Japan takes bold steps to lure Vietnamese workers

At the event, the Japanese side introduced Japan’s policy on migrant worker recruitment and a technical project being implemented by JICA and competent agencies of Vietnam to improve the transparency of the programme to dispatching labourers overseas.

According to First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy Ishii Chikahisa, Japan has great demand for workers in the fields of food and beverage production, construction, manufacturing, electronic information, automobile maintenance, and shipbuilding industry, among others.

He said Vietnamese workers have an important role to play in the Japanese economy, adding some 500,000 Vietnamese are working in Japan, increasing eight folds in ten years.

Although Vietnamese labourers are known for their industriousness, they need to join technical intern training to improve their language competence and vocational skills, he added.

Nagata Yuki from Japan’s department of immigration and residency management said that the Japanese government has submitted a new policy to receive foreign workers, including those from Vietnam, to the diet for approval.

When the policy takes effect, it will prioritise ensuring foreign workers’ rights and creating promotion opportunities for them, so that they will feel secure when living in the country, he said.

Meanwhile, JICA Vietnam Deputy Chief Kubo Yoshitomo said the new policy is significant to Japan, which is getting greyer, as it will help the country ease the labour shortage pressure for national development.