Manufacturing
Garments and textiles
Garment factory shutters, leaving hundreds unpaid
Garment workers at the Benoh Apparel factory in the capital’s Meanchey district returned to work this week after a two-month suspension to find the building abandoned, prompting a protest demanding compensation from the government. ...
Yon Sineat and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-factory-shutters-leaving-hundreds-unpaid
Workers protest over ‘RCAF’ factory guards
Roughly 100 garment workers protested again in front of Pou Yuen Enterprise Ltd yesterday amid allegations that the shoe factory hired Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) soldiers to act as security guards for the company. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workers-protest-over-rcaf-factory-guards
PM dares landlords to get rent hikes from him
Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated his demand for the owners of garment worker housing to freeze rents in 2018 yesterday, telling the leasers to come to him personally if they disagreed with the order. ...
Yon Sineat
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-dares-landlords-get-rent-hikes-him
Protesters to stop blocking road
Garment workers from the Gawon Apparel factory in Kandal province’s Takhmao town have agreed to stop blocking a road leading to the factory for the next 15 days as they await a solution to their labour dispute from the Arbitration Council. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5096984/protesters-stop-blocking-road/
Gawon workers block road again over unpaid wages
Garment workers resumed their strike against the Gawon Apparel Cambodia Co today, demanding bosses sell factory equipment to pay their salaries, though a factory official claimed the company will suspend workers to settle payroll shortages. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gawon-workers-block-road-again-over-unpaid-wages
EU not taking action on garment industry
The European Union ambassador to Cambodia assured union officials on Tuesday that no sanctions on the garment sector had been taken. Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy and several civil society groups have called for sanctions on the garment industry following the dissolution of the opposition CNRP ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5095913/eu-not-taking-action-garment-industry/
Hundreds of garment workers faint in Takeo
More than 100 workers at the JD Toyoma garment factory in Takeo province’s Bati district fainted yesterday morning while working. Police suspected the cause of the fainting was chemical fumes in the factory, but the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia said the fumes did not ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5094481/hundreds-garment-workers-faint-takeo/
Garment factory fined after pollution claims
The Ministry of Environment has fined a Chinese garment factory in Takeo province $7,500 after villagers complained the factory was polluting nearby streams with untreated waste. ...
Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-factory-fined-after-pollution-claims
Garment workers protest to demand better conditions
More than 200 workers at the Nantai garment factory agreed to bring an end to their protest after the Labour Ministry, local authorities and company promised to solve their dispute on Wednesday. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5093919/garment-workers-protest-demand-better-conditions/
Workers’ bonus fight
More than 500 garment workers in Phnom Penh’s Por Senchey district on Friday protested and blocked a portion of Veng Sreng Boulevard to demand their annual bonus from 2010 to 2017. ...
Sen David
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5093740/workers-bonus-fight/
Don’t punish us: employers
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia has called on international buyers to continue ordering clothes and textile products made in the country over fears the US and the EU could halt preferential treatment for Cambodian exports. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5093735/dont-punish-us-employers/
Private sector worried over universal wage law
The private sector is concerned that the newly proposed universal minimum wage law, which is reportedly being drafted by the government and comes on the heels of numerous new labour regulations, has created a climate of uncertainty, according to an industry expert. ...
Robin Spiess
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/private-sector-worried-over-universal-wage-law
PM tells workers CNRP is to blame for any sanctions
In a speech to workers yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen pinned the blame for any damage inflicted on Cambodia’s garment industry by potential economic sanctions squarely on the opposition party. “You must remember clearly that if the purchase orders are reduced, it is all the ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/pm-tells-workers-cnrp-blame-any-sanctions
World Bank outlook remains bright despite political concern
Cambodia’s economy is predicted to remain strong and resilient for the next two years, fuelled by a shift to higher value-added manufacturing, despite lingering concerns over political stability and the slowed growth of both the construction and garment sectors, the World Bank said yesterday in ...
Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/world-bank-outlook-remains-bright-despite-political-concern
China business delegates bullish on Cambodia
Delegates gathered at the Cambodia-Fujian Business and Tourism seminar in Phnom Penh yesterday to discuss opportunities for investment in the Kingdom through increased trade in both the energy and garment sector. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/china-business-delegates-bullish-cambodia
Garment buyers asked to bring in tech
The government is calling on international buyers to increase investment in the garment and footwear sector and to introduce new technologies to help modernise the industry, according to a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce (MoC). ...
Sok Chan
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5090886/garment-buyers-asked-bring-tech/
Walmart deal boosts garment industry
The US multinational Walmart has said it will buy more garment, footwear and luggage products from Cambodia next year due to increased capacity from suppliers and improved labour conditions in the country. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5089512/walmart-deal-boosts-garment-industry/
CDC to post project decisions on Facebook
The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), the government body in charge of approving large-scale investments, has taken to Facebook to officially announce its decisions on investment projects, a move that a government official claimed yesterday will provide more transparent access for investors and ...
Hor Kimsay and Kali Kotoski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cdc-post-project-decisions-facebook
Productivity fair to be held over the weekend
Following the recent agreement to increase the minimum wage in the garment sector, a productivity fair is due to start on Friday in Phnom Penh, organised by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT) and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC). ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087884/productivity-fair-held-weekend/
Garment exports to slow
Cambodia’s garment and footwear exports will likely see a slower percentage of growth this year at around 5 percent, compared with 7 percent in 2016, a trend that industry insiders dismissed as not being indicative of an overall decline or linked to the current political ...
Hor Kimsay and Robin Spiess
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/garment-exports-slow
Workers told of wages boost
Prime Minister Hun Sen has allocated about $40 million per year from next year after the garment and footwear industry workers’ minimum wage increased to $170 per month. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5087388/workers-told-wages-boost/
Factory workers protest against contract offers
Workers from the Pou Yuen Cambodia garment factory in Sen Sok district yesterday protested outside the premises after the management decided to offer them only three-month contract extensions. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-workers-protest-against-contract-offers
Campaign decries short contracts
Nearly 1,000 workers from the Collective Union of Movement of Workers on Saturday kicked off a campaign to demand government intervention to end short-term contracts being peddled to a majority of garment workers. ...
Sen David
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5085121/campaign-decries-short-contracts/
Big boost for garment sector minimum wage, though some see a political motive
The government yesterday significantly upped the garment and footwear sector’s minimum wage to $170 a month, from $153, the highest increase in wages in the past two years and one that comes ahead of a crucial national election next July. ...
Yon Sineat and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/big-boost-garment-sector-minimum-wage-though-some-see-political-motive