Kingdom sees 10 percent growth in manufacturing sector

Kingdom sees 10 percent growth in manufacturing sector

Cambodia’s manufacturing sector experienced a robust growth in 2024 with the number of manufactures reaching a new high of 2,316 as of November last year, a report from the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation showed.

The report issued last week showed a significant increase of 210 factories in the manufacturing sector, or 10 percent, compared to the 2,106 recorded as of the end of 2023.

The manufacturing factories employ over 1.1 million local people.

“The manufacturing sector plays an important role in driving Cambodia’s economic growth with estimated growth of 9.7 percent in 2024,” the report further read.

The GFT industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for the country.

The sector currently consists of about 1,538 factories and branches, employing approximately 913,000 workers, mostly female, according to a latest report from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training.

The garment manufacturing products including cloth, footwear, and travel goods increased by 8.6 percent last year, supported by external demand, particularly Cambodia’s key trade partner countries such as America and the European Union, read the report.

The non-garment manufacturing products increased by 10.9 percent, supported by external demand, investment, and the government’s economic diversification.

Sun Chanthol, Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice President of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), has emphasized the government’s commitment to economic diversification to attract more investment.

At a seminar on Cambodia’s Diversification Pathways – Insights from International Experience, held in Phnom Penh on Feb. 20, Chanthol outlined key reforms, policies and priorities to improve business and investment environment in Cambodia, stressing that economic diversification is essential to achieve Cambodia’s Vision 2050.

He also highlighted the positive potential of Cambodia, including young and dynamic workforce, government’s support for the growth of private business sector through Government-Private Sector Forum, flexible and preferential investment procedures, and digitalisation in public service such as the Investment Project Management System (cdcIPM), which makes it easy for investors to apply for investment online.

“The country has seen a significant increase in FDIs, showing a potential destination for both domestic and foreign investors. This reflects investors’ confidence in the strong political stability in Cambodia,” Chanthol said.

Cambodia attracted 414 fixed-asset investment projects worth a total of $6.9 billion in 2024, up 40 percent from $4.92 billion in the year before, according to a CDC’s report.

The new projects mainly focused on garment, travel goods, and footwear sectors, hotel development, hydroelectric power stations, freshwater ports, solar power plants, agriculture, amusement parks, car tyre plants, special economic zones, infrastructure, and telecommunication, among others.

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