Labour exporters enjoy overseas opportunities

Labour exporters are being offered more opportunities as many overseas markets are receiving increasing numbers of Vietnamese workers and making changes in their policies to lessen the financial pressure on them.

Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said that well paying markets such as the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan choose Vietnamese workers first out of other 15 markets.

“Many RoK and Japanese employers prefer to hire Vietnamese workers due to their diligence, hard-work, creativity and eagerness to learn,” said Ngan.

She added that many employers feel more secure when hiring Vietnamese workers as their sense of responsibility has improved and the number of fled workers has dropped sharply.

Some markets have also introduced policies to ease the financial pressure on workers. Currently guest workers are exempted from income tax in Malaysia and do not pay deposits in Japan.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Doan Xuan Hung said that Vietnamese guest workers send up to 2 billion USD a year home.

In addition to licensed businesses, successful tenders, organisations and individuals investing overseas should be promoted. At present, Vietnam has sent only 3,060 guest workers in this manner, Hung said.

He emphasised that the African market is short of experts in healthcare, agriculture and education, in which Vietnam is strong. With a monthly salaries ranging from 5,000 USD to 10,000 USD, Africa is a huge potential market for Vietnam to speed up the export of specialists and highly-skilled workers.

National Assembly’s Deputy Chairman Uong Chu Luu said that in the near future, labour exports should be more specialised, to raise economic efficiency and the country’s image.

He emphasised that the African market is short of experts in healthcare, agriculture and education, in which Vietnam is strong. With a monthly salaries ranging from 5,000 USD to 10,000 USD, Africa is a huge potential market for Vietnam to speed up the export of specialists and highly-skilled workers.

According to the Overseas Labourers Management Department, over 500,000 Vietnamese are now working in 40 countries and territories all around the world./.

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Labour exports may miss target

Jobseekers discuss employment opportunities at a jobs fair organised by the HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. — VNA/VNS Photo The Anh

HCM CITY — The country is unlikely to meet the target of sending 85,000 guest workers abroad this year due to several problems facing the labour market, including reducing demand, the Department of Overseas Labour has said.

Only 37,068 workers went overseas in the first half of the year, or 43 per cent of the year's target, it said.

It included just 1,500 to South Korea, the country's most reliable market, compared to nearly 4,300 in the same period last year.

Labour recruitment companies said the global recession, labour policy changes in export markets, and risks involved in recruiting guest workers had all taken a toll on business.

The large amount of security they had to deposit as guarantee to enable workers to borrow from banks was also affecting their activities, company officials said.

Nguyen Xuan Vui, director of recruiter Air Services Supply Joint Stock Company (Airserco), said most banks demanded a deposit of 5-10 per cent of the loan amount.

Only in the central province of Thanh Hoa didn't banks have this requirement, he said.

Out of 40 countries and territories that have so far taken in Vietnamese guest workers, the companies are only focusing on nine markets now: South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Libya.

If prompt remedial measures are not taken, the target cannot be reached this year or next, the companies have warned.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa promised comprehensive solutions for the problems.

The ministry would hold consultations on sending guest workers to the Middle East in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands, he said. — VNS

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Labor exporters urge accord with Israel

The Overseas Workers Management Bureau is working hard to reach an agreement on labor with Israel to open the way into this lucrative market for Vietnamese farm workers.

Bureau chief Nguyen Ngoc Quynh unveiled the plan after emphasizing that the absence of such an agreement was a major hurdle for Vietnamese guest workers to tap the world’s most developed agricultural market, which is not demanding while offering high incomes.

The fact that Israel needs just between 4,000 and 5,000 guest workers annually while Thailand has already met up to 60 percent of the demand has pushed Vietnamese authorities to rush to reach an agreement in this field.

The Overseas Workers Management Bureau says guest workers can get paid between US$1,300 and 1,500 a month.

In 2008, the Middle East market embarked on receiving Vietnamese guest workers through a program of cooperation in training of apprentices signed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

As a result, 236 Vietnamese guest workers have been so far sent to work in Israel with annual net incomes ranging from $5,000 to $7,000.

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