Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan (right) receives Chairman of the Nagano prefectural council Nishizawa Masataka on May 9 in Hanoi. (Photo: The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs)

 HÀ NỘI – Chairman of the Nagano prefectural council Nishizawa Masataka said on May 9 that the Japanese prefecture wants to receive more Vietnamese guest workers and apprentices in the coming time.

Speaking at a meeting with Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyễn Bá Hoan in Hà Nội, the Japanese official said that Nagano is a prefecture with the highest average life expectancy in Japan. Thus, the local authorities have paid much attention to health care for the public.

He informed the host the locality is drafting several key projects on public health care that require additional human resources relating to nursing.

More than 5,000 Vietnamese apprentices are living and working in Nagano, a modest number given the cooperation potential of the two sides, Masataka said, adding that in the coming time, he hoped Vietnam will create favourable conditions to send more Vietnamese guest workers to Nagano.

For his part, Hoan said that the cooperation in labour between VIệt Nam and Japan has received more and more attention and witnessed positive results in recent years.

He said that in the last few years, the number of Vietnamese workers in Japan accounts for over 50% of the total Vietnamese labourers working abroad every year.

In 2019, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Nagano prefecture's administration signed a cooperation agreement on human resources development, Hoan said, suggesting the two sides review the agreement and find measures to boost their labour cooperation in the coming time. VNS