Cambodia was given special access to the US market through a 1999 trade deal that granted quotas in return for improved labor conditions monitored by the UN's labour agency under the 30-year-old multi-fiber arrangement (MFA).
International buyers, such as Gap Inc, helped local manufacturers to mold an image of themselves as responsible corporate citizens who eschewed 'sweatshop' labour and hailed the arrangement.
Cambodia has been able to salvage its garment sector, with the number of factories increasing by 13 percent to around 240 with the help of US and European Union safeguards enacted after the end of the MFA.
According to International Labour Organization (ILO) the boom created nearly 30,000 new jobs in a sector that was thought doomed after the end of an international quota system in Jan 2005.
ILO reported, Cambodia's garment and textile exports in 2005 raised 10 percent to nearly 2.2-bln usd, topping 2-bln usd for the first time.
They need to build on the successes and further improve labor standards and productivity in the industry.
Cambodia's export earnings account for 80 percent from garment sector, which employs around 279,000 people, mostly women from the rural areas.
marketing@alchempro.com
