With loan support, people in Nghe An highlands boldly export labor

Changing lives thanks to labor export

The stilt house of Mr. Hoang Van Xo and his wife in Khe Ran village, Bong Khe commune (Con Cuong) has become quite old over time. Sitting in the middle of the main house, pouring water for guests, Mr. Xo "boasted" about his son working abroad in Japan.

According to Mr. Xo, his son and his wife's lives have changed. Mr. Xo's son, Hoang Van Nha, worked locally for a while after finishing high school, but his job was not stable, so he went to Hai Duong to find a job. For 5 years, Nha worked as a worker in an industrial park with a salary of about 4.8 million VND/month. If he worked overtime, his total income was about 7 million VND/month. After deducting the cost of renting a room, food, and transportation, and when his health was not good enough to work overtime, Nha could barely save any money to send home to his family each month.

Mr. Hoang Van Xo, Khe Ran village, Bong Khe commune (Con Cuong) tells about the process of his son being supported by the district authorities to go to work in Japan. Photo: Hoai Thu

“Faced with that situation, my child quit his job and returned to his hometown. Fortunately, through district and commune officials, my family learned about Japanese companies recruiting workers, and had specialized staff to guide them, and was also supported with more than 12 million VND in expenses, so my family decided to borrow more money to send my child to work abroad. The total cost for my child to go was about 140 million VND. Nha went to Japan in November 2023, and now has money to send home,” Mr. Hoang Van Xo happily shared.

Or like the case of La Van Truong in Thach Son village, Thach Ngan commune, a Dan Lai ethnic group, who received support of more than 12 million VND and a bank loan with preferential low interest rates, he has been working abroad in Taiwan for more than 3 years and has now sent money back to pay off all his debts. Mr. La Van Tham, La Van Truong's father, said that thanks to the government's guidance and help with the procedures, his son was able to work abroad, opening a way out of poverty for the whole family.

Hoang Van Nha and La Van Truong are two of hundreds of workers in Con Cuong district who have accessed support from the Government's National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, which will be implemented from 2023. From this program, workers, especially ethnic minorities, not only receive financial support, but also receive vocational training, complete career guidance procedures, and connect with reputable companies and businesses to export labor safely and effectively.

Officials of the People's Committee of Thach Ngan Commune (Con Cuong) disseminate information to local people about export support projects funded by the National Target Program. Photo: Hoai Thu

Mr. Phan Thanh Hung - Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Con Cuong District People's Committee said that in 2023, thanks to the support of the National Target Program, the number of Con Cuong people going to work abroad increased dramatically, nearly 3 times higher than previous years. Specifically, the whole district has 306 people going to work abroad, of which 179 are ethnic minorities. There are remote, isolated, and border communes with dozens of people going to work abroad, such as Mon Son commune with 45 people, Thach Ngan commune with 41 people, Chau Khe commune with 34 people, etc.

Each worker going abroad is supported at many levels, the highest of which is up to 15 million VND/person. People benefit from the disbursement of projects of the National Target Program, specifically Sub-project 3 under Project 4, National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in 2023; Sub-project 3 under Project 5, National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas in the 2021-2030 period.

Sub-project 3 under Project 5 of the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period supports the expansion of scale, improvement of quality and effectiveness of vocational education, contributing to the transformation of labor structure, economic structure, job creation, increasing income for workers, meeting the requirements of socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Support ethnic minority workers to have convenient access to labor market information, job search support services, and job connections. Support ethnic minority youth after graduating from higher education institutions and vocational education to find jobs that match their abilities and aspirations.

Allow extension of disbursement of support capital

With a maximum support level of 15 million VND/worker going abroad under the National Target Program, in mountainous localities, in the first 2 months of 2024, there have been signs of improvement in job creation for people, in which the number of people going abroad to work has increased compared to previous years.

However, the rate of people supported to find jobs and go abroad to work is still not as expected, one of the reasons is that there are still problems in disbursing capital. In the whole province, according to statistics from the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in 2023, about 24,000 people went abroad to work, but the large proportion is still workers in the plains and urban districts such as Nghi Loc, Yen Thanh... Workers in mountainous districts, especially ethnic minorities, mainly go to work far away in domestic provinces, the rate of labor export is still low, each district only has a few hundred people such as Con Cuong district with more than 300 people, Ky Son district with nearly 200 people, Quy Chau with more than 260 people...

In 2023, the disbursement rate of public investment capital for Nghe An's National Target Programs is still low, especially the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority Areas. According to the leaders of some localities, the disbursement encountered some difficulties. For example, the implementation of projects and sub-projects needs to be established and planned from the bottom up and based on the needs of the people and the grassroots. The regulations on procedures still have many stages and steps. The time for project appraisal in some departments and offices is still long; the establishment, appraisal and approval of projects must comply with the provisions of many laws, requiring time and implementation in accordance with the procedures of the guiding documents...

Staff of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the People's Committee of Con Cuong district guide people in completing labor export documents. Photo: Hoai Thu

According to Mr. Vi Van Son - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee, the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period is a new program, integrating many previous programs, so the requirements for appraisal and completion of documents and procedures are more difficult with many contents, projects and sub-projects. During the implementation process, departments, branches and the Ethnic Minorities Committee have also exchanged and grasped feedback from localities to have proposals and recommendations for relevant sectors to remove obstacles, helping to speed up the disbursement progress and improve the effectiveness of support from public investment capital of the National Target Programs.

Through reports from localities, central ministries and branches have also grasped the reality, from which at the 6th session, 15th tenure, the National Assembly agreed to allow the extension of capital disbursement for the National Target Programs of 2023 to 2024. Accordingly, the People's Committee of Nghe An province also issued Official Dispatch No. 4455 /UBND-KT dated February 28, 2024 on extending the implementation and disbursement period to 2024 of projects under the Socio-Economic Recovery and Development Program and 3 National Target Programs, the deadline is December 31, 2024.

Thanks to this important policy, people in the western districts of Nghe An, especially ethnic minorities, have more opportunities to enjoy State support in finding jobs and exporting labor.

According to the report of the Provincial People's Committee, in 2023, the Central budget allocated 512,480 billion VND to implement the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction. From this support source, all levels and sectors have organized vocational training for 1,015 workers; provided vocational training support for more than 40,000 people... contributing to helping the whole province reduce the poverty rate by about 1.2%, of which the mountainous area reduced it by 2.2%. In 2024, Nghe An province plans to support 95,672 billion VND to build and replicate poverty reduction models and projects to support production development, create jobs, sustainable livelihoods, good income for poor households, near-poor households, households newly escaped from poverty and many other contents according to regulations.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/duoc-ho-tro-von-vay-nguoi-dan-vung-cao-nghe-an-manh-dan-xuat-khau-lao-dong-post286518.html