A Vietnamese nurse’s aide takes care of an elderly patient in the Kirishiki Welfare Centre in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. — VNA/VNS Photo Đào Thanh Tùng

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) expects that this year, Việt Nam can again reach a record number of workers being sent to work abroad, which was 153,000 set in 2009.

In the first ten months this year, the total number of Vietnamese people being sent to work abroad is 132,600, reaching 120.59 per cent of the yearly plan, and 117.40 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Japan is the leading market receiving Vietnamese labourers, with more than 67,500. Following it is Taiwan (China) with more than 50,800 labourers, and South Korea with nearly 6,000. Next are China, Hungary, Singapore, Romania, Poland, Saudi Arabia and other markets.

Nguyễn Gia Liêm, deputy director of the Department of Overseas Labour Management under the MoLISA, said: "We have achieved and exceeded the planned target. We hope that in the last months and in the following years, we can maintain the number."

He said that after the COVID-19 pandemic was controlled, many countries wanted to receive Vietnamese workers under new agreements.

​“Developed countries are in population declining and aging, and in addition, after the COVID-19 pandemic their need for economic recovery is very strong but they lack human resources. This is an opportunity for us to maintain and stabilise the foreign labour market,” said Liêm.

“Currently, some countries are changing their policies, so they ask us to sign new cooperation agreements. European countries such as Romania, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and Czech; and Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates are also offering to sign cooperation agreements with us," he said.

Bring home benefits

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Đào Ngọc Dung in the questioning session in front of the National Assembly stated that labourers abroad on average bring US$3.5-4 billion to the country on a daily basis.

On average each year, Việt Nam has about 120,000-143,000 people going to work in foreign countries.

This year alone, as many as 112,000 people work abroad, mainly in Japan and Taiwan (China).

Answering questions from National Assembly deputies last Wednesday, Dung said that promoting the overseas workforce was directed in the Government's resolutions.

The MoLISA has been focusing on a number of solutions for the labourers after returning from abroad.

The first is building a website and holding job exchange sessions for those workers.

The second is connecting Vietnamese workers with foreign businesses so that when workers return home, they can find work. For instance, workers returning home from Japan should continue to work for Japanese businesses in Việt Nam.

Another solution is applying different models such as short-term and seasonal labour to take advantage of the workers' abilities and strengths.

Another choice is lending capital to those workers to help them set up their own business.

Each year, about 1.6 to 1.7 million workers are given jobs, according to the MoLISA. — VNS