VietNamNet Bridge – Taiwan received 15,106 Vietnamese guest labourers in the first six months of this year, accounting for nearly 47 per cent of the number of Vietnamese labourers going abroad for overseas jobs.

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Taiwan was followed by Japan, where 3,341 Vietnamese are working. At least 2,492 labourers are working in Malaysia.

In the first half of the year, 33,216 Vietnamese workers were sent abroad under contracts signed by Vietnamese firms and their foreign partners, up by 1.6 per cent compared with the same period of 2012, according to the Overseas Labour Management Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Despite 2013 forecasts of economic downturn, traditional markets have opened their doors for Vietnamese workers, said Dao Cong Hai, deputy chief of the Overseas Labour Management Department.

Taiwan is expected to receive over 20,000 Vietnamese labourers, while Japan will take 9,000 this year, up from 7,000 in 2012.

In addition, other markets, including Qatar and the Middle East, are also attractive to Vietnamese workers. More than 85,000 local workers will be sent to these countries this year.

To realise set targets, the Overseas Labour Management Department has increased the number of Vietnamese workers in traditional markets, while at the same time looking for new markets.

In the first quarter of 2013, the department sent workers to jobs in Malaysia and the Middle East, including United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. The department also for the first time sent Vietnamese nurses to Japan and Germany.

Language barriers remain the biggest difficulty for Vietnamese labourers in accessing markets that require high-quality workers.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has mapped out a project to support Vietnamese labourers working abroad under contracts.

Under the project, each poor labourer from rural areas would be provided with VND3million for vocational training, VND3 million for foreign language courses. They would also receive financial support to help cover other expenses before they go abroad.

Source: VNS