Five of the companies, namely Remstex Fashion, Top Form, New Wide Apparel, General Enterprises and Sortics Alliance, will set up garment factories. Combined the five will create roughly 89% or 8,452 of the total number of new jobs targeted.
Remstex Fashion’s investment of USD$6m in Takeo province is expected to create 1,929 jobs, Top Form’s USD$9.5m in Kandal province will employ 850 people, New Wide Apparel’s USD$33m in Kandal province will create 3,700 positions, General Enterprises’ project, also in Kandal province, will add 937 jobs, and Sortics Alliance’s USD$5.2m in Kampong Chhanang’s Samaki Meanchey district will create 1,036 positions.
Hong Cen Max is investing USD$2.6m to build a bag-and-belt factory in Kandal province and aims to create 676 jobs. Cathaya’s USD$2.8m textile factory in Sihanoukville will hire around 170 people. CK Sports’ USD$5m factory will make footwear and sports equipment in the Manhattan Special Economic Zone in Bavet City, Svay Rieng Province and will provide work for around 210 locals.
The pandemic has hit manufacturing hard, forcing many plants to go out of business, so the new investments are a welcome boost for the garment manufacturing sector –Cambodia’s biggest employer. According to the Industry Ministry, 101 factories closed last year, most of them from the garment sector. In mid-May this year, 27 factories closed due to outbreaks with 75 going bankrupt.
