Buying Practices

Op-Ed: Covid-19 & Why Buyers Must Address Purchasing Practices

Kim van der Weerd, former general manager of Cambodian garment factory Pactics, on why the fashion industry needs to urgently address its buying practices in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

One month ago I returned to the Netherlands after wrapping up a four-year stint managing garment factories in Cambodia. I’m utterly relieved I don’t have a factory to manage anymore, and that the hard and unenviable decisions factory managers face are no longer mine to make. 

News outlets have reported sweeping order cancellations for Asian garment factories – with only a handful of companies conceding to pay factories for already finished and partly produced goods. My friends back in Cambodia…

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3 April 2020
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Author
Kim van der Weerd

General Manager at Pactics