PHNOM PENH, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of about 20 Cambodian domestic helpers will leave for China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) in December, Cambodian Labor Minister Ith Samheng said on Tuesday.
"About 20 domestic helpers will go to work in Hong Kong for the first time next month," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia initially planned to send its domestic helpers to Hong Kong in September, but the plan was delayed to December because employment agencies needed more time to recruit people and train them for the job.
The upcoming departure of Cambodian maids to Hong Kong comes after the signing of an agreement in April between the Cambodia's Labor Ministry and the Cambodia Human Resource Development Association of Hong Kong. Under the deal, the association would promote, train and protect Cambodian workers in Hong Kong.
In August, Ith Samheng said the Southeast Asian nation was expected to dispatch around 1,000 domestic helpers to Hong Kong in the next few years.
He said the minimum wage for a domestic worker in Hong Kong is 550 U.S. dollars a month.
The minister added that Cambodian domestic helpers, many of whom have experience of working overseas, would receive a three-month training course in Cantonese and English, Chinese cooking, and health care skills for elderly and children before they go to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is home to over 361,000 foreign domestic helpers, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia.
