A seminar themed “Safe Labour Migration – International Experience and Realities in Vietnam” took place in Hanoi on December 4.

The event, co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and Manpower Group, drew the participation of representatives from the embassies of Japan, Sweden, the US, Australia, the Philippines and the Netherlands.

The seminar offered a chance for concerned parties to share information and data on human trafficking as well as put forth measures and cooperation programmes to maximise the interests of migrant workers towards safe migration activities.

Manpower Vice Chairman David Arkless said about 250 million people in the world are working overseas due to different reasons such as natural disasters, climate change, political conflicts and economic reasons.

If there is no regulation on safe migration, guest workers risk becoming the target of human traffickers, he noted, adding that the Governments and international organisations should closely cooperate in fighting this crime.

According to MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Hoa, over the past years, Vietnam has done a lot to complete the system of laws and regulations on sending Vietnamese workers abroad.

The MoLISA has coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure the safety of migrant Vietnamese workers, by opening more representative agencies overseas and setting up hotlines in these agencies as well as actively participating in international agreements and cooperation in protecting citizens, he said.

Vietnam has signed a number of agreements on labour cooperation with countries and territories that receive Vietnamese workers, including Malaysia, the RoK, Taiwan, Laos, Qatar, Russia, Bulgaria and Canada.

The country has also established seven overseas labour management boards in Malaysia, Japan, the RoK, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Czech. It is also considering the reopening of management boards in Qatar and Libya.

Vietnam has annually sent around 85,000 labourers to work overseas, accounting for over 5 percent of total people provided with jobs, he said.

At present, about 500,000 Vietnamese workers are working in 40 countries and territories, bringing remittances of 1.7-2 billion USD to the country each year.

In addition to the traditional markets of Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK), other markets such as the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand have become destinations for Vietnamese workers.

Participants suggested that, in the coming time, Vietnam needs to strengthen State management on sending workers abroad, and closely coordinate the work of its representative agencies overseas to protect the interests of Vietnamese guest workers./.VNA