VietNamNet Bridge – Economists have warned about the presence of numerous Chinese workers in Vietnam, but local authorities are granting more work permits to Chinese workers.

Chinese workers in Vietnam.

China Chengda Engineering employs over 2,100 Chinese workers for the Duyen Hai 3 thermopower plant in Vietnam.

Chair of Tra Vinh Province Son Thi Anh Hong has confirmed the information, saying that the local authorities have granted work permits to the workers.

Hong said in Tuoi Tre that the decision to receive 2,100 more workers was made only after relevant agencies considered the situation carefully.

The newly employed workers are not untrained but skilled workers and specialists, who the Chinese investor cannot find in Vietnam.

According to Duong Quang Ngoc, deputy director of the Tra Vinh provincial labor department, China Chengda Engineering tried to look for local workers through the local labor department and job centers.

However, the number of Vietnamese workers applying for the jobs was very modest.

Ngoc tried to reassure the public that 2,100 Chinese workers would be recruited and sent to Vietnam within four years, from 2014 to 2018, not within a short period.

Nevertheless, the explanations by the local authorities could not calm people down.

Local newspapers in recent months have reported the presence of unlicensed Chinese workers in Vietnam, who have gathered in the so called “Chinese villages” in Vietnam.

In Tra Vinh province itself, the labor department discovered 920 foreign workers, most of them were Chinese, working at the Duyen Hai Power Center. Of these, only 517 had work permits, while 165 were expecting work permits and eight did not have to ask for permits.

This meant that 230 workers did not have work permits and they were working illegally in Vietnam.

After the discovery, Tra Vinh provincial authorities immediately released an “ultimatum” to unlicensed workers, saying that they must not be at work since May 15.

Tra Vinh is not the only province where there are unlicensed Chinese workers.

The same situation can be seen in many other localities, but Tra Vinh is the only province that appears to be heavy-handed toward workers without permits.

According to the Binh Thuan provincial labor department, 528 Chinese workers were found at Chinese construction sites in the province as of March 31. Of them, only 283 had work permits, while the remaining were illegal workers.

In Thanh Hoa province, of the 163 workers at the Cong Thanh cement factory, only 49 had university and higher degrees, while the other 114 were untrained workers whom the contractor could have found in Vietnam.

Formosa Ha Tinh steel complex project in Ha Tinh Province has also helped bring thousands of Chinese workers to Vietnam. Many of the workers went to Vietnam as travelers and then stayed in Vietnam to work for Formosa’s project.

Pham Chi Lan, a renowned independent economist, has given warnings about the massive employment of Chinese workers.

“The biggest danger is that local authorities and relevant agencies lent a hand to this (the recruitment of too many Chinese workers),” Lan said.

Dat Viet