A week after the International Monetary Fund warned of serious downside risks to Cambodia’s economic outlook, trade unions in the country called on the government to work with the European Union to retain critical trade privileges.
The IMF forecast, published last week, showed that a complete suspension of the ‘Everything But Arms’ trade preferences would see Cambodia’s GDP growth rate drop by 3 percentage points.
It also reported that a full suspension would “lead to a permanent decline in garment sector output and employment in the long-run.” Garment and footwear exports make up a significant portion of Cambodia’s exports to the European Union. The sector also employs around 800,000 Cambodians, mostly women, and indirectly supports 3 million people.
