|
|
Article: Cambodia's garment mills face impasse.(WORLD)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- September 5, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Erika Kinetz Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- Not much gets made in Cambodia except clothes.
Garments account for an astonishing 80 percent of this impoverished Southeast Asian nation's exports, and the World Bank estimates that the industry, which was worth $2.5 billion last year, helps support - directly or indirectly - about 1 in 5 Cambodians, according to government estimates.
US trade policy essentially created Cambodia's garment industry, thanks to a 1999 bilateral deal that granted Cambodia preferential access to US markets in exchange for guarantees on labor standards. Now some argue that US ...