Cambodia expects garment exports this year to grow by three or four per cent. A top garment-making hub, Cambodia is now the sixth fastest-growing economy in the world over the past two decades, with an average GDP growth rate of 7.6 per cent, thanks largely to garment exports.

Around 30 per cent of its garments are destined for the European Union. The country’s growth in the EU market was largely the result of preferential treatment under the Everything But Arms agreement, which allows its garment products to enter the EU market duty-free due to its status on the list of least developed countries.

Last year, minimum monthly wage of workers in Cambodia’s textile and footwear industry was raised by 11 per cent. Cambodia’s new minimum wage is more than double the minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh. The country expects purchasing orders in the garment sector in 2018 to be higher than in 2017.

Cambodia is the fifth biggest supplier of garment and textile products to the European Union. It’s behind China, Bangladesh, Turkey and India. There is a lot of room for progress in the garment sector and many opportunities for the government and buyer companies to work together towards a better future for the industry.