Workers study foreign language before going abroad.

Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, Director of the Overseas Labour Management Department, announced on November 27, noting that the total number of Vietnamese labourers leaving to work abroad in 2009 is expected to fall 22 percent short of the country’s goal of around 70,000.

Vietnam is pinning high hopes on signs of recovery from now to the end of 2009, Quynh offered, adding that the country is making full use of traditional labour markets in Malaysia, Libya, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and the Middle East.

According to Quynh, assistance in poor districts to help locals export labour has been stepped up. Over 600 workers are being sent abroad and nearly 3,000 others receiving vocational training to prepare to work in foreign countries.

The Department is deploying a pilot project on vocational training in high demand fields such as welding, tourism and hospitality, and construction.

The Department launched its website to increase the transparency of information on labour exportation, to make it easier for labourers to work abroad and prevent exploitation.

By the end of October 2009, Vietnam had exported over 58,200 workers abroad with Taiwan being the country’s largest labour importer, followed by the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Macao and Malaysia.

PV