Cambodia'S Garment Export Profit Is Severely Compressed

Ouk Boung, State Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia, said that the growth of global consumption has promoted the growth of Cambodia's exports. In the first five months of this (2010) year, Cambodia's exports reached 1.2 billion dollars, 13.82% more than the 1.06 billion dollars in the same period of last (2009) year, and the import value in the same period of this year was 1.74 billion dollars, 17.45% more than the 1.48 billion dollars in the same period of last year.

State Secretary Ouk Boung also said that as the global financial crisis has slowed down, Cambodia's economic development has entered the right track. Since this year, Japan, South Korea and European countries have visited Cambodia for investment inspection, which shows that Cambodia's economy has improved.

However, Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, said that the export growth since the beginning of this year is difficult to be positive, because Cambodia's foreign trade declined significantly in 2009 (compared with 2008). In addition, according to the observation of Nam Shik Kang, general manager of South Korea's Injae Garment Company, Cambodia's main industry: garment export profit has been severely compressed.