Last year, the number of Vietnamese labourers going abroad to work was only 78,641, equivalent to only 60.5 per cent of the plan assigned by the Government. — Photo thanhnien.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) is striving to send 90,000 Vietnamese labourers to work abroad in 2021.

Last year many workers returned home or were unable to go overseas due to COVID-19 pandemic's restrictions, but this year, the Ministry is looking to get more people to work overseas, as long as strict health measures are met to ensure the safety of those travelling abroad to work. 

According to director of the MoLISA’s Department of Overseas Labour Tống Hải Nam Việt Nam now has 506 companies licensed to bring labourers to work overseas, but there are still more than 26,000 guest workers who cannot return home despite their expired work contracts due to the pandemic.

The department has directed relevant units to keep a close watch on the pandemic's developments, and actively coordinate with Việt Nam’s representative agencies abroad as well as partners and employers to ensure safety and legitimate interests of Vietnamese workers while waiting to come back home.

It has also asked businesses to calculate the number of workers who need to be repatriated to report to authorised agencies for consideration of flights to repatriate them as soon as possible and in accordance with the country’s conditions.

The department re-signed an agreement on labour cooperation with Thailand; has negotiated another deal with Israel; and been implementing the agreements signed with the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan.

It has also conducted market research and assessed the pilot phase of bringing workers to work in some European countries such as Romania and Poland to promote the development, expansion and stabilisation of the labour market, and intensified support for localities in continuing to pilot sending seasonal workers to the RoK.

Last year, due to movement restrictions applied by many countries, the number of Vietnamese labourers going abroad to work was only 78,641, equivalent to only 60.5 per cent of the plan assigned by the Government. — VNS