New markets.

Although Vietnamese laborers are now present in 40 countries and territories, Vietnamese labour export focuses on four traditional markets. In the next few years, can Vietnamese guest workers penetrate developed countries? Currently, in additional to the four traditional markets of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan, Vietnamese labourers can access many new markets such as Australia, Canada, the US, Italy, Macao and Brunei as well as many other potential markets in the Middle East such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Vietnamese guest workers have advantages to penetrate these markets. Vietnamese labourers’ ability to master new technologies is as high as the native labourers. Vietnamese labourers also become familiar with highly industrial production environments very quickly. Most foreign employers highly value this characteristic of Vietnamese guest workers. Furthermore, Vietnam’s entry to the World Trade Organisation makes countries, especially developed countries, have open and hospitable relations with Vietnamese guest workers. Joining the WTO is a golden opportunity for Vietnamese labour export.

Avoid losing advantages

To fulfill the target of having 1 million regular guest workers and transforming them from manual to skilled and qualified labourers, Vietnamese labour export will face many barriers and needs a specific roadmap to avoid obstacles.

In the past 10 years, Vietnam has been considered a country of rich natural and abundant human resources. Vietnamese guest workers are now in many developed countries and territories. Powerful countries in labour export such as the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are paying great attention to Vietnam and competing fiercely to hold export market shares.

Currently, most countries with an annual per capita income of US$10,000 or more want to receive workers from developing countries such as Vietnam. Labour export activities help train workers in production technology, industrial work methods and business culture and provides them with an income level that varies from a quarter to a half of the native people’s level. The other side of the coin is that a number of workers have broken labour contracts, turning themselves into long-term residents. Therefore, the countries receiving guest workers have issued hard-line policies, requiring all countries wanting to send their workers abroad to properly implement management and provision of workers so that they can only expand into the labour export market.

Enterprises should have transparent and open policies

The competitive edge belongs to those countries whose workforce can meet all requirements of employers. Most Vietnamese guest workers’ foreign language skills are at a low level, resulting in failure to penetrate foreign markets offering them high salaries. In addition, Vietnamese guest workers’ certificates or degrees have not yet recognised internationally so they only can engage in non-professional labour when working overseas.

Competitiveness, high or low, greatly depends on the transparency and publicity of every labour export enterprise. If the above-mentioned shortcomings are resolved soon, the target of having 1 million guest workers abroad by 2015 is within reach.