VietNamNet Bridge – The increasing number of foreigners coming to work in Viet Nam has forced the Government to give more favourable conditions to highly qualified foreigners and minimise the use of manual workers.

Vietnamese and foreign engineers work at the Dung Quat Oil Refinery's Control and Operation Centre. The Government encourages skilled labourers working in high-tech fields in Viet Nam. (Photo: VNS)

Viet Nam currently employs 74,000 workers from over 60 countries, with 58 per cent originating from Asia, according to the department's statistics.

The increase in foreign investment is one of the main reasons behind the rise in numbers of foreign workers, said the deputy director of Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) ‘s Employment Department, Le Quang Trung.

Another cause is the need for foreign workers in a number of new fields that require skills, experience and high technology.

In 2008 the record-high amount offering direct investment was US$64 billion. However, after a precipitous fall in 2009 to $21 billion because of the global recession, FDI began to steadily decline.

Still, Viet Nam remains among one of Southeast Asia's top favourites for foreign investors, with a significant rebound in FDI inflows in 2010 and a continued recovery this year, according to the Business Monitor Online.

"With more Vietnamese FDI inflows, the development of new professional areas and technologies would continue, and hence the number of foreigners coming to work in Viet Nam would also continue to grow," said Trung.

In the meantime, the country will put a stop on groups of foreign employees with lower qualifications, particularly manual workers.

A large number of manual workers come to Viet Nam with their contractors, mostly for construction projects.

According to Trung, there are a number of foreigners working in Viet Nam without a work permit.

Since the adoption of the regulation that allows foreigners to work without a work permit if they are here for less than three months, companies and contractors have taken advantage of supposedly "untrained" workers.

Early this month, authorities in Da Nang said one-third of its total 600 foreign workers had no work permit, making it difficult for local authorities to ensure social order.

Trung told VnEconomy that only 500 of 2,400 foreigners working in northern Ninh Binh Province have a work permit. The remaining are working on contracts of fewer than three months, which do not require a work permit.

"The poor awareness of local employers is one of the main reasons for this problem (lack of registration of foreign workers)," said Trung.

Also contributing to the problem is lax enforcement of the regulations.

A local employer is fined VND15-20 million (US$728-970) if they do not either register foreign workers or apply to renew foreign employees' work permits.

Trung said it was urgent to better manage foreign employment by increasing the penalty level and making public the names of companies that violate the regulations.

The Department of Employment is expected to take more drastic measures that include completing the regulations on the management of foreign employment.

The department will also ensure that information on the responsibility of local employers, tenders and contractors to follow the regulations is disseminated and explained.

Sent home

In an effort to complete the regulations on the employment and management of foreigners, the government has issued decree 46/2011/ND-CP which complements the old one issued in 2008.

Six months after the new decree takes effect on August 1, foreign workers who have not received a work permit or have yet to apply for a permit would be expelled from the country, said Trung.

These people would also be barred from future visa applications to work in Viet Nam.

"One of the changes in the new regulations that provide more favourable conditions for foreigners to get a work permit is a halving of the processing time to get a work permit to 10 working days," said Trung.

The new decree also provides more favourable conditions for those who apply to work in new professional fields.

Re-application procedures will take only three working days. A work permit in Viet Nam can have up to 36-month validity, which is longer than several other countries in the region.

Under the new decree, investors must give high priority to hiring Vietnamese workers when the work is within their capacity.

The newly modified decree which took effect on August 1 had helped close the loopholes which gave employers more opportunities to hire manual workers, said Trung.

"Local employers are only allowed to hire foreigners with professional skills in the positions that local workers cannot fill," he said.

Under the new regulations, foreigners bidding for investment packages must indicate in their documents a specific plan on how many employees and what qualifications they need.

There will be thousands of foreign workers coming to Viet Nam on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts, according to VnEconomy.

In preparation for effective management of foreign workers on these contracts, MoLISA had strengthened its co-ordination with relevant ministries of Public Security, Industry and Trade, Planning and Investment as well as industrial park authorities in an aim to instruct and help employers of foreign workers follow the regulations, said Trung.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News