Vietnamese labourers at Noi Bai International Airport heading to South Korea before the COVID-19. — Photo Department of Overseas Labour

Vietnamese labourers who have been working in Malaysia have been told they can return to work, but not until the end of August.

And moves are being made to allow workers to return to both South Korea and Taiwan in the near future.

The Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) has said the Malaysian Government officially announced to end the valid restricted movement order.

In a recent meeting, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc assigned the ministry make arrangements to send labourers to countries which are safe and in need of workers.

Nguyen Gia Liem, the department’s deputy director, said the three markets received more than 90 per cent of the total of Vietnamese labourers in foreign countries.

Employers in South Korea and Taiwan wanted Vietnamese labourers to come back to resume their production as soon as possible. The Human Resource Development Services of Korea last month organised the Korean language proficiency tests in Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang, showing that this market would be soon re-openned.

Liem said the labour demand in Japan was also very high, especially in sectors of agriculture, taking care of the elderly and food processing. The two countries have been under negotiations to resume their labour market hopefully by the end of this month or the beginning of August.

Pham Do Nhat Tan, vice chairman of Viet Nam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS), said the labour export market has seen signs of recovery. It was expected that Japan would soon re-open. Local firms operating in the sector should prepare workers to meet the demand as soon as the country resume the market.

In addition, the Government should negotiate with Japan to have flexible solutions to bring workers to safe areas without COVID-19, he said.

In mid-June, Hoang Long CMS Company brought 29 workers to Taiwan following an order of Kymco Group for its electronic motorbike assembly factory.

Nghiem Quoc Hung, the company’s chairman cum general director, said labourers were provided with accommodation and isolated for 14 days before starting work.

Vu Thanh Hai, director of international investment and service company, Interserco, also said they have started to complete procedures for labourers to move to Taiwan this month. Workers in production sectors would be given priorities. Some Taiwanese companies have already arranged quarantine areas for Vietnamese labourers.

Viet Nam aims to send 130,000 labourers to work overseas this year. However, the country has so far only sent 33,500 people to foreign markets in the first half of the year due to the pandemic, reducing 40 per cent from the same period last year. In May only, local businesses sent just 126 workers abroad.

In the last six months, more than 5,000 Vietnamese labourers in overseas markets returned home because of COVID-19. — VNS

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