Chheng Kimlong, director of the Asian Vision Institute’s Centre for Governance Innovation and Democracy, said the outbreak would hurt local consumption, the service sector, and export production.
The central bank has introduced small- and large-denomination riel notes ranging from 100 to 100,000 riel (about $25), but their arrival caused confusion and rumors among traders in the local markets that U.S. $1 and $5 notes had been banned.
The death of a 31-year-old Cambodian woman worker at one of the farms in December has revived decades-long criticism over South Korean exploitation of some of the poorest, most vulnerable people in Asia.
While Cambodia has officially recorded less than 700 cases of COVID-19 and no deaths, the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on Cambodian communities in Thailand, with job losses, workplace shutdowns, and coronavirus fears sending droves to the border.
In 2020, Cambodia’s aquaculture sector produced 400,000 tons of fish product, an increase of 30 percent over 2019, according to Agriculture Ministry statistics.
As of Tuesday, 87 of the returned Cambodian migrant workers had tested positive for COVID-19.
The movie was a hit among the drivers, one of which was 93, born just a few years before cyclos first appeared in the former French colony in 1936.
Migrants have to sign up online and be registered by an employer before mid-September in order to receive a work permit until February 2023, according to a resolution by the cabinet.
Cambodia's $7 billion garment sector - the country's largest employer with 800,000, mostly female, workers - was dealt a double blow this year by the coronavirus pandemic and by European Union tariffs imposed over human rights abuses.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn expressed his appreciation for the decision by the UK, calling it a good move for Cambodia’s workers.
In the last two weeks, the number of cases has grown to 40, and the government has ordered people to stay home as much as possible, leaving shopping malls and local markets largely empty.
Almost 90 percent of the workers said they and their families were eating less, with most expecting to cut back even further.
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