Marvel Garment Co Ltd plans to take its factory online early next month. Photo supplied
The Chinese-owned Marvel Garment Co Ltd plans to take its factory in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone (PPSEZ) online early next month despite the lingering presence of Covid-19.
Marvel Garment is the local arm of leading Chinese clothing manufacturer Shenzhou International Group Holdings Ltd. PPSEZ is the Kingdom’s second-largest industrial zone after Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone and is located on 357ha in Kambol district’s Kantaok commune on the western outskirts of the capital.
Cambodian-listed PPSEZ operator Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone Plc (PPSP) on Monday said the company had completed Phase I construction of its facility after having broken ground in March last year.
It said: “The company will recruit 5,000 workers to produce masks for export to the Japanese market.”
General manager Yan Delin said: “We’ve decided to move forward, despite this challenging time, so that we can prepare for the post-Covid-19 world. In doing so, we will continue to create more job opportunities in Cambodia.”
PPSP previously said it had signed a lease agreement for additional land with Marvel Garment. It said the company has continuously expanded its project at PPSEZ, which is currently in Phase III of development and covers an area of 43ha.
It said the project is designed as a cluster of garment manufacturing plants, with tailoring, sewing, packaging, warehousing, and printing and embroidery in a complete set.
The transaction involves the lease of 6.4ha of land and is another symbol of cooperation between the two companies to jointly vitalise employment and the economy, it said.
The company has begun to prepare worker’s dormitories and surrounding facilities and he expects the project to create 17,000 local jobs, it added.
Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) in June some 250 Cambodian apparel, footwear and travel goods factories have had to suspend operations and more than 130,000 workers in the sector, most of whom are women, have lost their jobs and this number is likely to rise sharply.
In the first quarter of this year, it said, many buyers cancelled orders after they were completed or while in process. It is estimated that the Cambodian apparel, footwear and travel goods sales in the second quarter of the year will likely fall by 50 to 60 per cent on a yearly basis.
PPSP customer service manager Hak Serey told The Post on May 31 that PPSP has a total of 108 companies operating in the PPSEZ.
PPSEZ saw $1.139 billion in trade volume last year, up 14 per cent from 2018, reported PPSP.
Ministry of Economy and Finance data show that Cambodia exported $2.688 billion worth of goods through special economic zones (SEZs) last year, up 27 per cent over 2018.
There were 465 companies operating in the Kingdom’s 54 SEZs employing more than 100,000 workers.
