RIYADH, 17 March 2005 — The Kingdom has announced plans to recruit some 100,000 Vietnamese workers as part of a move to reduce its dependence on traditional labor exporting countries for its manpower needs.
A recruitment delegation led by Waleed Al-Suwaidan, chief of Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee (SANARCOM), recently returned from Hanoi after making arrangements for the workers’ recruitment.
“A substantial number of skilled and unskilled workers including maids will be recruited for the first time from Vietnam,” Al-Suwaidan told Arab News here yesterday.
He said the total number of workers to be deployed in the Kingdom will depend on the job orders from Saudi companies. However, a report aired by the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) said nearly 100,000 workers would be recruited this year alone.
A media arm of Vietnamese government, VOV, which broadcast the report, is responsible for professional and technical management of 61 provincial radio stations in that country. The VOV report said “Vietnam plans to dispatch hundreds of thousands of its workers abroad in 2005 with a focus on potential new job markets such as Saudi Arabia, Libya, France, Canada, the UK and Greece.” Some Vietnamese workers have already arrived in Saudi Arabia.
Asked about their salary structure, the SANARCOM pointed out that “the minimum monthly remuneration will be $150 and more in the case of skilled workers”.
Al-Suwaidan, who held talks with officials of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs during his trip to Hanoi, said: “Two Vietnamese health facilities — one in Hanoi and another in Ho Chi Minh City — have already been authorized by us to conduct medical examination of the workers prior to the endorsement of Saudi visas.”
“The Vietnamese workers will be required to receive visas from the Saudi Embassy in Bangkok, because there is no Saudi diplomatic mission in Hanoi,” said Al-Suwaidan, who visited Vietnam March 5-10.
Al-Suwaidan led a seven-member recruitment delegation and discussed with Vietnamese officials measures taken to facilitate labor recruitment program as per the agreement signed by Riyadh and Hanoi.
The Kingdom together with some Western countries has been enlisted as a favored destination for exporting Vietnamese manpower. A total of 37,000 Vietnamese workers went to Taiwan last year, representing 55 percent of Vietnam’s labor export in that year.
