Cambodia Garment and Footwear Strategy

Over the course of four months I helped Cambodian stakeholders develop a strategy for the Garment and Footwear Sector with the Cambodia Ministry of Finance and Better Work Cambodia. The Cambodian Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC), the body responsible for developing economic policies, issued a mandate in 2017 to form a technical team to develop a strategic policy program to guide the future of the apparel industry in the country. Over the course of several months, we developed a strategy detailing short, medium, and long-term objectives to guide the future of the Cambodian apparel industry through 2040, which was presented to SNEC in 2018. I worked with the team to prepare the strategy by providing (1) strategic advice on different policy directions the government could take and implications of those policy directions, (2) country case studies of others that have developed strategic policies for the apparel sector and (3) working alongside the team in writing and presenting the document. I made two trips to Cambodia and collectively spent 1.5 months in the country and provided ongoing support after the trip. I met with the team daily and interviewed over 20 stakeholders in the country from government to industry.