The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has begun seeking technical advisors to assist in the creation of a Cambodia Garment Training Institute.

After receiving an approximately $3 million loan from French development body, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), GMAC has begun advertising for advisors who could help formulate curricula for students looking to either break into or receive additional education in the garment business, said GMAC secretary general Ken Loo.

“We offer a variety of programs from short to medium to long term . . . [on] a variety of topics,” Loo said yesterday.

“We would have different processes for different levels . . . We hope to fill in some of the skill gaps in the [country].”

While Cambodia’s garment sector currently employs about 700,000 people, the new institute would work toward replacing more than 8,000 skilled expatriate-held positions with a “competent” local workforce, a GMAC job posting says.

The action is meant to increase the local industry’s sustainability.

To increase competitiveness in the Kingdom’s garment sector, GMAC’s institute hopes to train enough people per year to fill the current gap of about 4,000 skilled workers in the first few years.

Some courses will be offered in the form of long-term training to 240 young people with no garment backgrounds per year, according to GMAC.

Short-term training will be offered to about 1,600 people each year already working in the industry, and consulting services for active businesses will also be part of the institute.

However, courses on offer “have not been finalised”, Loo said.