Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Sam Heng meets with Swedish ambassador Bjorn Haggmark at the ministry on Tuesday. Ministry of Labour
Cambodia and Sweden will continue to achieve the goals laid out in the Global Deal initiative to improve working conditions and rights and strengthen law enforcement on minimum wages.
The announcement came as Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Sam Heng met with Swedish ambassador to Cambodia Bjorn Haggmark for a farewell function on June 22.
At the meeting, both sides appreciated the good cooperation between the two governments at all levels, especially the labour sector and technical and vocational training.
The two sides discussed goals achieved at national and international levels including the initiative, labour rights and human resource development and the implementation of projects.
“After providing protection for the Global Deal as national mechanisms, the Cambodian government set up an inter-ministerial commission for supporting the initiative and is continuing to put into practice its commitment,” Sam Heng said.
The initiative includes strengthening the implementation and amendments to the Labour Law to better guarantee working conditions and harmony in professional relations.
The initiative has also strengthened law enforcement for trade unions to ensure professional rights and freedoms, and law enforcement on minimum wages to safeguard workers’ wages.
It also ensured the use of tripartite negotiation mechanisms in a democratic manner to determine workers’ minimum wages, strengthened labour dispute resolution mechanisms with the labour ministry and outside the courts by the Arbitration Council.
It pushed for the implementation of a rights protection policy and benefits of migrant workers in the national and regional frameworks and with countries involved.
Sam Heng asked Sweden to support Cambodia’s labour sector further, especially human resource development and capacity building so that Cambodia can develop more.
Haggmark said that during his tenure, he had fulfilled diplomatic missions and relations between Cambodia and Sweden more progressively. The Swedish side has also been supporting vocational training in the labour sector. Sweden thanked the government for supporting the initiative.
The launch ceremony of Global Deal was held on September 21, 2016, at the UN General Assembly in New York.
“Cambodia is the first country to support the Global Deal, which is a project creating an atmosphere of social dialogue to solve various problems,” he said, adding that he would convey the achievements both sides had accomplished to the Swedish government.
