Cambodia had issued operating licenses to 51 new garment and footwear factories with the total investment of $327 million in the first half of this year, according to a report of the Council for the Development of Cambodia on Monday.

The report recorded that 40 are garment factories, 8 are shoes manufacturers, 2 are sock makers and 1 is textile factory.

During the January-June period this year, China was leading in the garment investment here with 16 factories, following by South Korea with 12 projects, and China's Taiwan with 11 projects.

Other investors in the sector are China's Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, India and Japan.

Garment industry is Cambodia's largest income earner. Currently, the sector consists of more than 300 factories, employing some 335, 400 workers--91 percent of them are female, according to the Commerce Ministry.

During the first six months of this year, the country exported garment and textile products in equivalent to $2.1 billion, up 9 percent if compared with the same period last year, the Commerce Ministry said.