Union leaders, factory owners and government officials on the Labor Advisory Committee met on Friday for the first day of discussions on a new minimum wage for the garment sector in 2016.
The negotiations are set to last for several days and culminate in a wage recommendation that the committee will then forward to the Labor Ministry, which is expected to settle on a number sometime next month.
The monthly minimum wage currently sits at $128.
Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng said that Friday’s meeting had focused on which data the committee would use to determine a figure, and that there had been little discussion of specific proposals.
He said the committee would consider how to balance economic factors such as productivity, competitiveness and profitability with other factors such as workers’ living conditions and the inflation rate.
“We will discuss this formula, then use the data to determine which number to set,” he said.
He said discussions would continue next week, and that a decision would be reached on October 5.
