Vietnam, Malaysia eye stronger labour cooperation

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia still remains one of the top markets for Vietnamese unskilled workers after Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan (China), head of the Vietnamese Embassy's labour management department in Malaysia Thai Phuc Thanh has said. 

According to Thanh, labour cooperation between Vietnam and Malaysia has developed continuously and substantively. The two governments in 2003 signed the first cooperation agreement in sending Vietnamese labourers to Malaysia, which was re-inked in 2015, and 2022 in the framework of the official visit to Vietnam of then Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Labour cooperation is always touched upon in most of the high-level meetings between the two countries, and closely linked to the interests of workers, businesses and development goals of each country. It is not only bilateral cooperation but also within the framework of ASEN cooperation, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and trade agreements that both sides have joined.

Head of the Vietnamese Embassy's labour management department in Malaysia Thai Phuc Thanh (Photo: VNA)

Thanh highlighted the great benefits brought about by labour cooperation agreements to the two countries, saying that these deals have helped create jobs and incomes for hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese workers.

Official statistics show that there are over 12,300 Vietnamese labourers working in Malaysia. The total income of Vietnamese workers in Malaysia in the 2010 – 2020 period was estimated at about 1.5 billion USD.

He said that Malaysia is considered an "easy" labour market suitable for almost unskilled rural labourers of Vietnam. Vietnamese workers have the opportunity to work in almost all industries in Malaysia such as manufacturing, mechanical engineering, textiles, construction, services, and agriculture.

Labour cooperation has also contributed to expanding economic, trade, tourism and investment cooperation between the two countries, he went on.

To effectively exploit the potential of labour cooperation between the two countries, it is necessary to create favourable conditions for workers to travel, reside and work legally, and further develop the segment of skilled and highly-qualified labour market, Thanh said./.