Labour export, an effective method of employment generation

According to the Overseas Worker Management Department under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, since 2001 more than 295,000 Vietnamese have gone to work abroad, bringing the totalnumber of Vietnamese workers in foreign countries to 400,000.

In 2005, the country sent nearly 70,600 workers abroad, a 5 percent year o­n year increase. The overseas workers have remitted about 1.6 billion USD to the country. The labour export sector is o­ne of Viet Nam's 1 billion USD export value earners.

Labour export has also helped generate jobs in related services, such as job and foreign language training, thus reducing the pressure of the matter of employment for workers in the country. Labour export businesses have annually contributed to the State budget tens of billions of VND from their profits and management fees.

Nguyen Thanh Hoa, Head of the Overseas Workers Management Department, said that in addition to traditional markets, labour export businesses have sent workers to new markets.

The number of Vietnamese workers in traditional markets has markedly increased, including more than 30,000 workers in the Republic of Korea, 10,000 workers in Malaysia, 90,000 workers in Taiwan and 20,000 workers in Japan. Vietnamese workers have been also sent to Canada, the US, Australia, Italy and some Middle Eastern countries. These new markets are attractive for their high wages and proper worker protection laws.

Viet Nam has licensed more than 100 businesses for labour exports, including 40 businesses specialising in labour supply. Many businesses of ministries and localitie is have sent large numbers of workers abroad and have taken a high level of responsibility for their workers, particularly in reducing risks.

Hoa said that in coming years, Viet Nam has chance to expand markets for labour exports as the world labour market has a great demand for foreign workers, particularly for such work as electronics assembly, garment and textile, services, domestic labour, and forest and agriculture production, which are suitable to Vietnamese workers.

Viet Nam now has more than 44 million people of working age, with about 1.2 million more people per year reaching working age, a major resource of work force supply for the domestic and foreign labour markets. According to foreign employers, Vietnamese workers are industrious, clever and creative. The rate of exported workers given job training has increased from 35 percent in 2003 to nearly 50 percent in 2005.

However, the labour export sector still has many limitations. Labour export businesses are small and lack professional skills. Vietnamese labourers should try to meet the increasing demands of the international labour market, particularly for foreign language skills and a high sense of discipline.

For the target of sending 80,000 workers abroad in 2006, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs is trying to complete a draft of the Law o­n Vietnamese Labour in Foreign Countries to submit to the National Assembly in 2006. The ministry will also implement the Government's Decree No. 141 o­n management of oversea Vietnamese workers.

The ministry plans to promote the education and job training of workers for export, prevent violations of the law in labour exports and instruct localities to promote cooperation with businesses in preparing labour for export.-Enditem.