Cambodian garment export shipment to the European Union led the way in making up for a decrease in exports to the United States. In the first six month of the year, it witnessed nearly 20 percent increase, according to a new Ministry of Commerce report.

As per report, outbound shipments from Cambodia brought in $3.9 billion for the first six months, as compared to the $3.28 billion for the same period in 2014. The rise was buoyed by a 32 percent increase in garments to the European Union, not including textiles and footwear.

According to Sivyong, director of the Export-Import Department, political stability and fewer garment-worker strikes this year are two of the reasons for increased purchases by EU buyers Garment exports to the Kingdom’s other major export destination, the United States, saw a small drop of 7 percent to $856 million in the first half of the year, with textiles registering a more than 40 percent drop.

Cambodian has tried to negotiate with the US about the export tariffs – making it free like EU – but the US showed less interest as the market is small.

Cambodian exports to the EU are free. So for the last few years, the EU market has been number one for Cambodia’s garment.