Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang (L) and State Secretary of the Croatian Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Ivan Vidis (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang on March 14 held a working session with State Secretary of the CroatianMinistry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Ivan Vidis to discuss thepotential of labour cooperation between the two countries as part of her working visit to the European country.
Briefing Vidis on Vietnam's socio-economic landscape,Hang highlighted the potential and strength of Vietnam's labourforce. With 53% of Vietnam's 100 million people falling within theworking-age range, she presented Vietnam as a promising source of qualifiedlabour for Croatia.
Vietnam expects to collaborate withCroatia in vocational training to equip Vietnamese workers with the skillsnecessary to meet the European Union (EU) standards, shesaid.
Vidis, for his part, agreed to boost bilaterallabour and vocational training cooperation.
He noted that despite having around 200,000foreign workers, constituting 6% of the population, 80% of Croatia's economicsectors still face labour shortages. Croatia, he explained, aims to attractskilled and legal foreign workers, and Vietnam is seen as a potential partnerin this effort.
To facilitate this partnership, Vidishighlighted Croatia's policies that allow work permits and contracts forforeigners for up to three years, ensuring their rights are protected on parwith local workers.
Both sides pledged to step up labourcooperation, including continuing to facilitate direct cooperation betweenbusinesses from both countries. They will initiate negotiations to build alegal framework through the signing of a bilateral agreement.
The guest also further expressed his intentionto visit Vietnam next year to conduct surveys./.
