"Twenty-eight representatives from leading garment brands came to Cambodia last week for the two-day meeting of the International Buyers' Forum organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)" and stated "they are recommending that their companies continue sourcing from Cambodia," said the release.
Forum participants remain very optimistic about Cambodia's garment industry, Tuomo Poutiainen, Chief Technical Advisor of ILO's Better Factories Cambodia program, was quoted as saying.
"Participants told me that subject to customer demand, on-going monitoring from Better Factories Cambodia and continuing good results, their companies are very positive about producing garments in Cambodia," he said.
"It confirmed both the relevance and importance of Better Factories Cambodia and stakeholders' belief and support for its new directions. There was consensus too that industry actors need to work more closely together, and the program needs to move beyond monitoring, and expand training and remediation. This view was widely shared by all the stakeholders," he added.
Membership in the forum comprises 32 brands which buy 60 percent of Cambodia's garment exports.
The forum, which takes place twice a year in Cambodia and Hong Kong, was convened by ILO and IFC to discuss the current work and future of ILO's Better Factories Cambodia.
Cambodia's garment sector is worth 2.6 billion U.S. dollars and is critically important to the estimated 350,000 workers and their extended family members who depend on the industry, a total of at least 1.7 million people.
| Editor: An |
No comments:
Post a Comment