Garment factory workers.PHNOM PENH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Unemployed factory workers can return to agriculture to guarantee better crops supply for the kingdom, national media on Tuesday quoted Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen as telling a recent meeting.
Closure of factories has led to mass unemployment, but workers can still find their livelihood in the rural areas as Cambodia is a country rooted in agriculture, Chinese-language newspaper the Sinchew Daily quoted him as saying.
"Unemployment hasn't caused very big crisis for our country," because people still have large fields to plant crops and fruit trees, he said.
If more people return to villages for plantation, Cambodia can have better crops supply, he said.
Meanwhile, Cambodia is also expecting EU, U.S., China, Japan and South Korea to revitalize their economies as soon as possible, thus becoming capable to help the kingdom develop itself, he added.
According to local reports, at least 80 garment factories have been closed in Cambodia since the global financial crisis occurred at the end of last year.
Some 19,000 people have lost their jobs in the garment sector so far and more are expected later this year, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in February.
Garment is the kingdom's foremost pillar industry. Meanwhile, Cambodia is also a major rice exporter in the region beside the Mekong River.
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