Candidates are set to take Korean language exam - a criterion for them to be able to work in the South Korea. — VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuấn

HÀ NỘI — Public non-business units run by provinces/cities People’s Committees may soon be able to send workers abroad as part of international treaties and international agreements.

This is part of added regulations in the draft amended Law on Vietnamese Guest Workers under Contract that Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Đào Ngọc Dung presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon.

In Việt Nam, public non-business units provide goods and public services for society and other goods/services in education, health care, information, sports, agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, helping maintain normal operations of national economic sectors. The units operate mostly serve the public instead of seeking profits.

At present, companies/organisations can send workers abroad when they meet criteria including to have legal capital of VNĐ 5 billion (USD217,400), have operation plans to send workers abroad and have a bank deposit of VNĐ 1 billion ($43,500 .

The companies/organisations must have staff and facilities to train workers before sending them abroad. The leader of the companies/organisations must have a university degree and three years of experience in labour export or international co-operation.

Labour minister Dung also introduced key new contents to the law on Vietnamese guest workers from 13 years ago.

Dung said amendments to the law were needed to tackle problems that the current law could not.

The amendments and supplementations were also expected to make the law more compatible with the 2013 Constitution and other laws, as well as current situations in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution, migration management, international labour mobility and protection of the right-to-work of citizens.

Under the draft law, a labour export licence can be valid for five years and be extended every five years. The number of extensions is not limited.

For Vietnamese guest workers, when they return Việt Nam, they have to report to their local authority within 30  days after arrival so local authorities can update labour databases and offer support to get work.

The draft law also includes new support policies from the Government to Vietnamese guest workers. For example, social policy beneficiaries – the poor or those from families contributing to national defence and construction – will be assisted to learn foreign languages and get careers guidance.

Workers who plan to work in developed countries and do jobs with technical skills that Việt Nam also has demand for will also be supported.

Another additional regulation is a Government policy to invest in job training centres’ equipment, staff and programmes to improve the quality of exported human resources.

Meanwhile, the Overseas Employment Support Fund will no longer receive a contribution from the State’s budget. The fund will be managed by a management council and board. The draft mentions what the fund will be spent on, such as developing the labour export market, risk prevention for guest workers and communication programmes for guest workers.

In 2019, the country sent 152,530 labourers abroad, surpassing the year’s plan by 27.1 per cent. Japan was the biggest recipient with nearly 83,000 labourers, followed by Taiwan (China) with 54,480, the Republic of Korea (RoK) with 7,215, Romania with 3,478, and Saudi Arabia with 1,375.

By the end of March, about 560,000 Vietnamese people were working in 36 countries and territories worldwide, according to statistics from the Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. — VNS