Vietnamese labor integrate with global market



Ha Noi, Dec. 13 (VNA) -- The Government will exempt entrepreneurs engaged in labour exports from value-added tax (VAT) from early next year, in a bid to stimulate Viet Nam's labour exports, a senior official from the Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry said.

The Government has approved the ministry's proposal that the zero percent VAT level be applied to entrepreneurs who are allowed to dispatch Vietnamese workers abroad, director of the department for management of Vietnamese workers abroad Tran Van Hang told Lao Dong newspaper.

However, he said, the remaining tax amount will be used to improve worker quality which considered a prime concern of Viet Nam as it works to integrate with the global labour market.

In order to raise labour quality, the ministry has also asked the education and training ministry to introduce English training programmes as a compulsory subject in the national general education system, he added, stressing that the foreign language abilities of Vietnamese guest workers remains poor and unqualified.

He said that another measure is to ensure proper recruitment of the best workers who have transparent personal backgrounds and show good discipline and law obedience.

The ministry has asked the Government to increase a penalty on illegal brokers to VND 200 million from the present fine of VND 3 million, with a view to ensuring the quality of labour recruitment, he said.

Hang disclosed that the National Assembly Standing Committee has asked the Government to prepare a legal document governing the country's labour exports. When approved, this legal framework will help improve the quality of Vietnamese guest workers.

Currently, about 30,000 Vietnamese are working in 38 countries and territories across the world and that number is expected to reach 50,000 by the year 2001, according to the ministry.-- VNA