Cambodia raises monthly minimum wage for garment sector to 170 USD for 2018

Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-06 01:18:09|Editor: Zhou Xin
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PHNOM PENH, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government on Thursday set the new monthly minimum wage for the country's multi-billion-dollar garment sector at 170 U.S. dollars for next year, up 11.1 percent from the current 153 U.S. dollars, Labor Minister Ith Samheng announced.

The announcement came after the Labor Advisory Committee (LAC) voted on a minimum wage of 165 U.S. dollars for 2018, which was then upped an additional 5 U.S. dollars by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

The LAC is comprised of 28 members, including 14 government representatives and seven each from the garment manufacturers and the trade unions.

"Today, the Labor Advisory Committee unanimously decided on the monthly minimum wage of 165 U.S. dollars and Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen added another five U.S. dollars, so the monthly minimum wage for the garment and footwear sector for 2018 is 170 U.S. dollars," Ith Samheng told reporters.

The minister said that besides the monthly minimum wage, workers will still receive other fringe benefits including an extra 10 U.S. dollars per month for regular attendance and an extra seven U.S. dollars per month for transportation and rent.

The new wage will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018, he said.

"I think that this is good news for all workers in the garment and footwear industry, and I believe that the pay rise will contribute to improving their livelihood," said Ith Samheng.

Nang Sothy, co-chair of the Government-Private Working Group on Industrial Relations, said, "The employers are happy to raise the wage for the workers and hope that the increase will improve their living conditions."

Garment and footwear industry is Cambodia's largest foreign exchange earner. The country earned 7.3 billion U.S. dollars from the product exports in 2016, accounting for 74 percent of the country's total export.

The industry consists of some 1,100 factories, employing more than 740,000 workers, mostly females.

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