The Cambodia arm of the Qingdao Baoli Textiles, Embroidery & Drawnwork Company, located in Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), was established in Dec, 2013 with a total investment of $2.6 million. The company handles drawn thread work, clothes and household upholstery products that are mainly exported to China, Japan, Europe and U.S.

The Cambodia arm of the Qingdao Baoli Textiles, Embroidery & Drawnwork Company handles drawn thread work, clothes and household upholstery products that are mainly exported to China, Japan, Europe and U.S. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The SSEZ broke ground in June, 2013, and since then has been expanded twice. So far, the zone covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters with more than 60 enterprises established there, most of which are enterprises headquartered in Qingdao, China.

"The biggest advantage of SSEZ is the low-cost workforce. We only have to pay 1,000 yuan for each employee covering the salary, the allowance and various social insurances, which is a quarter of what we pay in Qingdao," said Chen Junrong, deputy general manager of Baoli, adding that there are never any labor shortages.

Local Cambodian young people prefer the hig-paid job. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The company hired more than 100 local workers and began to receiving orders in 2014, with an output that year of 600,000 units, earning $500,000. In 2015, the output rose to 1 million with total exports reaching $1.5 million.