The Garment Manufacturer’s Association in Cambodia plans to suspend operations in some factories due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. Reports suggest around 42,000 Coronavirus cases have been confirmed globally, including 40,235 in China. Of these, 1,000 people have died since the outbreak was first detected in Wuhan city in China’s Hubei province in December.
Wuhan is in lockdown and other parts of China have been affected by the virus as Chinese authorities continue in their efforts to prevent the virus from spreading. Many suppliers have temporarily halted production in the country as Over 60 percent of raw materials used in garment and textile factories in the Kingdom are imported from China. These suppliers will not be able to provide raw materials to factories in Cambodia till the end of February or March.
The European Commission is currently reviewing the Kingdom’s EBA preferential trade status due to perceived setbacks to human rights and democracy following the dissolution of the CNRP and the arrest of its former leader Kem Sokha over a treason charge in 2017. The European Parliament, the Commission has to decide by February 2020 whether or not to suspend Cambodia’s EBA privileges fully or in part. Whatever the outcome, suspension would finally come into effect six months later, by August 2020.
