Vietnam's Dispatch of Overseas Workers

Vietnam's economic transition began with the Doi Moi policy in 1986, and after the end of the Cold War between East and West, the shift to a market economy has been fully underway since 1991.

Under the Doi Moi path, the dispatch of workers overseas shifted from government-to-government arrangements to the private sector, launching business models centered on companies.

Under this new system, government-certified organizations collect fees from workers and handle the entire process from recruitment through dispatch of Vietnamese workers, including overseas market development and domestic human resource development, technical training, placement, and personnel management.

Business under the new system has moved in a direction that energizes Vietnam's market economy, and Vietnamese workers have migrated internationally to 40 countries around the world.

For Vietnam, economic activity from the 1990s onward has entered its most important period for the national vision of modernization and industrialization, and for the globalization of Vietnamese workers who contribute to that vision.

The transition under the new system also coincided with changes in the international situation, including the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the resulting return of Vietnamese workers from host countries in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Thereafter, Vietnam began actively sending workers to countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Laos, and Malaysia as new overseas labor markets following Eastern Europe.

In particular, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan were the leading host countries for Vietnamese workers from 2012 to 2016, accounting for 86% of all overseas workers.

Dispatching workers overseas has been positioned as a measure tied to Vietnam's economic development. Its aims include lowering the domestic unemployment rate, raising the growth rate of national income, and playing an important role in domestic poverty reduction.

As the nation has developed, private sending organizations have begun to function. At the same time, problems such as the collection of high fees from workers, absconding from employers, and illegal employment have increased. Host countries have taken countermeasures, while Vietnam as a sending country has repeatedly amended its laws to expand and strengthen the system.

Even as policies and circumstances differ by country, similar problems sometimes arise for internationally mobile Vietnamese workers. Experiences in South Korea and Taiwan include developments that can serve as useful references for Japan as a host country for Vietnamese nationals.

Dispatch of Vietnamese Workers to Japan

In 1990, a training program was established to accept unskilled foreign workers, and in 1993, the creation of the Technical Intern Training Program launched the acceptance of foreign nationals aimed at transferring Japanese technology.

Due to the gap between the program's stated purpose and its actual operation, the 2009 amendment to the Immigration Control Act prohibited deposits and similar burdens on technical intern trainees, and countermeasures were implemented regarding illegal work and absconding.

In 1992, Vietnam concluded an R/D between JITCO and MOLISA on the acceptance of trainees and technical intern trainees. In 2006, Vietnam became the second-largest sending country of technical intern trainees after China, and approximately 52,000 Vietnamese nationals were dispatched between 1992 and 2010.

In 2008, the Japan-Vietnam Economic Partnership Agreement was signed as a framework addressing highly skilled talent beyond ordinary workers, launching for the first time a mechanism to send Vietnamese nurses and certified care workers to Japan. This agreement is a bilateral EPA concluded to expand trade, strengthen economic partnership, and promote investment between Vietnam and Japan.

Ministry of Justice statistics show an increase in the flow of Vietnamese nationals under the Technical Intern Training Program, while absconding cases arising from problems in the background of Vietnamese workers have also increased.

High costs incurred before dispatch and unemployment after return home are among the factors that raise absconding rates, and points of criticism regarding the factors built into the relationship between Japan as the host country and Vietnam as the sending country are scattered across various sources.

In 2017, the governments of Japan and Vietnam concluded a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC). Under the previous Technical Intern Training Program, there were no legally binding standards governing coordination among private accepting organizations, JITCO, and the Vietnamese government. With the signing of the MOC, intermediary problems were eliminated and acceptance became possible only through certified organizations.

In 2019, Specified Skilled Worker was newly established following the Technical Intern Training Program as a status of residence that allows job changes within the same occupation. At the end of 2020, Vietnamese nationals held the largest number of Specified Skilled Worker residencies, and despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Vietnamese Specified Skilled Workers is expected to increase going forward. In addition, technical intern trainees already residing in Japan who cannot return to their home country, those dismissed by their employers, and foreign nationals unable to take skills tests became eligible to apply for a change to Designated Activities or a transition to Specified Skilled Worker, and the flow of status-of-residence changes among Vietnamese residents in Japan is ongoing.

Alongside the development of the national economy, Vietnamese workers have expanded overseas as an abundant labor force. The Vietnamese workers who supported Vietnam's economic transition have walked the path of overseas employment while carrying Vietnam's history, culture, and customs with them.

Vietnam's experience and its partnerships with other countries offer much for Japan to learn as a host country for foreign nationals. Grasping the overview and key points will be meaningful for Japan and Vietnam as they continue to cooperate.