Recently, a message circulated on the Internet that said: "Several garment factories in Cambodia have closed down, and Chinese bosses have taken planes and started running!" ”
Subsequently, Xiaobian asked a Chinese workshop supervisor of a Chinese-funded garment factory for verification. The workshop supervisor said the news had spread between the garment factories but had not been confirmed. However, he said that the recent garment factory recession has indeed been really sluggish, and from this month to next month, many garment factories are facing closures. He had heard that some of the small bosses were indeed ready to "run".
* The workshop supervisor responds
Nearly 47 factories have closed, triggering a wave of worker unemployment
On the morning of August 11, Han Suoguang, state secretary and spokesman of the Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology and Innovation, revealed that in the first seven months of this year, a total of 112 new factories were opened in Cambodia, creating a total of 76,624 jobs, but at the same time, during this time, a total of 47 factories were closed, resulting in 16,838 people losing their jobs.
Xiao Li is a factory worker in Phnom Penh. She said in an interview with the editor that since last month, the factory had to lay off employees because it had not received orders for a long time, and many workers, including herself, could only find another way out of the factory.
Xiaoli said that due to low education and little work experience, many people can only return to the rural factory or find other jobs such as cleaning after coming out of the factory. She said that most factories do not accept short-term workers, at least more than 3 months to do, many people because of low salaries, even some factories also delayed payroll, coupled with additional pressure such as housing expenses, in the face of the risk of factories may lay off workers at any time, most people can only return to the countryside, but she said it is still difficult to find a job that can make ends meet.
Cambodian garment factories saw a sharp drop in orders in the second half of the year
The Association of Garment Manufacturers was strongly concerned
Affected by a variety of global crises, global instability and the risk of economic recession in Western countries, Lu Qijian, secretary general of the Cambodian Garment Manufacturers Association (GMAC), said in an interview with the media that the current purchase order volume from Europe has decreased, and international buyers have requested to reduce or modify the order contract for the second half of the year.
He pointed out that the EU is one of the most important export markets for garment products in Cambodia, the global economic environment is unstable, and the economic downturn in Western countries has triggered strong concerns among members of the Garment Manufacturers Association about the export situation in the second half of the year.
Although in the first half of this year, Cambodia's exports of clothing, footwear and tourism products totaled $6.6 billion, up 40% year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs, Lu Qijian pointed out that although the data shows a surge in Cambodian garment exports, it may not be a true reflection of the actual profits of manufacturers.
According to a study by the Japan External Trade Organization, only 39 percent of Cambodia's companies were profitable last year, 43 percent were loss-making, and 18 companies were just breaking even.
Currently, due to the reduction in orders, some members seek legal advice from the GMAC legal team regarding the partially discontinued procedures. The GMAC is conducting an "extensive census" of all members to more accurately assess the situation of purchase orders.
Workers' wages have risen and garment factory labor costs have increased
In addition to the decrease in orders, the increase in workers' wages and the increase in labor costs have made garment factory operations worse.
It is understood that in October this year, Cambodia will implement a pension system. According to the regulations, all private enterprises and factories are obliged to pay monthly pension fees for their employees, and the pension system will further increase the salary costs of manufacturers.
In addition, the Cambodian Federation of Labor held a meeting on the 4th of this month, and after discussion and investigation, the trade union demanded that the minimum wage for workers in 2023 be increased by 20 US dollars to 214 US dollars. The union proposed a salary increase of $20 based on the increase in workers' living expenses and rising prices, but this wage could not meet the actual living needs of workers. Based on the average daily expenses of workers, it costs at least $297 per month.
Cambodia's garment industry exports urgently need to seek a new way out
The apparel, footwear and travel goods industries are Cambodia's largest source of foreign exchange earnings. The apparel, footwear and travel goods industry consists of around 1,100 production and ancillary industries, employing a total of about 750,000 people, most of whom are women.
Ky Sereyvath, senior economist at the Royal College of Cambodia, has said the footwear industry has played an important role in boosting Cambodia's exports while other footwear-producing countries are still suffering from the COVID-19 crisis.
Ban Suo Weijie, a spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce, pointed out that if the Russian-Ukrainian problem lasts, it will reduce the purchasing power of Europe, and these problems may endanger the purchase orders of Cambodian textile-related products.
He called on exporters to find buyers nearby and partners through free trade agreements (FTAs), including regional markets, Chinese markets, and sub-regional markets, to find a "way out."
A Chinese enterprise boss told Xiaobian that the epidemic had previously occupied the dominant factor, resulting in a significant cold in the order volume of garment factories. However, with the easing of the epidemic and the recovery of the domestic economy, large garment factories are still the mainstay and will not be greatly affected in the short term. For some small-scale garment factories, it is difficult to withstand the test under the blows of the epidemic and other factors, and the closure and closure of business will also be an inevitable result. #柬埔寨 #