ONE of Cambodia's major garment factories says the bankruptcy of its Hong Kong parent will not affect local operations.  The Phnom Penh factory employs 4,812 workers.

The South China Morning Post reported last week that Tack Fat Group International has defaulted on its loans and that liquidators have been appointed, but the Cambodian office claims it's business as usual. "I don't know how people get this info, but we are working as normal," an office administrator at Tack Fat Garment (Cambodia) Ltd told the Post Wednesday.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said, "This factory may close because of the world financial crisis. This is a big factory, and these factories have rarely been bankrupted in the past."

Kaing Monika, External Affairs Manager for the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said that he had not received word that the Tack Fat bankruptcy will affect its Cambodian operations.

"It is true that it is not a good sign because this factory has many workers," said Kaing Monika, "but we don't have information."

Pich Sophoan, secretary of state at the Labor Ministry, and Thon Virak, the deputy director general at the Foreign Trade General Department of Commerce Ministry, declined to comment.

Ny You, a press officer at the International Labour Organization, said the factory is still in operation.