Manufacturing

A giant Vietnamese rubber company that has faced repeated accusations of illegal land and forest grabbing in Cambodia has been stripped of its accreditation as a sustainable forestry product supplier by the world’s leading forest certification body. In a damning report, the Forest Stewardship Council claims ...

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance is considering changing a tax regulation following concerns that the rule has been abused by Chinese exporters to ship a large amount of steel to Vietnam without paying duties.   Currently imported steel with at least 0.3 percent of chrome content will be exempt ...

Mass food poisoning suffered by 441 workers at a factory on 21 October was a reminder of the unhealthy factory lunches provided in Vietnam, which has been a major cause of wildcat strikes and the fact that its productivity is among the lowest in the world.   Truong ...

A rice-milling company has admitted to letting pieces of plastic from its machinery make their way into bags of rice after residents and authorities in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet town raised fears of “plastic rice” upon finding their rice abnormally sticky since the Pchum Ben holiday. Keep ...

The Myanmar Food and Drug Administration is taking action against peddlers of dirty “purified” water and fake peanut oil. Officials said for the safety of the public the FDA will be testing products consumed daily, going ward by ward to take samples. “First, we will take ...

After weeks of occasionally tumultuous negotiations saw 2016’s minimum wage for garment workers raised to $140 earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned on 19 October that the new rate could cause factories to flee Cambodia, even though he was credited with personally intervening to ...

Garment workers unions unhappy with next year’s recently announced $140 minimum wage for the sector will meet this week to determine whether or not to hold demonstrations to protest the disappointingly low figure. The unions were pushing for $160 a month when the government announced the ...

The Labour Ministry considers the wage dispute at the Han Jen garment factory done and dusted, but workers yesterday told The Myanmar Times their woes are far from solved. “[The labour director] said the Han Jen worker’s dispute is finished and was resolved okay. Actually, we haven’t ...

Following an at-times turbulent process, Cambodia on 8 October set the 2016 minimum wage for garment workers at $140 per month, a $12 increase from the current rate of $128 but well below union demands for $160. Labour Minister Ith Samheng announced that the government’s wage-setting group, ...

The Cambodian government set the new monthly minimum wage for the country’s billion-dollar garment sector at $140 on 8 October—up from $128—more than what factory owners wanted but far less than the raise demanded by some unions. Keep reading ...