Cambodia raises 2017 minimum wage for textile industry workers

Cambodia agreed on Thursday to raise to $153 from next year the minimum monthly wage of workers in its crucial textiles and footwear industry, which generates $6 billion annually for the economy.

The industry has created 600,000 jobs that sustain rural families and have spurred years of robust growth, but strikes by increasingly assertive and politicized unions have become a problem for the country.

Thursday's decision followed a majority vote by government representatives, factories and unions who backed the raise from a figure of $140 now, following months of negotiations.

The increase will help to raise workers' standards of living and boost productivity, the labour ministry said in a statement, but added, "Other benefits that workers have been receiving must be kept the same."

The new wage takes effect in January, it said. It fell short of the sum of $171 sought by the unions, which complained that their members struggle to make ends meet.