A total of 65,852 Vietnamese workers were sent abroad under labor contracts in the first five months of this year, accounting for 52.68 per cent of the year’s target, the Government News has quoted the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) as reporting.

Among them, 35,208 went to Japan, making the country the largest importer of Vietnam’s manpower in the period, while 21,602 and 5,209 others were sent to Taiwan (China) and South Korea, respectively.

In March this year, Deputy Minister of MOLISA Nguyen Ba Hoan and Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski signed a plan to implement the Memorandum of Understanding between the two Governments to support Vietnamese citizens to work in Australia’s agricultural industry.

Under the MoU, the two sides will support 1,000 Vietnamese workers to work in the agricultural industry of Australia under the Pacific Australia Labor Mobility (PALM) scheme, beginning this year.

On June 12, the MOLISA held a signing ceremony between the Center for Overseas Labor and the Osaka Medical Care Association (Japan) regarding a technical intern supply contract for the care worker profession in Japan.

Vietnam aims to send 125,000 contract workers in 2024, mostly to key traditional markets such as Japan, Taiwan (China) and South Korea. Among them, 63,000 will be sent to Japan, while some 48,000 to Taiwan (China) and 8,500 to South Korea.

In 2023, more than 159,000 contract workers from Vietnam went abroad, reaching 133 per cent of the yearly plan, a 10-year high. Key traditional markets continued to receive a large number of Vietnamese workers, with Japan receiving more than 80,000, Taiwan (China) more than 58,000, and South Korea 11,000 workers.