Garment workers in Vietnam and elsewhere across Southeast Asia face an uncertain future as the coronavirus outbreak batters global demand for clothing. (Photo by Rie Ishii)

Coronavirus pandemic tears holes in Asia's garment industry

Massive job losses and GDP cuts in store as H&M and other brands halt orders

SHAUN TURTON and PHORN BOPHA, Contributing writers

April 3, 2020 04:00 JST

PHNOM PENH -- Chul Sreymom, a seamstress at the Sangwoo factory near Phnom Penh, has been putting together clothes for some of the world's biggest fashion brands for as long as she has been working. But this week she watched as 60 of her colleagues were sent home as Sangwoo's work dries up -- and now the breadwinner for elderly parents fears she will be next.

"I don't know what else I can do," the 40-year-old told the Nikkei Asian Review. "Working in a garment factory is what I have done all my life."