Exports from Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Cambodia are projected to reach about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars this year, up 87 percent year-on-year, a local English newspaper reported Tuesday, citing figures from the Commerce Ministry.
Exports from SEZs totalled 672 million U.S. dollars last year. So Socheat, director of the commerce ministry's Europe, Middle East and Africa department, said the surge was due to economic growth and the government's attractive investment policies.
"Our economy is growing around 7 percent annually and our policies encourage investment, so this is attracting investors," he was quoted by the Khmer Times as saying. He said more exports are going to Europe thanks to duty-and quota-free access to the European Union under its "everything but arms" trade treaty.
"In general, the export destination has changed its direction a bit to the European market over the last few years," he said, adding that the U.S. market had been the major destination for Cambodian goods such as garments and footwear.
Garments and footwear are the major exports to the EU, but rice, Kampot pepper and bicycles are also being exported to the world's largest market, he added. Sok Chenda Sophea, secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), said SEZs will play a key role in job creation and diversification.
"Thanks to SEZs, we were able to first create additional jobs, but most importantly we created jobs not far from the villages workers live in," he was quoted by the newspaper as saying. SEZs have brought almost 70,000 new jobs to the country, according to an October report from the Asian Development Bank. Cambodia initiated the establishment of SEZs in 2006.
To date, the CDC has approved 33 SEZs, of which 11 are operational as the rest are under construction. SEZs are mostly located along the borders with Thailand and Vietnam, and some are on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and in coastal Preah Sihanouk province.
The government sees the SEZs as an important part to boost the economic development as they bring infrastructure, jobs, skills and enhanced productivity, according to the CDC.
Products produced in the zones include vehicles and spare parts, bikes, garment, shoes, pure drinking water, food and beverages, electric products, sugar and agro-products.
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