Cambodian apparel makers get tips from Korean designers

23 Jul '13

2 min read

In a bid to intensify the trade ties with Cambodia, the Asean-Korea Centre recently organized a ‘Korea Market Access Workshop’ on textile, apparel and home decor products in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion at Phnom Penh.

Korean market, though lucrative, is considered to be a difficult one to penetrate in, and the training was aimed to upgrade Cambodian apparel designers regarding the prevalent fashion trends in Korea and to provide tips on easy access to Korean market.

As a part of the workshop, design experts from Korea delivered lectures and practical knowledge regarding the prevalent trends and new product development techniques in the textile and home decor sector.

The training imparted information on topics like colour and design preferences of Korean customers, their lifestyle, prevalent fashion trends in that market and ways to make Cambodian products to match preferences of Korean customers.

Ki Bong-moon, second deputy head of Asean-Korea centre’s trade and investment unit, said while working to establish stronger trade link between Cambodian textile makers and Korean buyers, they realized that the product quality and design offered by Cambodian producers often fail to meet Korean customers likes or demand, Cambodia Daily reported.

Besides helping Cambodian producers to design their products more efficiently, the training would also help in adding value to the Cambodian apparel industry, he added.

Noting that Cambodian textile and handicraft industry has a rich and unique designing heritage, Jung Kyounga, Chief Executive of Korean clothing brand ISAE, said the industry still lacks in quality and production processes when it comes to meeting international standards. The training to some extent would address this issue, she added.

Asean-Korea Center is an intergovernmental organization aiming to strengthen trade relations between South Korea and other Asean member nations.

The textile and garment industry is a core industry of Cambodia which accounts for over 80 percent of the country’s exports. The industry has continuously shown strong growth with export figures amounting to approximately US$ 1.56 billion in the first half of 2013, which is a sharp 32 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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