The event was jointly held b y the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA).
ILO representative Nguyen Mai Thuy said Vietnam , along withCambodia , China , Laos , Malaysia and Thailand, areimplementing a safe labour export triangle project, which aims toprotect migrant workers in and from Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS)member nations from labour exploitation through increasing legalassistance and protection for them.
ASEAN member nations areworking together on managing migrant workers and protecting theirrights and legitimate interests through the signing of the ASEANMutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for eight professions ofaccountant, engineer, surveyor, architect, nurse, medical staff, dentistand tour guide. The agreement allows employees to freely work inregional countries.
According to ILO , a good integrationpolicy will help Vietnam improve labour productivity through themigration of skilled labourers, but the country should also take intoconsideration the fact that a large number of qualified workers willleave for other countries to find jobs with higher salary.
Migration should be considered as a choice of labourers, which can helpthem escape from poverty, experts said, stressing the need to takemeasures to both promote migration and protect migrant labourers.
Guest workers need to be provided with full and accurate informationabout policies, fees and interests as well as ways to protect them, theyadded.
Data of the General Statistic Office (GSO) in 2013showed that almost all Vietnamese migrant labourers come from ruralareas and are between 15-29 years old. The number of female workers ison the rise.
According to the End Exploitationand Trafficking (MTV EXIT) organisation, about 1 million forced migrantlabourers were reported in Asia.-VNA