Athens Journal of Business and Economics - Volume 2, Issue 1 – Pages 33-46

Cambodiaʼs Garment Industry and Labor

Conditions - A Showcase for Social
Sustainability, or not better than its Neighbors?

By Nathalie Homlong
Elisabeth Springler†

The garment industry accounts for a lion’s share of Cambodiaʼs exports, and about a
quarter of industrial employment in the country. An agreement with the USA on
preferential trade terms based on the stipulation of better working conditions led to an
improvement of working conditions in Cambodiaʼs garment industry. This also has
had a positive effect on demand for garments produced in Cambodia, as good working
conditions are increasingly important for clothing brands. In the last years, however,
after the end of a trade agreement with the USA, the industry has been increasingly
experiencing strikes and labor unrest, as well as a decline in demand. Also, China (a
major investor in this industry) has partly moved production to cheaper locations.
This leads to the following research questions/starting points:

 Assessment of the labor conditions in the garment industry in Cambodia.

 What are the potentials and challenges for sustainable social development in
Cambodiaʼs textile industry?

The paper combines qualitative and quantitative research methods by integrating a

SWOT analysis and analysis of statistical data to show the tensions between economic
development and social cohesion in this emerging economy.

Introduction

Economic development in less developed economies and emerging

markets in Asia focused in the past decades mostly on export driven economic
growth (Oately 2010). This trend is also observable in Cambodia (Ravin and
Cheong 2013), starting first in the 1970s and then again in the 1990s after the
end of the Khmer Rouge regime, with numerous structural reforms towards
becoming a market economy. This strategy was especially pursued in the
decade before the global financial crisis, when Cambodia experienced
economic growth rates of around 10%. Negative effects of such an approach of
economic development cumulated in the past in economic downturns and
recessions, after supply chains shifted towards other export-oriented
economies. Therefore, export-oriented economies, which lack internal demand
to compensate for diminishing external demand in the case that supply chains
are shifted, tend to cut on monetary and social compensation for workers, or


Professor, Volda University College, Norway.
†
Professor, Program Director European Economy and Business Management, UAS bfi Vienna,
Austria.

https://doi.org/10.30958/ajbe.2-1-3 doi=10.30958/ajbe.2-1-3
Vol. 2, No. 1 Homlong et al.: Cambodia’s Garment Industry and Labor Conditions…

even disobey fundamental regulations against child labor to keep up the

economic position in the global production network. Consequently, trade
liberalization policies, which are favored in less developed economies to
promote the national export sector, might be seen as stumbling blocks against
sustainable social development. Such policies being implemented at the low-
skilled-labour-intensive apparel sector characterized by low-entry barriers
could lead to an increasing probability of strike from the workers’ side, loss in
firms’ productivity and reallocation of the companies to competitor countries
offering more favorable production conditions (Staritz 2012).
In the case of Cambodia, this specific sector has been one of the driving
forces of economic growth. As it is estimated that the garment industry
comprises about 500,000 employees and 500 factories (Better Work 2014), this
sector is of significant importance for the countryʼs overall economic
development. Facing these developments, Cambodiaʼs authorities introduced in
the past years changes in the legal settings as well as institutional reforms to
improve labor conditions. This should enable the economy to follow a
structured approach of economic development that allows for sustainable social
and economic development-following among others the examples of Taiwan
and South Korea in applying the so-called East Asian Model of Development
(Oately 2010).
Therefore, this paper analyzes the recent structural and institutional
reforms in the garment sector aiming at social sustainable development and
good working conditions and assesses in the following the strengths and
weaknesses of the Cambodian garment industry in a SWOT analysis.

Setting the Theoretical Scene in Cambodiaʼs Developing Economic

Environment: On the Importance of the Labor Market for Sustainable
Development

The garment industry, as well as tourism, construction, and agriculture, are

major drivers for economic growth in Cambodia (Central Intelligence Agency
2013). In spite of strong economic growth rates before the global economic
crisis and a recovery of GDP growth following the crisis (coming to 7.0% in
2014, Asian Development Bank 2015), GDP per capita is still below the
average among developing Asian nations. Since 1990, the gap between GDP
per capita in purchasing power parities between Cambodia and other
developing Asian nations has even continuously widened (World Economic
Forum 2013). In the years before the global economic crisis, a concentration of
wealth in the hands of the richest 10% of the population could be observed.
Also wage inequalities are pronounced, but the gap in earnings between
workers with high and low wages has become smaller in recent years.
(International Labor Office 2012)
The period of rising growth rates that Cambodia has been through is not a
unique phenomenon for developing countries. Numerous Asian economies, e.g.

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Athens Journal of Business and Economics January 2016

China, Taiwan and Singapore experienced high economic development over

the last decades and managed to achieve a sustainable development path.
Nevertheless, many other economies of the region are constantly lagging
behind and serve as suppliers for low technology products. While standard
economic approaches, e.g. studies in line of tradition of Heckscher-Ohlin-
Samuelson (Leamer 1995), suggest that export strategies of less developed
economies in combination with liberal trade policies lead to economic growth
and further on also to a convergence of prices for production factors,
alternative approaches show that such strategies might only lead to short-term
economic growth. Following the Singer-Prebish hypothesis, especially the
export of low technology products and agricultural products do not lead to
sustainable growth, but due to low income elasticity of these products only to
short-term economic development (Oately 2010). Income increases in
importing economies lead to an erosion of exports for less developed
economies. Therefore, it is imperative that the production sectors of less
developed economies do not concentrate on the exploitation of cheap and
unskilled labor, but aim to promote active industrial policies in combination
with exports.
Following Myrdal (1973), who has shown the negative effects of rapid
industrialization in Asian Economies, these policies have to consider both the
structural background of these economies and the potential for development of
small and medium sized enterprises in these nations. Additionally,
improvements in education promote economic progress. Regardless the fact
that Gunnar Myrdal’s analysis focuses on the Asian situation in the decades
after the Second World War, the theoretical discussion of how to overcome
economic underdevelopment is unchanged. While analysis in the line of
neoclassical economies claims that the economic development process has to
aim at the supply side and that the labor market should impose as flexible
wages as possible to respond to the business cycle, alternative approaches
focus on the importance of the institutional and structural settings of the
respective economies, and have a more differentiated view of the labor market,
following a segmented market theory.
Given the empirical evidences of the Cambodian economy discussed
above, the latter approach seems to be better suited to promote sustainable
development of the economy.

Segmented Production Sectors and Labor Demand Inter-linkages between

Labor Demand and Economic Development

Unlike standard economic approaches, which mainly assume full

competition in their understanding of production sectors, alternatives assume
that sub-sectors of the production sector show different competitive structures.
Differences in the competitive environment are especially visible when
clustering production sub-sectors according to their level of capital and
technology use in production (Appelbaum 1979, Seccareccia 1991). While
higher production-subsectors, which use higher levels of technology, are

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Vol. 2, No. 1 Homlong et al.: Cambodia’s Garment Industry and Labor Conditions…

situated in a less competitive environment, sectors with lower capital to labor

ratios are more competitive. Additionally, these sectors are also characterized
by lower skilled labor and lower wage levels. Consequently, production sectors
with higher technology ratios and higher skilled labor forces also invest in the
further education of their employees and show a more stable demand for labor,
compared to companies with lower capital to labor ratios. This leads also to
segmentation within the labor market, into a so-called primary and secondary
market (Appelbaum 1979). Therefore, the labor market does not lead to
equilibrium between supply and demand independently from the production
sector, but depends on the structural features of the goods market (King 2001).

Linkages between the Labor Market Structure and Economic Development

Given the facts discussed in the previous section, two implications for the
promotion of economic development can be derived: Firstly, it means that a
lack in higher technology sectors also hinders national macroeconomic demand
and increases the dependence on an emerging market of exports. Secondly, the
segmentation of the labor market also promotes increasing income inequality
between employees (King 2001), and hinders the establishment of a so-called
middle class (Appelbaum 1985). The relative wage increase of rather small
elite of employees in the higher technology sectors diminishes also overall
national consumption, compared to a situation of more equal wages.
Promoting, national consumption, which in turn should enable to fulfill the
transition from a less developed economy towards a higher developed economy
as it was shown, for example by the adjusted structural approaches of Japan
(Oatlely 2010), which focused on a strong educational element, mainly these
economic policies are demanded (King 2001) by enforceable worker rights as
elements of the re-regulation of the labor market, wage-fixing institutions to
establish and maintain the real value of minimum wages, and public sector
intervention on the labor market especially for those who are unemployed.
As the focus of this paper, is the potential of the garment industry in
Cambodia for sustainable economic and social development, unemployment is
only touched marginally. Therefore, the potential of the sector to promote
sustainable economic development will be measured by its capability to
promote national consumption. This in turn should enable capital accumulation
and promote innovation in other sectors of the economy.
Following from this, especially the demanded economic policies regarding
the level and enforcements of labor rights and working conditions and the
institutional structure of the wage bargaining process shall be analyzed.

Cambodiaʼs Garment Industry

In this section first the significance of the garment industry for

Cambodiaʼs economy is highlighted. This is followed by an analysis of the
institutional settings, relevant international agreements, and labor conditions in

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Athens Journal of Business and Economics January 2016

the garment industry, which serve as the basis for an analysis of strengths and
weaknesses of this sector in the following section.

Importance for the Economy and International Agreements

The Cambodian garment industry was established rather recently, in 1994,

with the help of foreign direct investments. The Cambodian government
followed a policy aiming at actively attracting foreign investors with generous
incentives (Source ASEAN 2010). Approximately 15% of Cambodiaʼs GDP
(Asuyama and Neou 2012) and about 80% of the country’s total export revenue
(Better Factories) are generated by the garment industry. Cambodia is among
the leading exporting nations of garments, however the share on the world
market does not account for more than 1%1.
An important milestone for Cambodiaʼs garment industry was the
Bilateral Textile Agreement with the United States. The agreement, which was
signed in 1999 and was in force until 2005, was the only USA bilateral labor
agreement that linked increased market access to improved compliance with
labor regulations. Standards included among others payment of minimum
wages, limiting hours of work, prohibition of child labor and forced labor, and
freedom of association (Wells 2006). This led to Cambodia developing a
reputation as a labor-friendly producer of garments, which in turn helped
increase employment and exports.
Today the "Everything but Arms" initiative by the EU for LDCs is a major
driver for Cambodiaʼs garment exports to the European Union (Phnom Penh
Securities 2012). This is also reflected in strong increases of garment exports
from Cambodia to the EU. These reached USD 400 million in the first quarter
of 2014, that is an increase by 24% compared to the same period in 2013. In
the first quarter of 2014 garments worth USD 462 million were exported to the
USA - a decrease by 11% compared to the first quarter of 2013 (GMAC 2014).

Institutional Settings

Workers’ rights and labor conditions are set in the Labor Code of 1997 and
the eight core labor conventions of the ILO were signed in 1999 (National
Institute of Statistics 2010). The Labor Code gave the Ministry of Labor the
authority to set minimum wages. So far the garment, textile and footware
industry is the only industries were minimum wages have been set (Cambodia
Institute of Development Study 2009). The establishment of trade unions and
the process of collective bargaining in the garment industry emerged primarily
after 2004. In the year 2004 first collective bargaining agreements were
reached in the hotel industry (National Institute of Statistics 2010). For the
garment industry, the government supported the establishment of the federation
of employers, the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC),
which as the oldest employers’ association was established in 1996 (ACTIF
2010). In industrial relations 28 federations of trade unions represent workers
1
Figure for 2011; Table II.69 (WTO 2013).

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in the garment sector and interact with the employers’ associations in the
garment industry, which are members in the umbrella organization The
Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations (National
Institute of Statistics 2010).
As Figure 1 shows, unionization rates in the garment industry increased
after the global financial crisis from 43% to 58%, indicating the workers’
overall willingness to engage in the bargaining processes and in improving
working conditions. Similarly, numerous garment factories reported to have at
least one workers’ union in their company. Nevertheless, the social pressure on
workers is apparent when looking at the percentage of companies admitting to
violating the workers’ rights to forming an association. Data seems to reflect
the dual picture of the current situation in the Cambodian garment industry.
While a majority of companies aims at observing labor standards, the situation
is getting worse for workers in a minority of companies, where not even
fundamental rights are adhered to.

Figure 1. Union Density and Freedom of Association 2008-2013

90 10
80 9
70 8
60 7
6
50
5
40
4
30 3
20 2
10 1
0 0
1/2013 2/2012 1/2012 2/2011 1/2011 2/2010 1/2010 2/2009 1/2009 2/2008
unions (at least one union) (left scale)
unionization rate (left scale)
freedom of association (interference with freedom of association) (right scale)

Source: Better Factories (various years).

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between GMAC and six

(now eight) major trade union federations and renewed in 2012 to comply with
the existing labor dispute resolution mechanism, which states that the right to
strike is guaranteed after the labor dispute resolution procedure is exhausted
(GMAC 2013). In spite of that, the number of strikes is increasing. During the
global financial crisis a decrease in the overall number of strikes could be
observed (from 105 in 2008 to 34 in 2011). As Figure 2 shows, the number of
strikes increased in 2012 by more than 250% to 121 strikes. Lost man-days in
this period cumulated to more than 540,000 (GMAC 2013). A major reason for
the ongoing labor disputes is the demand to increase minimum wages in the
garment industry.

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Athens Journal of Business and Economics January 2016

Figure 2. Number of Strikes and Percentage Change 2003-2013

140 300
120 250
100 200
150
80
100
60
50
40 0
20 -50
0 -100
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Total Annual Percentage Change

Source: GMAC website.

Socio-economic Characteristics of the Workers

With 83% (Figure for 2009), the workforce in this industry consists
predominantly of female workers (Savchenko and Acevedo 2012). About 85 to
90% of the workers originate from rural regions and migrated to more central
areas, where production sites are located. Earnings sent by workers to their
families residing in peripheral areas are also a major economic factor for the
rural areas of origin of these workers (Arnold 2013). Female garment workers
have on average 6.5 years of schooling, slightly more than the average of 6
years of schooling for the rest of the female labor force (Savchenko and
Acevedo 2012).

Labor Conditions, Monitoring and Compliance with Regulations

Fires and the collapse of a building in textile and garment factories in

Bangladesh in 2012 and 2013 have called international attention to working
conditions in textile and garment factories in developing countries. The
discussion of working conditions raises the question of how "good" working
conditions can be defined. As Table 1 shown, working conditions comprise a
multitude of dimensions and indicators, and with several of these indicators the
minimum standards can be subject to discussion. The International Labor
Organization launched an approached called "Decent Work", which is defined
as "productive work for women and men in conditions of freedom, equity,
security and human dignity" (Öz 2008). Decent Work includes also dimensions
which are related to the overall living conditions of the workers, and which go
beyond the working conditions at the workplace, like combining work and
family. In contrast to the ILO’s approach, this paper intends to analyze changes
in actual working conditions. Therefore, the focus is put on wage,
leave/holiday and contract related indicators, as it can be assumed that these
are the areas in which employers will see the greatest incentive in
discontinuing high work standards after the end of the Bilateral Textile
Agreement, since these standards would have the highest potential for savings

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Vol. 2, No. 1 Homlong et al.: Cambodia’s Garment Industry and Labor Conditions…

in employee related costs. Since a worsening in these conditions can be

expected to result in increased actions by unions, the status of freedom of
association discussed in the relevant section pertaining to the institutional
environment of the market is a significant determinant of the level to which the
garment industry complies with the legislation.

Table 1. Working Conditions

Category Indicators
Wage per hour
Remuneration Minimum payment requirements not observed/observed/exceeded
Overtime payment
Paid sickleave
Additional
Maternity leave
benefits
Health insurance
Equipment
Lighting
Physical work Temperature
environment Ventilation
Emergency exits
Emergency routines
Daily / weekly / monthly work hours
Overtime per day / week / month
Work time Night work
and time off Breaks
Number of holidays
Number of sickdays
Exposure to harmful substances, noise, risky work settings
Health Accidents
Health services
Work contract Permanent/temporary/no contract
Unionization permitted
Child labor
Other
Forced work
Discrimination
Source: Own presentation.

Figure 3 shows the compliance with regulations by factories that are

monitored by the Better Factory initiative. This initiative is run by the
International Labor Organization and is supported by the government, trade
unions, as well as the industry employers’ association. Monitoring whether
working conditions in the garment industry are in line with national and
international labor standards is at the core of Better Factories’ activities (Better
Factories various years). In the time period 2008 to 2013 especially the share of
companies paying for maternity leaves fluctuated strongly, with particularly
low compliance rates in 2010. On the other hand, payments of minimum wages
for regular and piece-rate workers show a steady high adherence rate, while it
seems that rather payments to casual workers are used by employers to cut
labor related costs during periods of economic downturn. When it comes to

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Athens Journal of Business and Economics January 2016

hourly wage levels for garment workers in Cambodia, these are with USD 0.33
per hour among the lowest compared to the country’s main regional
competitors in East and South East Asia (Staritz 2011: Table 4.13). In this
context a comparison of wages in the garment industry compared to other
professions in Cambodia is also of interest. In an interview conducted in 2010,
a representative of a company that monitors working conditions in the garment
industry in Cambodia commented that the wage levels in the garment industry
in Cambodia were still clearly above those of other professions. While the
minimum wage for the garment industry was at USD 61, the minimum wage
for example for police was only USD 25 at that time (interview Gridling,
2010). In general, casual workers make up a significant share of the work force
in the monitored garment factories. Another important aspect in the contractual
framework is the fact that only a minority of workers, who are employed in a
garment factory over two years, also have a contract of a year or longer. More
than 40% of workers, who work for one company for more than two years, do
not even have a formal work contract.

Figure 3. Labor Conditions-Payments

100

95

90

85

80

75

70

65

60

55

50
1/2013 2/2012 1/2012 2/2011 1/2011 2/2010 1/2010 2/2009 1/2009 2/2008
payment for maternity leave paid sick leave

minimum wage for regulat workers minimum wage for casual workers

minimum wage for piece-rate workers 18 days of annual leave

Source: Better Factories (various years).

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Vol. 2, No. 1 Homlong et al.: Cambodia’s Garment Industry and Labor Conditions…

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Sector

As the sector showed strong economic dynamics in the last years and
experienced as well institutional and structural changes, specific strengths and
weaknesses can be detected. These are in the following explored. Furthermore,
this sections aims to shed some light on the potential reasons for the existing
shortcomings of the apparel sector in Cambodia.

SWOT Analysis

In Table 2 below is presented a summary of strengths and weaknesses of

the sector according to the current institutional and structural framework of the
sector in Cambodia. The strengths of the sector are apparent by the experience
of the economy in the apparel sector, as well as the demographic and education
settings. The sector still represents high potential growth for an economy with
a comparatively low educated labor force and low capital accumulation.
While, the strengths of the sector are mainly economically driven, the
major weaknesses are on the legal and social level. Especially, the still existing
high level of child labor has to be counted as a major weakness. As presented
in the section regarding the specificities of the Cambodian garment industry,
social benefits like maternity leaves are already implemented in many
companies, similarly to the increasing awareness to create better working
conditions. Despite the attempt to improve working conditions, fundamental
rights of children are still disobeyed in numerous factories.

Table 2. SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses
 Experience  Child labor
 Labor force  In-transparent labor contracts
Opportunities Threats
 Textile value chain  Low wage level increases number of
 Improvements in working conditions, strikes
might offset low wage level  Dependence on neighboring economies
Source: Own presentation.

Depending on how the value chain in the apparel sector is transformed in

Cambodia in the future, also opportunities for the sector can arise. Currently,
most value added comes from direct production, which accounts for only minor
value changes in the overall value added curve in the apparel industry (Staritz
2012: Figure 4). All other services, like distribution, marketing, but also design
and the purchase of logistics services for raw materials produce a higher added
economic value. Therefore, the Cambodian apparel sector could create further
economic opportunities by widening the services along the value chain in the
garment sector.
These opportunities are also strongly related to the potential threats of the
sector. Currently, the major part of factories is foreign owned. According to a
study by the World Bank (Staritz 2011: Figure 4.2), 25% of Cambodian

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Athens Journal of Business and Economics January 2016

garment companies are owned by FDIs from Taiwan, 19% by FDIs from Hong
Kong, and 18% by FDIs from China. Only a minority of 7% of garment
companies are Cambodian-owned. This dependence on these economies and
other economic actors (e.g. companies, investors and institutions) pose the
threat that main elements of the value chain of garment production can in the
future be transferred to other economies. Additional threats can be detected
related to wage levels, which are too low, resulting in strikes and hampering
social peace. Therefore a further increase in the minimum wage level could
serve as a tool to minimize this threat.

Figure 4. Child Labor and Labor Rights Discrimination 2008-2013

20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1/2013 2/2012 1/2012 2/2011 1/2011 2/2010 1/2010 2/2009 1/2009 2/2008

child labor (percentages using child labor) discrimination

Source: Better Factories (various years).

Analysis of Reasons for Shortcomings in Cambodia

One of the major shortcomings in the labor structure in Cambodiaʼs

garment industry is the still high percentage of child labor. Figure 4 shows the
estimates of child labor according to a survey by the project Better Factories.
Despite the fact that the percentage of companies varies significantly in 6-
months periods, the percentage of child labor has even increased in the last
years. While 9% of companies admitted to using child labor in 2011, only 1%
indicated that in 2008/2009. Also, the interviewed representative of a company
that monitors labor conditions in the garment industry stated that in 2010 there
was virtually no child labor and little forced labor at that time (interview
Gridling), underlining the increase in child labor in recent years. Comparing
this data with the fact that Cambodiaʼs apparel industry managed to achieve
significant increases in growth after the economic downturn due to the global
financial crisis, it can be concluded that part of the success of Cambodiaʼs
garment industry is built on disobeying fundamental rights. Similarly a
significant percentage of factories admit to discriminating labor rights like
maternal leave (Figure 4), and as shown in Figure 5, over 40% of workers have
no contract.

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Vol. 2, No. 1 Homlong et al.: Cambodia’s Garment Industry and Labor Conditions…

Reasons for these shortcomings might be the strong increase in the number
of garment factories over the last years (412 exporting factories in the sector in
April 2013 compared to 261 in April 2009 and 313 factories in November
2008, Better Factories: various years) and the ongoing global pressure on the
wage level, which had already been comparatively low before the global
financial crisis and despite of international pressure, would need a significant
rise to create sustainable internal consumer demand.

Figure 5. Contract Duration of Workers Employed at Current Factory for over

2 Years

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Source: Better Factories (various years).
0
no contract UDC 1 year + 6 months-1 3-6 months < 3mont
Conclusions and Outlook year
The Bilateral Textile Agreement with the United States had helped
improving the working conditions in the Cambodian garment industry.
However, as shown in this paper, some aspects of working conditions in this
industry have not been maintained. Especially, in recent years part of the
companies cut corners in an attempt to reduce labor related costs when aiming
to compete with other low-cost producers. This has among others had the effect
that increasing numbers of factories are paying below minimum wages for
casual workers and are not following regulations regarding the payment of
maternity benefits. Child labor has become a lot more widespread in the
garment industry in recent years. The worsening of labor conditions is reflected
in a significant increase in the number of strikes. While such cost-cutting
practices might have short-term benefits for the producers, they threaten to
undermine the competitive position of Cambodia as a garment producer in the
long term. International clothing brands are under increasing scrutiny and
pressure to sell products that are produced under good working conditions. By
no longer adhering to standards set under the agreement with the United States,
Cambodia is giving up a unique selling position in an industry that can easily

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Athens Journal of Business and Economics January 2016

relocate to other business locations, especially given the fact that the majority
of garment producers in Cambodia are foreign owned.

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Interview

Personal Interview (2010) Gridling, Max, Cosmos Services, Phnom Penh.

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