Vietnam exceeds 2023 labor export target – Forecasts of another year of strong increase in remittances to Vietnam
Recently, according to an article posted on Vietnamnet, Vietnam has exceeded its labor export target for 2023. What benefits and impacts does this bring to the national economy? Let's find out with FinFan in the following article.
Status of labor export from Vietnam in recent years
Except for the years with a fluctuating economy due to the serious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and 2020, from 2018 until now, Vietnam has always exceeded the threshold of 100,000 workers under foreign contracts. 2023 is no exception as we have surpassed this threshold and reached this year's target on this issue. This proves that the amount of good and skilled labor in Vietnam is very high.
According to the statistics of Vietnamnet, Japan and Taiwan (China) made up the largest market for Vietnamese guest workers. Of the two, Japan received the largest number of Vietnamese workers during the reviewed period with 55,690, followed by Taiwan (China) with 46,166 people.
Other labor markets receiving large numbers of Vietnamese workers included the Republic of Korea (RoK) with 2,449, China with 1,361, Hungary with 1,148, and Singapore with 1,015.
Labor export and remittances - Closely linked in developing countries, including Vietnam
Remittances from Vietnamese workers going abroad contribute greatly to the country's GDP
A growing income gap between richer and poorer nations, demographic pressures, and changes to the planet itself will add to the number of people who migrate in search of economic opportunity. This will, in turn, fuel the flow of remittances for decades to come.
According to official statistics of the IMF, global remittances reached a record $647 billion in 2022—three times official development assistance. Among them, Vietnam ranks in the top 10 with more than 19 billion dollars sent to Vietnam in 2022.
Also, according to 2022 data, the amount of remittances coming in this year also increased significantly, reaching the top 10 in the world with a total amount of up to 19 billion USD.
Labor export supports good jobs for workers and helps limit human trafficking or illegal foreign marriage of Vietnamese brides.
The problem of human trafficking and selling brides to neighboring countries such as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong has been a heartbreaking phenomenon in some poor rural areas of Vietnam.
Thanks to legal labor export companies, Vietnamese workers are enthusiastically guided and given good language training, this problem is gradually decreasing significantly.
Labor export, large remittances, and negative aspects
Impact on the domestic labor market
The fact that too many Vietnamese workers go abroad to work will lead to the loss of the country's best labor force.
Labor export brings an illusory dream of getting rich.
Furthermore, labor export brings a dream of getting rich and changing lives for people in poor rural areas. However, it also leads to a situation where many people hold on to that dream, causing their studies in Vietnam to be interrupted even though the path of studying and working can still continue.
In terms of quantity, foreign workers are better than Vietnamese workers. However, once they set foot in another country to live, workers need to adapt to that country's living environment and of course, the standard of living in those countries is also better than in Vietnam.
This leads to labor exporters having to work hard for many consecutive hours without forgetting to rest in order to have enough money to send home to their families. That makes them exhausted and bad things can happen.
In reality, there are still people who can survive and send a lot of money back to Vietnam, but after the contract ends and return to Vietnam, they may no longer be able to work like before.