Vietnamese people account for 55 percent of the foreign workers who are granted visa under Japan’s new policy adopted from April 1, 2019, according to the Immigration Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Justice.
Vietnamese workers in Japan topped 401,000 as of October 2019, an increase of 26.7 percent from a year earlier, adding up to the record of almost 1.66 million foreign workers in the country, data of the Japanese labour ministry show.
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Toshimitsu Motegi will begin his visit to four Southeast Asian nations of Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia on January 5.
Remittances to Vietnam are likely to further increase in 2019 because overseas Vietnamese people believe in the stability of the economy and see better investment opportunities, economist Nguyen Tri Hieu said.
Among 219 foreigners getting the Specified Skilled Worker visas for people with vocational skills, 93 are Vietnamese, 33 Indonesians and 27 Filipinos, according to the Japanese Immigration Services Agency.
Foreign businesses in Vietnam have increasing need for expatriate workers since there is a shortage of skill locally, according to many recruitment companies.
The Embassy of Japan in Vietnam held a workshop in Hanoi on July 23 to provide information on the country’s new specified skills residency status for Vietnamese workers who want to work in Japan.
The Philippine Government is considering additional requirement on foreigners intending to work in the country, according to the country’s Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE).
Vietnam and Japan will sign a cooperation agreement providing labour skills for foreigners, aiming to enable Vietnamese citizens to work in Japan in line with the country’s new visa policy.
An estimated 64 percent of foreign workers in Vietnam have joined compulsory social insurance after the Government’s decree 143/2018/ND-CP regulating compulsory social insurance for foreign workers took effect.
The Vietnam Social Security has directed its branches in cities and provinces nationwide to collect compulsory social insurance premiums of foreign employees in the country.
A Thai academic has said the nation needs to attract skilled foreign workers to work in the country, especially in the industrial technology sector, to overcome a shortage of skilled-workers.
Bilateral agreements for a new generation of social insurance policy have been negotiated to support foreign workers engaging in Vietnam’s social insurance scheme, said Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Social Security (VSS) Dao Viet Anh.
The Government has officially issued a decree stipulating in details and guiding the enforcement of the Law on Social Insurance on compulsory social insurance for foreign employees in Vietnam.
The southern province of Tay Ninh lured nearly 20 trillion VND (858 million USD) from eight investors to implement 10 solar power projects with a combined capacity of 808 MW by the end of September.
Foreign workers holding the Visit Pass – Temporary Employment (PLKS) for the past 10 years will be given a reprieve to continue working in Malaysia for a maximum three years.
As many as 1,162 illegal foreign workers in Thailand have been arrested and 204 law-breaking employers have been prosecuted following checks on nearly 50,000 foreign workers at establishments in the past month.
Society
