The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, met around 4,270 workers from garment and footwear sectors on 20 August at a ceremony held on the island of Koh Pich, Phnom Penh. The ceremony marked the beginning of the Weekly Meetings that the Prime Minister had proposed to meet all the workers across the nation.
The objective of the meeting was not only to build trust and create a friendly relationship with the workers but also to understand their problems and needs.
After the meeting, Hun Sen posted on his Facebook page that he has taken a decision wherein the workers from both garment and shoe industries can now use the public transport for two years at no cost.
The aforementioned initiative is intended to minimise the everyday expenses of the workers. “The free service started on 20 August 2017, will be available until 20 August 2019. The workers have to only show their respective labour cards while travelling in the bus,” said the Prime Minister.
The Cambodian Premier also said that from January next year, the employers will have to be completely responsible for providing health insurance for all their workers. This initiative is also expected to save about US $ 2-3 every month for workers. He also added that from 2019, all the former workers will start getting their pension as well.
Additionally, Hun Sen mentioned that the monthly minimum wage of all the workers from both sectors will see a growth of a minimum 9.8 per cent to US $ 168 in 2018 from the existing US $ 153.
Garment and footwear sectors earned US $ 7.3 billion for Cambodia in 2016. The figures account for an astounding 74 per cent of overall export from the country.
