INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PAGES
where industries that depend on China
for raw materials are being hobbled as
their supplies dry up.
In Cambodia, the government today
warned about 200 factories making
mostly clothing will probably have to
slow or cease production entirely due
to a lack of raw materials. China—the
world’s biggest textile exporter—pro-
vides more than 60% of the materials
feeding Cambodia’s garment and tex-
tile factories, according to the coun-
try’s association of garment manufac-
turers. Prime Minister Hun Sen has
publicly urged the Chinese ambassa-
dor to send more materials by ship and
plane so the industry won’t have to
shut down.
Vietnam is facing similar situations in
its garment industry and beyond, with
China being a major supplier of steel
and components for electronics. “Car,
electronics and phone manufacturers
are experiencing difficulty in acquiring
supplies and materials due to disrup-
tions from the virus,” an agency repre-
senting Vietnam’s manufacturing sec-
tor told Reuters. Phone maker Sam-
sung, which manufactures in Vietnam,
is among the companies facing a seri-
ous production slowdown. Even the
furniture industry, which gets compo-
nent parts from China, is under duress.
In Myanmar, factories are reducing
hours or pausing operations because
of the reduced materials coming from
China. “Besides garment factories, fac-
tories making shoes and bags rely on
raw materials from China,” U Aye
Thaung, chair of a committee repre-
senting an industrial zone in Yangon
told the Myanmar Times today. “Those
that still have raw materials are oper-
ating so far, but factories that have run
out have ceased operating.”
The stakes are greater than produc-
tion delays. The livelihoods of factory
workers in these countries may be at
risk if the factories employing them
aren’t able to resume normal business
soon. In Cambodia, for example, the
garment industry is the country’s big-
gest employer and provides the ma-
jority of its factory jobs. The labor min-Factories like this garment maker in Cambodia are at risk of closing as
raw materials from China run out.
istry said if the shortage of raw materials from China drags on, as many as
90,000 workers could see their jobs suspended by the end of March, according
to the Khmer Times. Workers in such situations may not have the savings to
tide them and their families over until work resumes. Sen announced a plan for
garment workers whose factories closed to receive 60% of the minimum wage,
with 40% being the responsibility of the factory owners and 20% provided by
the government.
How quickly firms in these industries recover may depend on their size, if they
recover at all. “If you’re the big guys then no problem,” Liang Kuo-yuan, presi-
dent of Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute, told Voice of America. “Yet if you’re
the small and medium sized firms, you can’t hold out and then you face the
issue of bankruptcy.” Vietnam’s central bank has ordered its commercial banks
to reduce, delay, or even eliminate interest payments to help companies deal-
ing with losses from the coronavirus outbreak.
Uzbekistan Ranks First in Clothing Exports to
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan can be attributed to the most important strategic
partners in Central Asia - a region where large reserves of natural resources are
concentrated. Both states have significant economic and human potential, are
linked by common historical, geographical, cultural, religious and linguistic roots
and have a fairly long common border.
Uzbekistan has replaced China from first place in the export of clothes to Ka-
zakhstan, Kazakh media reports. Kazakhstan imported 34,500 tons of clothing
for $ 512.3 million in 2018. In physical terms, imports decreased by 4.9 per-
cent, and in monetary terms increased by 5.5 percent. The largest amount of
clothing came from Uzbekistan (10,100 tons for $ 18.4 million), whereas China
was the leader in supply in 2017.
At the same time, the clothes of Uzbekistan are several times cheaper than
Chinese, because China, although set clothes less in terms of volumes (8,500
tons), but in monetary terms, it was $ 83.5 million.
Russia for the year delivered 6,200 tons of this product ($ 158.2 million), Turkey
- 4,600 tons ($ 98.5 million), Bangladesh - 1,900 tons ($ 42.9 million), Kyr-
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