A Vietnamese Government programme to send poor workers abroad is back on track following a recovery in the global demand for labour after the recession.

The Government covers all expenses to enable poor workers to go abroad. The cost of getting a passport and visa, health check, language training, and others comes to around US$1,100.

The Government also funds their accommodation and language-learning fees with a one-time grant of VND10 million ($524) if they go to Libya and around VND7 million($367) in case of Malaysia 

Poor workers can obtain soft loans from the Government to cover their expenses before they leave. 

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs works with Korea's Human Resources Development Agency and Japan's Institute of International Human Resources of Small and Medium Sized Businesses to send workers to these countries.

The private sector is also again busy recruiting workers for overseas clients. Tong Thanh Tung, deputy director of Chau Hung Trading Joint-Stock Company, said his company would provide interest-free loans to women workers to cover their expenses related to going abroad and take care of their passport and health check costs. 

In Viet Nam, the poverty line has been drawn at VND3.6 million ($189) in rural areas and VND4.7 ($246) million in urban areas.

Job market recovers

Tung said following the recovery, his company received requests for thousands of guest workers for garment, motorbike and automobile-parts manufacturing, and other factories in Malaysia, Brunei, and the Middle East.

The workers can get stable jobs with incomes of VND5.5 million ($288) – VND6.5 million ($341) a month in Libya and VND4 million – VND4.5 million ($236) in the United Arab Emirates, he said. 

"Brunei and countries in the Middle East are among the more suitable destinations for Vietnamese workers since they do not demand high skill levels or knowledge of the local language," he said. 

Taiwan is one of the most popular destinations, with nearly 80,000 Vietnamese workers working there.

Viet Nam will send around 1,000 workers to Japan under an agreement between the labour ministries of the two countries.

South Korea, which had stopped taking in guest workers during the crisis, is now seeking 12,500 Vietnamese workers. 

Libya, following the lifting of the western embargo, now takes in 30,000 – 40,000 foreign workers every year, including from Viet Nam. 

Labour companies are also hoping to send highly skilled workers to places like Australia, New Zealand, and Canada as well as seasonal workers to European countries. 

Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, chief of the Department of Overseas Labour Management, said around 1,000 poor workers went abroad last year but the annual figure is expected to reach 7,000 in the future.

 The number of Vietnamese guest workers topped 30,000 in the first half of this year, with Taiwan being the largest market with 10,146 workers. It was followed by the UAE with 4,082, Laos with 2,278, Libya with 2,264, Japan with 2,216, Malaysia with 1,527, and Macau with 1,345.

Monday, 05 July 2010

Link: http://business.highbeam.com/409104/article-1G1-230932125/vietnam-labour-export-plan-gets-back-track