Adidas, one of the country’s biggest garment buyers, has indicated that it plans to expand its production in Cambodia over the next five years as part of its plans to shift from China to lower-cost producers in Southeast Asia. During an investors workshop last week, the German sportswear giant’s head of sourcing, John McNamara, announced plans to increase orders from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam over the next half-decade to escape rapidly rising labour costs in China.
Adidas is said to be looking at increasing its global share of sourcing from Cambodia by 4 per cent by the end of the decade. From 16 per cent imports in 2014, the company expects to increase it to 20 per cent by 2020. The company sources from 24 of Cambodia’s 500-odd exporting garment factories, including Grand Twins International, one of only three firms listed on the country’s fledgling stock exchange.
Meanwhile the country’s workers are grappling with low wages. IndustriALL continues to work with the brands sourcing from Cambodia towards industry level collective bargaining in order to improve wage conditions. Its motive is to make sure that the garment brands that source from Cambodian factories, take their share of responsibility for ensuring that garment workers earn a living wage.
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