Cambodia has set a target of sending 50,000 more labourers to work overseas by 2010, of which the majority will be skilled workers, said an official from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training.
Nhep Kimhouy, Director of the Overseas Labour Management Department, said most of Cambodian overseas workers are ordinary ones who gest low monthly income of between 150 and 200 USD. Meanwhile, skilled labourers working workers who mainly stay in the Republic of Korea , which make a small part in the country’s overseas workforce, are paid four times higher.
The ministry, therefore, has opened training centres to provide pre-departure guidelines and training to overseas workers, he said.
Cambodia is planning to expand its overseas labour market to countries in the Middle East in the years to come with a view to reducing the domestic employment pressure and raising its people’s incomes, Nhep added.
Cambodia has so far sent more than 25,500 labourers to work abroad, mainly in the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan (China).