CAMBODIANS working overseas number more than 1.3 million and they remit home about US$3 billion annually.
The workers are mainly in Thailand with more than 1,2 million registered there, South Korea (45,866) and Malaysia ( 23,027).
According to a Khmer times report, the Ministry of Labour said the income of these Cambodian workers have contributed to the growth of the national economy and the living standards of the workers' families.
The ministry said Cambodia also continued to promote the implementation of the policy on labour migration for Cambodia 2019-2023 and relevant legal standards to protect and promote the rights and interests of workers including social protection while working and returning home.
Meanwhile, in another development, the Cambodian government said it was considering a high speed train to Thailand to promote trade and increase the mobility of its population.
Cambodia's Minister of Public Works and Transport Sun Chantol said the government would carry out a feasibility study on the high speed railway plan.
He said they were also looking at transforming the country's two current routes into high speed lines running from Poipet to Phnom Penh, and from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and its port.
According to the Khmer Times, the current trains run at a maximum speed of only 30 km per hour.
The two rail lines were built during the French colonial era. The tracks were repaired and upgraded for freight only in 2010 and passenger service started eight years later.
The northern railway has a length of 386 km from Phnom Penh to Poi Pet at the Cambodia-Thailand border and it was functional between 1929 and 1942. The southern sector was built between 1960 and 1969 and has a total length of 264 km.
Royal Railway, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Royal Group, manages and operates the railways under a concessional investment.
In welcoming the move, Cambodia Logistics Association president Sin Chanthy said it would be better if the domestic railway could function with speed and activity.
"The existing railways cannot be used for goods transport. Compared to main road transport, the railway transport is slow, and transportation is seemingly not active with limited routes used to carry goods on trains," he said.
"If the railway system is faster and better, rail transport will increase because the railway fares are relatively cheaper than road transport. Besides, there will be less traffic congestion and road accidents," he said.
The Khmer Times report also said that the government was studying the possibility of a train from Phnom Penh to Bavet town, on the Cambodian-Vietnamese international border.
The study started pre-Covid-19 and was done by the Chinese firm - the China Railway International Group Co Ltd.
However, the result of the study is yet to be submitted.
In the northern railway, Cambodia officially linked the rail track to Thailand's rail track in 2018 but cross border railway transport has not been made since then.