Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen has urged garment workers to improve their productivity to prevent factories from closing down and moving to other countries like Laos, Bangladesh and Myanmar, all of which have lower minimum wages. He also pointed out relatively rapid gains in the minimum wage for Cambodia's garment workers which was recently set at $153 a month for the coming year.

Miguel Chanco, lead ASEAN analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, agreed that countries such as Myanmar and Bangladesh present a real threat to Cambodia's garment industry, primarily because its much more expensive to hire workers in Cambodia. The steep increase seen in minimum wage of Cambodia's garment industry since 2013, means it now costs twice as much to hire someone in Cambodia compared to Myanmar and Bangladesh.