Cambodia’s lack of skilled workers in manufacturing, and engineering industries was cast into the limelight at this year’s National Career Fair.

Pleading to a room of job-hungry students, Pich Sophoan, secretary of state for the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, said the scarce number of skilled industry graduates continues to exacerbate Cambodia’s jobs mismatch issue.

“Our primary sector in economic growth is agriculture, but students are not interested to study about it,” Sophoan explained.

With an average of $700 million of foreign investment flowing into the country annually, Sophoan urged university students to consider the growing demand for graduates in the industrial and agricultural sectors instead of finance and banking.

“We have too many students studying marketing, management, banking and business,” Sophoan said during the two-day career fair, which was largely filled with exhibitors from the finance and business sectors.

The National Career Fair will conclude today at Diamond Island Convention centre.