Work permits double in 2018
Fed hike, trade row roil Asian markets
THE number of foreigners issued with Cambodian work permits this year has more than doubled that of last year. The increase was driven by Chinese workers whose contribution alone could generate millions for the Kingdom’s economy each year.
Figures from the General Immigration Department, which comes under the Ministry of Interior showed that from January to August this year, the number of foreigners who registered for work permits had reached 118,280, compared with 57,000 last year.
Department chief Kem Sarin said the huge number of new work permits that were issued was a positive economic indicator and a solid source of revenue. He said the fees that foreigners pay in order to work legally go directly to the government.
However, he said the figures do not include foreigners who are working in Cambodia without registering for a work permit.
“There is still a large number of [foreigners] who are not fulfilling the requirement. In some areas such as along the border, where many casinos operate, there are many foreigners who evade the obligation,” Sarin said.
He said his department “very fre- quently” sends inspection teams to companies and enterprises with foreign workers to check on work permits.
The department’s data did not break down the nationalities of the 118,280 foreigners who were issued work permits.
To comply with the Kingdom’s labour law, he said, foreign businesses also had to pay fees for their foreign workers. In some cases, this can be $100 per employee for one year with $25 renewals.
As the number of foreigners staying and working in Cambodia increases, the number of Chinese nationals are seen rapidly increasing in the Kingdom in the last two years.
Chinese influx
The ministry’s secretary of state Sok Phal said recently that the number of Chinese nationals living in Cambodia had increased to 210,000, more than double that of last year.
“Of the figure, more than 78,000 are living in Preah Sihanouk [province], but only about 20,000 have work permits,” he told The Post earlier this month.
Centre for Policy Studies director Chan Sophal estimated that Cambodia could generate about $60 million each year from the current number of Chinese nationals if the law on foreign workers was effectively implemented.
Sophal said he came by the $60 million figure by calculating the basic types of permits that foreigners must have to work and live in Cambodia, including visas, work permits and long-stay permits.
“Based on this, the revenue could reach about $60 million per year from the number of Chinese nationals. But does anyone know if the authorities have actually fully enforced the law and fully obtained the revenue?” he asked.
The $60 million estimate is almost equal to the revenue from the Angkor Archaeological Park ticket sales.
According to figures from Angkor Enterprise, which manages the park, the number of visitors to the Kingdom’s landmark tourist site reached nearly 1.4 million for the first six months this year, generating $61.47 million. ASIAN markets swung on Thursday as investors considered the prospect of more US interest rate hikes and Donald Trump’s latest broadside in his trade war with China.
The US central bank lifted borrowing costs for the third time this year, as expected, citing an increasingly strong economy and jobs market, with governor Jerome Powell saying he saw no vulnerabilities in the financial system.
The post-meeting statement removed mention of being “accommodative”, which was seen as symbolically important as observers said it indicated the bank is moving away from the days of lower rates. However, Powell said this did not mean the Fed would tighten policy more quickly.
Still, the bank is widely expected to lift rates again in December, while analysts are betting on another three in 2019.
Powell said there remained risks from trade tensions, which could lift inflation, but added it was too soon to tell what impact it would have.
In Asia, markets fluctuated but by the end of the morning Tokyo was down 0.1 per cent, while Singapore added 0.5 per cent and Seoul rose 0.6 per cent.
Hong Kong edged up 0.2 per cent, Shanghai shed 0.2 per cent, and Sydney was flat.
Trump ramped up his criticism of China on Wednesday, accusing it of trying to sway November’s mid-term elections against his Republican party because of the trade row and admitting his relationship with President Xi Jinping may have been permanently damaged.
His comments will do little to ease concerns about an all-out trade war between the two economic giants, which have exchanged tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods.