Thailand
Cambodia’s manufacturing output hit $15.8 billion in 2022
Cambodia’s manufacturing output hit $15.8 billion in 2022, a remarkable increase of 83 percent year on year, thanks to both domestic and international market demands after the Covid-19 pandemic waned worldwide.
A report by the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation yesterday showed that 186 new factories were opened last year, a growth of five percent, bringing the total number of active factories to 1,982.
The registered manufacturing factories had a total investment value of $16.6 billion as of last year, up 21 percent compared to a year before, the ministry said. The sector has created some one million jobs in the country, 75 percent of whom are women.
As many as 83 factories were shut down last year, the report read.
Cham Prasidh, Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, said that the manufacturing output rose by 83 percent to $15.8 billion last year.
Products worth $11.4 billion were exported while $4.35 billion were sold on the domestic market, he said.
“The industrial sector remained stable last year after facing the effects of Covid-19 in the previous years that led to disruption of factory operations and reduction of export orders,” Prasidh said at an annual meeting to review the ministry’s works in 2022. The meeting also set objectives for 2023.
Prasidh attributed the rise in industrial output to the government’s successful policy to counter the Covid-19 pandemic. The quick resumption of socio-economic activities was the main reason for the revival of the manufacturing sector.
“The increased use of information and digital technology, the expansion of export markets, and the development of the financial sector were the positive factors in the transformation of Cambodia into an important and potential production, business and investment location providing confidence to both local and foreign investors,” he said.
The ministry said the manufacturing sector was estimated to have contributed about 40 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022.
Garment, footwear and travel goods industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia last year.
Exports of Cambodia’s non-garment manufacturing products, including electronic components, bicycles, auto parts, furniture, leather, plastic and other industrial products also rose last year.
In late 2021, Cambodia introduced a new investment law to increase the country’s competitiveness for foreign investors by modernizing local industries and protecting the rights of investors.
Lim Heng, Vice President of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), as well as the country’s new investment law, were all key to attracting new investors.
“The opening of new factories clearly showed that Cambodia is a potential destination for both domestic and foreign investors,” Heng told Khmer Times.