Beginning from the second week of August, foreigners will be banned from driving taxis and tuk-tuks, as well as being motorcycle delivery drivers, street food vendors, hairdressers and product distributors among other lower-income jobs.

Some white-collar jobs such as the head of human resources will also be off-limits to foreigners, as will certain positions in the private sector.

The move serves to protect the local employment market, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training announced on Tuesday, saying most of the jobs non-Cambodians will be prohibited from doing are based in the informal economy.

Ministry spokesman Heng Sour told The Post on Tuesday that the decision will protect small enterprises and family-owned businesses.

He said: “Most of the jobs that foreigners will be banned from doing are in the informal sector, such as vendors selling food on the street or on carts, or being taxi drivers or motodops. These are jobs Cambodians can do, and we are prohibiting foreigners from doing them.”