PHNOM PENH, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported garment, footwear and travel goods products worth 12.63 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, up 14.9 percent from 10.99 billion dollars a year earlier, said a report from the General Department of Customs and Excise released on Tuesday.
The Southeast Asian country exported garment products worth 9.03 billion dollars, footwear items worth nearly 1.74 billion dollars, and travel goods worth 1.86 billion dollars last year, a year-on-year increase of 12.7 percent, 24.8 percent, and 17.6 percent, respectively, the report said.
Garment, footwear and travel goods industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia. The sector consists of roughly 1,100 factories and branches, employing approximately 750,000 workers, mostly female.
The report showed that the garment, footwear and travel goods products accounted for 56.1 percent of the kingdom's total export of 22.48 billion dollars last year.
Ministry of Commerce's Undersecretary of State and Spokesman Penn Sovicheat attributed the growth to the full resumption of socio-economic activities in Cambodia, trade preferences and rising global demand.
"The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, which took effect in January 2022, has also given a boost to this growth," he told Xinhua.
The RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. ■