In a move that failed to satisfy either the garment workers’ unions or the manufacturers, the Cambodian government has agreed to raise the minimum wage for clothing and footwear workers by about 9 per cent. Just yesterday, the ministry of labour, vocational and training announced that the minimum wage for the crucial sector of Cambodia’s economy would rise to $153 per month beginning next year. Currently the minimum wage of workers is $140.

While the increase falls short of the $171-a-month wage proposal pushed by the unions, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) fears that the increase is high and will damage the country’s ability to compete with other lower-wage countries. As a matter of fact, the manufactures wanted wages of $147-per-month. 

While the GMAC says that increase is on the higher side, the President of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Unions (C.CAWDU), Ath Thon said that they will stick to their $171-per-month demand. Wages in Cambodia remain low by international standards, largely because of pressures to compete with other low-cost production centers such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.

In 2015, the Southeast Asian country shipped nearly $7 billion worth of products to the United States and Europe.