He made the statement during a conference held on April 24 to launch the revised 2018 Code of Conduct (COC) of the Vietnam Association of Manpower and Supply (VAMAS).

Evaluating risks that Vietnamese labourers face when working abroad, Chang-Hee Lee said they have yet to receive enough information about the targeted markets. Especially, Vietnamese workers have to pay higher expenses than their counterparts in foreign countries and most of them cannot find suitable jobs.

Thus, the ILO advised Vietnamese businesses to reduce fees, towards eliminating all expenses for sending labourers abroad. In addition, these enterprises should follow the updated COC, he added, vowing that the ILO will support their transparent payments.

Regarding the information about Vietnamese workers paying high fees to go abroad, VAMAS President Nguyen Luong Trao said the fees that workers pay to work in foreign countries must be compared in all fields. There are various “orders” and different levels of workers, resulting in different types of fee. Businesses will be able to reduce the costs if they recruit qualified workers with good foreign language skills, who obey foreign countries’ rules and regulations. Trao explained that if the enterprises want to earn “orders” from other countries, they must bear higher costs. Their partners will use that amount as compensation if the workers quit their jobs.

Besides, businesses always want to minimise the costs to attract more people working abroad. To realise the target, Vietnam needs to improve qualifications of guest workers in many ways, particularly providing practical training in schools and intensive training for workers before sending them abroad. Workers who are equipped with necessary skills will be able to prepare better when working in foreign countries, he added.

To enhance quality and brand of guest worker recruitment firms in combination with better protection of guest workers under contracts, VAMAS has monitored and assessed the implementation of the COC-VN, proving that following the COC is the only and most sustainable method for development. Violations of the code may cause the businesses to lose their operation status as well as their workers.

International Cooperation Department