The Shortage Of Raw Materials Has Been Caused By The Epidemic, And A Batch Of Garment Factories In Kampuchea Are Facing A Shutdown.

Kampuchea's Ministry of labour said on Monday that at least four garment processing plants in Kampuchea could be suspended because the outbreak of new crown virus caused delays in the supply of raw materials imported from China. Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said the supply of raw materials for clothing, yarn, buttons and soles is now delayed.

Heng Sour told Reuters: "if the factory is still not sure when to get raw materials from China in the second week of March, they may stop working for two to three weeks. "He said that four factories had expressed concern to the government. The four factories employ about 3000 workers. Heng Sour did not disclose the names of these factories or their processed brands.

The clothing industry is the largest industry in Kampuchea, creating an annual revenue of 7 billion US dollars for the Kampuchea economy.

The Ministry of health in Kampuchea said in a statement that the only confirmed case of the new crown virus in the country was a Chinese citizen living in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, which was restored to health on Monday.

Meanwhile, Kampuchea's clothing industry is also facing the threat of EU's cancellation of trade preferences.

Kampuchea has benefited from the EU's trade plan for all goods except weapons, which aims to promote the economic development of developing countries in the world and allow Kampuchea to export most of its goods to the EU without paying tariffs. In 2017, the total value of Kampuchea's exports to the EU was 5 billion euros. In 2016, EU countries accounted for about 40% of Kampuchea's export market. Kampuchea's main export products are mainly clothing. About 700 thousand of the country's population is employed by garment enterprises.

In September 2018, the UN Human Rights Council investigation group issued a report accusing the Burmese army of genocide against ethnic Roh people. Therefore, the EU has considered the grounds for violating human rights seriously, considering the cancellation of preferential treatment granted to Kampuchea. The EU will make a final decision on Wednesday.

Adidas (Adidas), PUMA (Puma) and Levi Strauss (Levi's) and other international clothing and footwear brands have sent letters to Kampuchea leader Hong Sen (Hun Sen), claiming that the labour and human rights problems in the country may lead to the EU's lifting of trade preferences for the clothing industry.

People familiar with the matter said that the EU might not completely cancel all trade preferences, and is expected to maintain some support for the apparel industry to help protect factory workers' livelihoods.