Workers are a good bridge for Vietnam - Japan relations

(Dan Tri) - Among the 15 countries sending interns to Japan, Vietnam is the leading country in both the number of interns entering the country each year and the number of interns working in this country.

This information was presented at the workshop "Reviewing the journey of cooperation in labor, employment and social security in 50 years of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan" organized by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan and the Embassy of Japan on the morning of August 25. This is an event for both sides to look back on the journey of good cooperation development over the past 50 years and at the same time discuss solutions to make this cooperative relationship increasingly solid, substantive and comprehensive in the coming time.

Cooperation in labor, employment and social security is a milestone in the Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relationship (Photo: Nguyen Son).

In recent years, Vietnam and Japan have had many cooperation activities in the fields of labor, employment, human resource development, social security, etc., bringing many economic benefits to the people and businesses of both sides. In recent years, the number of Vietnamese workers going to Japan to work has accounted for over 50% of the number of workers going to work abroad every year. As of December 2022, the total number of Vietnamese workers currently living and working in Japan is 345,000. Among the 15 countries sending interns to Japan, Vietnam is the leading country in both the number of interns entering the country each year and the number of interns currently interning in this country. Currently, there are more than 200,000 Vietnamese interns interning in Japan (accounting for more than 50% of the total number of foreign interns in Japan). Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Le Van Thanh said that over the past 50 years, the two countries have built many important legal frameworks for bilateral relations and participated in new-generation free trade agreements, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). In particular, the frequent visits of high-ranking leaders of the two countries in recent years are a testament to the high trust, demonstrating a remarkable development in bilateral relations.

Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Le Van Thanh speaks at the event (Photo: Nguyen Son).

"Japan is one of the three countries with the largest investment capital in Vietnam. The total import-export turnover between the two countries in 2022 reached more than 50 billion USD, of which Vietnam's exports to Japan reached nearly 25 billion USD and imports reached nearly 24 billion USD. These figures make Japan the fourth largest trading partner of Vietnam. At the same time, Japan is the leading official development assistance (ODA) country of Vietnam with more than 27 billion USD in loans, making an important contribution to the development of large-scale infrastructure projects, while supporting technology transfer and human resource training, thereby creating a driving force to promote sustainable socio-economic development for Vietnam," Deputy Minister Le Van Thanh summarized. In order to protect the comprehensive rights of workers of the two countries working in each other's territory in the context of the increasing number of human resources of both sides, Vietnam and Japan are discussing the negotiation to sign a bilateral social insurance agreement. This is a new milestone in the cooperation relationship on ensuring social security for the people of the two countries. Sharing at the workshop, Deputy Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan Hanyuda Takashi said that since Vietnam and Japan started official diplomatic relations in 1973, cooperation activities have been built in many fields such as human resource exchange, economic activities, culture and sports, etc.

Currently, the friendly and cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Japan is constantly developing in many fields (Photo: Nguyen Son).

Regarding the issue of human resource exchange between the two countries, Japan currently receives the largest number of workers from Vietnam. As of the end of December 2022, there were about 176,000 Vietnamese technical interns and 77,000 Vietnamese specific technical interns living and working in Japan. "These workers have become a bridge for the good relationship between Vietnam and Japan, especially in the field of labor and employment," emphasized Deputy Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. Mr. Hanyuda Takashi said that the Japanese Government is reviewing the technical internship and specific skilled labor system. This review and adjustment is not to abolish the technical internship system but to help foreign workers, including Vietnamese workers, to feel secure living and working here for a long time after coming to Japan.

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