Due to the impacts of the global economic recession, Vietnam has managed to create jobs for only 650,000 workers in the first six months of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 17 percent, reported a local official.

The Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dam Huu Dac told reporters on June 18 that, while the country is facing a wide range of challenges in generating employment for workers, the number losing jobs is increasing sharply.

By the end of the first quarter, nearly 64,900 workers in 48 provinces and cities nationwide became unemployed, the deputy minister noted.

The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) said that the country’s unemployment rate is likely to surge in the near future, with 300,000 people losing their jobs this year, while the number of guest workers who have to return from abroad will hit 10,000.

To create more jobs and reduce the unemployment rate, the ministry plans to submit to the Prime Minister a plan to raise loans for the National Employment Fund to help those made redundant find new work, said Dac.

It will examine and approve loans to create jobs and work with the Social Policy Bank to speed up the disbursement of loans for vocational training and labour exports.

For labour exports, the ministry will maintain the existing markets and expand into other areas, tighten up management and protect the interests of workers, while improving the capacity of overseas labour management boards.

In addition, MoLISA will speed up the provision of vocational training for workers in the country’s poorest districts to find them work abroad./.