Labour Minister Ith Samheng signed an agreement with his South Korean counterpart to create an online jobs portal for Cambodians during a five-day trip to South Korea over the Khmer New Year holiday.

The $3.1 million agreement between the two ministries will run until 2021, with funding coming from Korea. The goal is to create a public online jobs database in Cambodia where employers with vacancies can be matched with job seekers, according to the ministry.

Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour stressed that the agreement is not related to migrant workers, but "to strengthen the public employment service for the National Employment Agency", he said in a message.

The two governments will first study each others' public labour service systems before beginning the bulk of the project next year, which will involve setting up and installing the technology and software to create the job matching system.

The third phase, in 2021, will focus on technical monitoring and evaluation, Samheng said.

The project will be led by Cambodia's National Employment Agency, which was formed in 2009 to act as a one-stop shop for companies looking for workers.

During the trip, Samheng also rang in the Khmer New Year with hundreds of Cambodian workers living abroad in South Korea, warning them to obey immigration laws and return to Cambodia after their contracts are finished.