Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Exports from SEZs soar 27% year-on-year

Exports from SEZs soar 27% year-on-year

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth said the total value of the Kingdom’s exports reached $2.688 billion last year. Hin Pisei

Exports from SEZs soar 27% year-on-year

Cambodia's exports through the special economic zones (SEZs) last year increased by about 27 per cent compared to 2018, Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth said on Thursday.

Speaking during a visit to the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ), Pornmoniroth said the total value of the Kingdom’s exports reached $2.688 billion last year.

As of the end of last year, he said there were 465 companies operating in the Kingdom’s 54 SEZs employing more than 100,000 workers.

Poipet Oneang SEZ brand manager Ly Kimhong told The Post on Sunday that exports from his SEZ increased significantly last year over 2018.

However, he did not have exact figures on the export of manufactured products from his SEZ, which is located in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town near the border with Thailand.

“With four major factories operating in the [Poipet] Oneang SEZ, I saw the volume of production and exports grow steadily,” said Kimhong.

He attributed the rise in investment in the Kingdom’s SEZs to better investment laws, more skilled workers and a more affordable labour force compared to Thailand, as well as a shift away from factory jobs among the Thais.

Poipet Oneang SEZ currently has four factories in operation – two of which are Thai-owned, one Chinese-owned and one Japanese – employing more than 7,000 workers. Two more factories are under construction.

Kimhong expressed confidence that favourable political conditions, economic growth and attractive investment laws will continue to buoy the number of new investments in the SEZ and its export volume this year.

“I am confident that exports of all kinds of products from the SEZ will increase this year,” he said.

Goods produced in the Kingdom’s SEZs are exported to many markets including Thailand, Japan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the US, Europe and Australia, said Kimhong. Exports include clothing, accessories, electric cars, electronics and jewellery boxes.

Royal Academy of Cambodia researcher Hong Vannak told The Post that improving the Kingdom’s international relations is key to boosting its exports over the long term.

However, he said the Kingdom must strive to improve the quality of its products and human resources.

“In order to sustain and increase exports, Cambodia needs to diversify its market and improve production capacity and the quality of its products in line with the [standards of their destination] countries,” he said.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Siem Reap airport to close after new one opens

    After the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) opens in October, the existing complex serving the northwestern province will be “completely closed”, according to State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) spokesman Sin Chansereyvutha. SAI developer Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd (AIAI) last month

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on