According to a report issued by the International Labor Organization (ILO), Cambodia’s total exports of clothing and shoes in the first half of this year reached US$3 billion, an increase of 12.7% compared with the same period in 2014. The report stated that in the first six months of this year, garment and shoe factories created 42,000 job opportunities for Cambodians, an increase of approximately 10.2%. As of June this year, there were 607,000 workers working in Cambodia’s garment and shoe factories.
The report also explains changes in the basic wages of labor in Cambodia’s garment and shoe industries. According to the report, starting from January 2015, the basic salary of workers was increased to US$128 per month. With overtime pay and subsidies, the average monthly income of workers is US$169. The Cambodian government also announced that the basic salary of workers will increase to US$140 per month in mid-2016. The report points out that in order to reduce poverty in the country and encourage workers to work hard to ensure the quality of products, it is necessary to set a suitable monthly salary for workers. However, the Cambodian government has yet to achieve results on the issue of suitable monthly wages for workers.
According to Marizio Baschi, the International Labor Organization’s representative in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, the ILO was worried about the future development of Cambodia’s garment and footwear industries because of the problems encountered by Cambodia in raising the minimum wage for workers. . At present, the Cambodian government has decided to increase the basic salary of workers to US$140. However, according to statistics, Cambodia’s garment and shoe manufacturing industries still maintain a steady development. However, this does not mean that future salary increases will not affect the development of this industry. Cambodia’s garment industry maintained steady development in the first half of the year