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Vietnam will send more guest workers to Malaysia to meet the latter\'s huge demand for Vietnamese labourers in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, services and housekeeping.
Vietnam sent almost 20,000 guest workers overseas in the first quarter of the year, a year-on-year rise of more than 16 percent, according to the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).
The ministry\'s Overseas Labour Management Department (OLMD) said Taiwan received the largest number of Vietnamese guest workers, followed by the Republic of Korea (RoK), Malaysia, Laos and Japan.
MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Hoa said that Malaysia is an open market with a huge demand for Vietnamese labourers and a target of many Vietnamese businesses.
He added that it will be difficult to fulfill this year\'s target of sending 87,000 Vietnamese workers overseas.
Apart from maintaining traditional markets, the ministry will seek new ones to ensure stable placements for workers, she said to representatives from 50 local labour export companies discussed measures to send more Vietnamese guest workers to countries.
However, the participants voiced out that the Vietnamese companies are facing numerous hurdles while exporting labourers to the Malaysian market.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Thanh Son, Director of Vinh Cat Trade and Service Company suggested that Malaysia should create favourable conditions for Vietnam, so as to send permanent representatives, assisting employers in labour management and dealing with emerging issues.
He also said that Malaysia has a great demand for workers in electronics, automobile accessories manufacturing, plastics, footwear, garment and textiles industries.
Vietnam began sending workers to Malaysia in 2002. To date, the country has had 190,000 labourers working in Malaysian states.