Falling productivity and rising infrastructure costs are putting Cambodia’s garment industry at a disadvantage as it tries to compete with rivals Vietnam, Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to a leading union. The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) recently urged the government to launch a productivity campaign to improve the situation in one of the country’s biggest industries. GMAC quoted the ILO’s bulletin between 2011 and 2014, which said labor productivity in the garment and footwear sector dropped by about 14 percent. It said labor productivity appears to have fallen as the growth in employment has outstripped the value the sector added to the economy.

GMAC’s secretary-general Ken Loo was quoted as saying that the decline in productivity appears to have continued into 2016 and the organization has asked workers, unions and the government to focus more on improving productivity in the industry, as competition is increasing globally.