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The official Government website on Friday, April 5, held a Q&A session where the issue of overseas labour was put into the spotlight.

ILO in Vietnam has called on Vietnamese trade unions to take a more active role in protecting migrant workers overseas given the volume is expected to increase over coming years.

Phan Van Minh, director of the Overseas Workers Center, under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that 25,113 Vietnamese workers, whose labor contracts had expired earlier, will return to work in the Republic of Korea (RoK) this year.

According to Minh, the amount of money sent home by overseas Vietnamese over the years has contributed significantly to the economy.

Dao Cong Hai, Deputy Head of the Overseas Workers Management Agency, an arm of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), said Vietnam plans to send 8,000-9,000 workers abroad in 2013 after sending 7,000 workers in 2012.

“Since we have been unable to deal with the problem of Vietnamese workers overstaying their visa, South Korea will not employ new workers from Vietnam under the 2013 foreign workers quota in the Employment Permit System (EPS) program,” Luong Duc Long, deputy director of the Overseas Workers Center, is quoted by Nguoi Lao Dong as saying.

About 100 Vietnamese nurses will get training and work in Germany under a pilot programme between the two countries, according to the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Accordingly, each worker of this kind will receive between VND1.6 million and VND2.3 million (US$78-109) depending on where they work.