Cambodia earns $150 million per year from overseas labor

via CAAI

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 10 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Cambodia earns about $150 million a year from its citizens working in four Asian countries, a government official said Friday.

According to the Labor Ministry, 39,051 Cambodians worked in Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Japan as of June 30.

Hou Vuthy, a deputy director general at the ministry, said a Cambodian worker earns about $200 a month in Malaysia and Thailand and between $800 and $1,000 in Japan and South Korea.

Malaysia has the most Cambodian workers among the four countries, at 19,588, followed by Thailand at 10,284, South Korea at 9,082, and Japan at 97.

Hou Vuthy said Cambodia has been working to send workers to other countries as well.

A memorandum of understanding on the dispatch of workers has been signed between Cambodia and Kuwait, but more paperwork needs to be done before Cambodian workers are sent to the Gulf nation, Hou Vuthy said.

Other countries that Cambodia has approached include Singapore, Canada and Qatar, he said.

Most Cambodian laborers are employed for household or factory work, Hou Vuthy said.

Cambodia began sending workers abroad in 1995.