PHNOM PENH, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported garments, textiles, shoes, and travel goods totally worth 12.2 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 16.7 percent, said an official report on Thursday.
Garments worth 8.63 billion dollars were exported during the January-September period this year, a year-on-year rise of 16.8 percent, said the report compiled by the Ministry of Commerce, adding that textiles worth 505 million dollars were shipped to international markets, up 34.7 percent.
Also, 1.54 billion dollars worth of footwear was exported, up 26.7 percent, while travel goods and bags, equivalent to 1.53 billion dollars, were sold to international markets, up 3.2 percent, the report added.
The garment, textile, footwear, and travel goods sector is the largest foreign exchange earner for the Southeast Asian country.
The sector currently consists of more than 1,500 factories and branches, employing over 900,000 workers, mostly women, according to the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training.
Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said the robust growth in Cambodia's light manufacturing exports signaled a solid post-pandemic recovery and effective market diversification beyond traditional partners.
However, sustaining double-digit growth will require innovation, digital transformation in production, and higher value-added manufacturing, Mengdavid said. ■
