Manufacturing factories in Cambodia have increased on account of the Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Free Trade Agreement with China.
Cambodia has a total of 1,947 factories with a registered investment value of $15.7 billion as of June this year, as per a report by the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation.
The products made by these manufacturing factories in the first half of 2022 increased by 75 per cent to $7.57 billion. The factors exported products worth $5.26 billion and the rest were sold domestically.
From January to July of this year, 112 new factories opened while 47 factories closed down. FTA with China, RCEP, and strong demand for Cambodia-made products in the US and Europe, which are Cambodia’s main markets, have built confidence in investors to invest in Cambodia, says HengSokkung, Secretary of State and Spokesman.
Securing sufficient raw materials to local production chains is another factor in building bold confidence in investors, he said, citing that those raw materials are imported mainly from China.
The manufacturing sector is estimated to contribute 39.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022, he said, adding that the sector has created some 1.04 million jobs.
Among the manufacturing plants in Cambodia, 1,100 are garment, footwear and travel goods factories, and the rest are food and beverage, automotive assembly, cement, electronics, and pharmaceutical factories, among others. The garment, footwear and travel goods industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia.
