New factory openings totalled 221 in 2020 according to the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation.

The ministry also reported that 100 closed down from COVID-19 related factors.

The total number of factories in the Kingdom at year’s end was 1,853. These factories employed 900,000 local workers, said the ministry’s Secretary of State Heng Sokkong.

Sokong noted: “[in  spite of] the COVID-19 crisis, [and] negative [impacts] around the globe, [investor confidence in] the Cambodian government resulted in many factories being opened.”

In 2020, 178 new investment projects with an investment capital of $4.147 billion were approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia. Most were in the garment and textile sector.

The factories opened represent a diversity of production ranging from garments to high-technology-equipped factories manufacturing solar panels and electronic components.

2020’s factory closures were mainly garment manufacturers and sub-contractors supplying semi-finished products.

Factories that shut did so primarily for COVID-19 related reasons such as the lack of raw materials disrupting factories’ ability to execute purchase orders, according to the ministry.

Cambodia’s exports in clothes, footwear and travel goods declined by 9 percent for the first 10 months of the year, according to the latest data from the General Department of Customs and Excise.

• Tags: Factories