Barber, tailor, shoe maker… foreigners banned from 10 types of jobs in Cambodia

Cambodia on Wednesday issued a directive to ban foreign nationals from self-employment in 10 categories of jobs.

The directive, signed by Ith Sam Heng, minister of labour and vocational training, said self-employed foreigners are banned from being taxi, tuk-tuk and rickshaw drivers; barbers and beauticians and street vendors.

Others are massage therapists at public places; shoe sewers and polishers; tailors; car repairmen; Khmer souvenir producers; Khmer musical instrument and Buddha statue makers; and goldsmiths and gem cutters.

“The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training will neither grant, nor extend the validity of employment book or card for any foreigners who are running the above-stated businesses,’’ the minister said.

“Anyone violating this directive will be fined and punished in accordance with the Labour Law and other effective regulations.”

Cambodia is a country located in the southern part of the Indochina peninsula in southeast Asia. It has an estimated population of 15 million people.

According to a labour ministry report, there are more than 160,000 foreigners from 93 countries and regions living and working in Cambodia.

Usually, self-employed foreigners in Cambodia have to pay 180 dollars per year for long-term visas and another 130 dollars per year for an employment book or card.