Asia Insurance (Cambodia) paid out more than $290,000 in compensation to a garment factory damaged by fire in November, officials from both companies said at a news conference on Friday.
The Nov 14 fire at the Korean-owned Global Textiles Co Ltd destroyed one third of the factory and 25 percent of the raw material and finished garment products housed at the plant in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district, said Tan You Seng, the factory building owner.
Insurance covered 95 percent of the estimated damages determined by an expert team who inspected the factory and concluded the blaze was caused by an electrical short circuit, Tan You Seng said.
Asia Insurance paid $46,145 for damage to the building and $244,669 to Thomas Jung, the Korean owner of Global Textiles, he said.
The factory, which employed more than 100 workers and specialized in gloves, will reopen in the coming weeks, Jung said.
“My claim, the way it was handled—from assessing the damage to the final statement—was very professional,” he said. “We will be back in production within weeks.”
Pascal Brandt-Gagnon, Asia Insurance general manager, said the payment highlights the reliability of the country’s insurance sector following the collapse of Indochine Insurance in 2004.
“After the closure of Indochine Insurance, people are learning to trust insurance companies again,” Brandt-Gagnon said.
