Cambodia's Labor Minister Ith Samheng said Wednesday that the country has planned to send the first batch of domestic helpers to China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) next month.
"We will try our best to send the first group of our domestic helpers to Hong Kong in September," he told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop on the procedures of recruiting, training, sending and managing Cambodian domestic helpers to work in Hong Kong.
The minister said the Southeast Asian nation is expected to send about 1,000 domestic helpers to Hong Kong by the end of 2017.
This is a new employment opportunity for Cambodian workers because, in Hong Kong, the labor conditions and law are good that ensures a safe working environment, he said.
He said the Cambodian government has granted licenses to six employment agencies to recruit Cambodian domestic helpers to work in Hong Kong.
Ith Samheng said Cambodian domestic helpers, many of whom have experience of working overseas, will receive training in Cantonese or English, cooking, and health care skills for elderly and children before they go to Hong Kong.
According to the minister, Hong Kong's relaxation of visa restrictions for Cambodian workers, investors and students since March 1 has made it easier for Cambodian workers to successfully apply for visas to Hong Kong.
Ing Seang Rithy, chairwoman of recruitment agency Ing Rithy Group, said her company has been providing training to over a dozen of Cambodian domestic helpers for jobs in Hong Kong.
"We are offering them a 600-hour training course, focusing on Cantonese or English language, Chinese cooking, taking care of children and elderly people, and culture and traditions," she said, adding that some of them have several years of experience in housework overseas.
The domestic helpers are aged between 18 and 45 years old and will get a two-year employment contract with their Hong Kong employers, she added.
