Garment exports have continued to rise, but at a slower pace than earlier in the year, according to the latest government figures.
Cambodia’s garment exports earned $4.44 billion during the first nine months of the year, based on numbers from the Ministry of Commerce, up 5.9 percent year-on-year.
That’s a slower rate of growth than over the first six months, when exports were up 16 percent compared to the same period in 2013.
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia has been warning of a major drop in exports due to the many wildcat strikes the industry has experienced over the past year, which it says have convinced many international brands to start placing their orders elsewhere.
Though the rate of growth has dipped, it has not fallen as far as the association was predicting.
The government, factories and unions are currently in the midst of negotiations over a new minimum wage for garment workers.
Cambodia exported $5.5 billion worth of garments in 2013, accounting for 80 percent of all exports.
