Huong Hoa supports contract workers working abroad

Huong Hoa District will promote sending people abroad, especially ethnic minorities, to work under contract as it is a vital method to tackle the shortage of jobs, achieve the target of hunger elimination and poverty reduction, and ensure local social security.

Huong Hoa people join in the job dialogue program - Photo: Q.H

The district has over 100 thousand people, 50% being the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups. It is facing a high rate of low-income households and unemployment.

To improve local people’s living standards, the local authorities have implemented many activities to boost the task of sending the contract workers to abroad, such as propaganda on mass media and trading floors. Moreover, local agencies have offered support policies for ethnic minorities and people from poor and near-poor households when working abroad under contract and invited businesses for consulting and recruitment.

In mid-November 2023, Huong Hoa District People’s Committee coordinated with the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to organize a job dialogue at three places, including Lia commune, Huong Phung commune, and Khe Sanh town. The event attracted the participation of more than 1,500 workers, union members, and young people, with enthusiastic advice and support from businesses on industry, employee benefits, and export costs.

Thanks to the cooperation of local authorities and people, the task of sending workers, especially ethnic minorities, to work abroad in Huong Hoa has made much prominent progress over the years, contributing to reducing unemployment and poverty.

From 2018 to October 2023, the district sent 556 contract workers abroad. In the first 10 months of 2023, 124 contract workers, including 42 people from ethnic minorities and poor and near-poor households, were sent abroad, with loan capital of VND 119 billion from the trading office of Huong Hoa Bank for Social Policies and the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. The mentioned workers have mainly worked in Asia markets such as Korea, Japan and Taiwan (China).

Monthly, people working abroad have an average income of VND20 - 35 million/person, much higher than that of domestic workers. Moreover, it also helps to accomplish the national target program on hunger eradication and poverty reduction thanks to the increasing amount of remittances sent back to the country.

Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Huong Hoa District, Tran Trong Kim, said that to raise income for workers, this agency has asked the District People’s Committee to submit to the District People’s Council for approval to send contract workers abroad for the period 2024-2026 with a vision to 2030 at the last meeting of 2023.

Accordingly, with a total budget of over VND19.5 billion, this plan aims to support 540 contract workers in large markets for 2024-2026 and add 250 more workers until 2030.

Quynh Huong- Tung Lam