Cambodia's National Minimum Wage Council will hold its final round of negotiations this Wednesday (September 30) to finalize the 2027 minimum wage for workers in the garment, footwear, and travel goods industries. At the 14th negotiation meeting held on September 28, labor and employer representatives still failed to reach a consensus, with the gap fixed at 15 USD.

Labor unions are advocating for raising the monthly minimum wage from the current 210 USD to 225 USD; employers want to keep it at 210 USD but are willing to continue paying an additional 2.5 USD monthly transportation allowance. According to the Cambodia-China Times, the meeting that day lasted from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM, with neither side budging from their positions.

The garment, footwear, and travel goods industry is one of Cambodia's pillar export industries. The latest data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that in the first eight months of this year, the country's exports of clothing, textiles, footwear, and travel goods totaled 11.769 billion USD, up 7.27% year-on-year. Among these, garment exports reached 8.236 billion USD, up 6.54%; textiles 546 million USD, up 21.67%; footwear 1.507 billion USD, up 7.56%; and travel goods 1.48 billion USD, up 6.49%. The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, and Japan are the main export markets.

For the full year of 2025, Cambodia's exports of garments, footwear, and travel goods amounted to 15.7 billion USD, up 15.8% year-on-year.

Under Cambodia's Minimum Wage Law, the minimum wage is reviewed annually, and negotiations must consider not only social factors such as family living needs, inflation, and cost of living, but also economic factors such as productivity, national competitiveness, labor market conditions, and industry profitability.

For second-hand clothing resellers and apparel buyers relying on Cambodian production capacity, the new wage standard means changes in labor costs next year, and the final outcome will affect garment export quotations and supply stability.

Source: Cambodia Expected to Finalize 2027 Minimum Wage for Garment and Footwear Industry on Wednesday - Cambodia-China Times · Originally published on 2026-09-28