo’s claim is backed by GDCE data, which put the year-on-year increases for the January-June period, July and August respectively at 37.34 per cent, 19.96 per cent and 2.71 per cent, and indicated that last month saw a 7.55 per cent drop against September 2021. Similarly, August and September witnessed month-on-month dips of 24.50 per cent and 13.72 per cent, following July’s 28.94 per cent rise.
“The situation will get worse in the fourth quarter of 2022 and into 2023. There’s no clear picture in sight due to the volatile global situation,” he rued.
Ky Sereyvath, an economic researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, commented that the overall increase in these exports seen over the year underscore the robust growth of the Cambodian economy.
“The sharp overall rise in exports to the US in recent years augurs quite well for economic relations between the two countries, particularly now that we chair ASEAN. But, at the same time, there’s been a slowdown in exports to Europe due to the Ukraine conflict’s impact on demand there,” he said.
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Author: May Kunmakara
Source: The Phnom Penh Post
Publication date: 13 October 2022
