Cambodia expects garment exports to drop 30 per cent in 2009

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian government expects garment exports will decline by at least 30 per cent this year due mainly to lower demand in the key US market, local media reported Wednesday. "It is clear that this year's garment exports will drop at least 30 per cent because consumers in the United States have cut purchases," Mean Sophea, the head of the Ministry of Commerce's trade preferences department, told The Phnom Penh Post.

Earlier this year the government said it expected garment exports to drop just 5 per cent in 2009.

However, trade union president Chea Mony predicted that exports would fall even further.

"We are concerned that the situation of Cambodia's garment exports will deteriorate even further than that predicted by the [ministry] unless the government can get rid of rampant corruption in the garment sector," said Chea Mony.

Garments are Cambodia's key foreign exchange earner, generating 3.1 billion US dollars last year. Most garments are exported to the US market and the European Union.