Chinese workers at the Tan Rai bauxite mine.

Unskilled foreign workers flow into Vietnam

Accordingly, the prime minister on April 8 chaired a meeting to consider some issues related to foreign investment and foreign workers in Vietnam and he came to the following conclusions:

Vietnam’s integration process has brought about many issues of concern, such as the importation of outdated equipment, machinery and technology and the increase of foreign workers in Vietnam.

To deal with these problems, the prime minister asked the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to check and make suggestions on the amendment of current regulations on foreign labourers in Vietnam to limit illegal foreign workers and prevent foreign workers from violating Vietnamese laws on labour management.

The prime minister also told the MoLISA to work out a mechanism for cooperation between it and related agencies in managing foreign workers.

The government’s chief asked the MoLISA to check the use of foreign workers and the management of foreign workers in some provinces and cities where there are large numbers of foreign workers and to tackle violations of the labour laws and report back to the government prior to May 31, 2009.

In a talk on stimulating construction on March 27, the Chairman of the Vietnam Construction Association, Tran Ngoc Hung, said that Vietnamese contractors are worried about the fact that foreign contractors, especially Chinese, have won many big tenders in Vietnam. When they come to Vietnam, they bring their own equipment and also their own workers.

The vice chief of the MoLISA’s Job Department, Le Quang Trung, confirmed that Vietnam only employs skilled foreign workers.

The prime minister also assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment to urgently implement solutions to attract foreign investment, including checking and adjusting current rules on foreign investment, to avoid licencing projects that use outdated technology and equipment.

The government’s top leader asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MoNRE) to research and issue standards on the environment, equipment, technology, and mineral exploitation to prevent the importation of old equipment and machinery and waste into Vietnam.

Some local newspapers recently reported that some Chinese contractors had brought unskilled workers from China to Vietnam, who work without work permits.

Le Nhung