PHNOM PENH – Up to 60 per cent of Cambodia’s garment manufacturing facilities could be forced to suspend operations by the end of the month – impacting an estimated 300,000 workers – if buyers don’t honour their contractual obligations, according to the secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), Ken Loo.
This warning comes as a new report has highlighted the crippling effects cancelled or postponed orders from brands has had on suppliers in Bangladesh, where more than a million garment workers have now lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It was only February when Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training projected that 10 per cent of its garment manufacturers could be forced to temporarily close due to material shortages, but as the pandemic worsens and brands retract on typically routine trade agreements, this could soon increase by 50 per cent.
