Thailand
Cambodia’s remittances rise to $1.25B
Remittances from Cambodian migrant workers increased from $1.15 billion in 2021 to $1.25 billion in 2022 and are the third highest in the Asean as a share of national GDP after those of the Philippines and Vietnam, according to a new report.
The report is based, in part, on policy maker and expert discussions during the ‘12th Annual ADBI–OECD–ILO Roundtable on Labour Migration: Recovering from Covid-19: What Does It Mean for Labour Migration in Asia?’, cohosted by the Asian Development Bank Institute, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the International Labour Organization.
The end of strict entry controls over the course of 2021 and 2022, with a few notable exceptions such as the late lifting of controls in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), allowed the Asian labour migration landscape to recover most of its characteristics from before the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, said the report compiled and released by the three agencies together.
The report showed that as the pandemic progressed, remittances to Cambodia fell to $1.27 billion in 2020 from $1.52 in the previous year.
It declined further to a low of $1.15 billion in 2021.
At 4.4 percent of GDP in 2022, Cambodia’s remittances were only behind that of the Philippines, estimated at 9.5 percent of the country’s GDP and Vietnam at 4.6 percent. Indonesia had Asean’s fourth-highest remittances at 0.8 percent of GDP.
While the Philippines received $38 billion as remittances, Vietnam received $19 billion.
The report also revealed that India is the highest remittance receiver among the Asian economies with $100 billion last year, up from $89 billion in 2021. China received $51 billion, down from $53 billion in 2021, Pakistan $29 billion, down from $31 billion and Bangladesh $21 billion, down from $22 billion in the previous year.
It has also been reported that Thailand had an estimated 1.2 million Cambodian workers in 2021. South Korea had almost 46,000 workers from Cambodia followed by Malaysia with 23,000, Japan with nearly 12,000 and Singapore with about 800.
Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are the main destination countries for Asean migrant workers.
For studying abroad, the most popular destination for Cambodian students was Australia which had 1,900 students from the country in 2000. The US ranked second with about 800 Cambodian students and Japan came as the third favourite destination with about 600 students.
According to the report, the state of the world holds many uncertainties, including wars (current and potential), threats to the environment, supply disruptions (including food supply and prices), and financial instability. Any of these could again severely impact labour migration to Asia, highly skilled and less skilled.
“However, the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is largely behind us as far as labour migration trends and policies are concerned. Remaining difficulties for migrant workers in early 2023 include the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, relatively slow global growth, and tensions on prices,” it said.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501317625/cambodias-remittances-rise-to-1-25b/