Indonesian Firm Lands Deal to Supply Uniforms

 Cambodia Daily | 22 February 2016

Indonesian firm Sri Rejeki signed a $50 million deal with the Min­istry of Interior last week to sup­ply Cambodia’s police and armed forces with new uniforms, ac­cording to the Indonesian Em­bassy and media reports.

A representative for Sri Rejeki, al­so known by the name Sritex, signed off on the deal in Phnom Penh on Wednesday with General Mao Bunarin, the Interior Min­istry’s director-general of logistics and finance, according to Merati Irawati, the Indonesian Embassy’s head of economic affairs.

“They have an agreement. Sritex, they will start a new company here under the name Sritex Cam­bodia, and this company will buy the uniforms from Sritex Indonesia. And in the meantime they will build a factory here,” she said on Sunday.

Ms. Irawati said the company planned to build the factory in Kandal province by the end of the year, and that it would employ 400 people and supply uniforms to police and armed forces once it was up and running.

On Saturday, the Jakarta Globe reported that the deal was worth $50 million.

Sritex could not be reached for comment, but a statement posted to its website in September said the firm expected Cambodia to buy about 100,000 uniforms for the military alone. The company claims to make military uniforms for more than 30 countries.

Currently, many of the uniforms worn by Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, as well as other equipment, are donated by China. Bei­jing donated some 50,000 uniforms in 2011 and another 30,000 in 2014.

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said he knew nothing about the deal with Sri­tex. He said police currently re­ceived their uniforms from a lo­cal manufacturer but he did not know which firm and referred further questions to Gen. Bunarin, who could not be reached.

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, which represents most of the country’s garment factories, said it knew nothing of the deal, either. Spokes­men for the National Police and ar­my could not be reached.