Sunday, 31/01/2010 22:46 (GMT+7)
More than 1 million Vietnamese labour-ers have worked abroad in the past 30 years, according to Nguyen Thanh Hoa, deputy director of the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs’ Overseas Labour Management Department.
The labour-export progr-amme to 40 countries and territories not only provided jobs but also increased foreign-currency income for Viet Nam, Hoa said at a meeting here on Thursday.
Between 2003 and 2009, an average of 77,000 labourers were sent overseas, bringing remittances worth US$1.7-2 billion a year, Hoa said. After finishing their contracts, many returned with much improved professional and foreign language skills.
However, there have been complaints about the low standard of some workers, poor language competence and little sense of discipline.
Nguyen Luong Trao, chairman of the Viet Nam Labour Export Association, said the Government needed to invest in labour-export companies with highly qualified staff.
Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, director of Overseas Labour Management Department, said that at present, the department mainly focused on strengthening management, improving legal approaches and expanding labour markets.