The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia plans to raise a number of tax issues with the General Department of Taxation at a public-private partnership meeting next week. Garment manufacturers have requested the association raise issues about tax facilitation, clarification on some tax term definitions and other tax-related paperwork at the next General Department of Taxation Private Sector Partnership Mechanism meeting on July 13.

The public-private partnership, created in 2016, has brought together the General Department of Taxation and four main sectors of the country’s economy, including the garment, rice, young entrepreneurs and banking sectors. Albert Tan, head of GMAC’s committee on taxation says his association would be seeking further clarification, and co-ordination, from the government at the meeting next week.

Taxation is the second main priority issue in the garment industry to be solved after labour and they hope the issues will be resolved during the upcoming meeting for the improvement of the industry. Presently, there are about 512 export-oriented garment factories, and 59 footwear factories, creating jobs for more than 700,000 Cambodian workers. The garment industry is one of the main pillars out of four to back the country’s economic growth. The export from the sector accounts for more than 70 percent of country’s total exports. According to Cambodia’s General Department of Customs and Excise, exports of Cambodia’s garment and footwear sector rose by 7.2 per cent to $7.3 billion in 2016, up from $6.8 billion in 2015.

The sector remains the most important component of Cambodia’s exports, with garment and footwear exports accounting for 78 percent of the country’s total merchandise exports in 2016.