Labor exporters urge accord with Israel

The Overseas Workers Management Bureau is working hard to reach an agreement on labor with Israel to open the way into this lucrative market for Vietnamese farm workers.

Bureau chief Nguyen Ngoc Quynh unveiled the plan after emphasizing that the absence of such an agreement was a major hurdle for Vietnamese guest workers to tap the world’s most developed agricultural market, which is not demanding while offering high incomes.

The fact that Israel needs just between 4,000 and 5,000 guest workers annually while Thailand has already met up to 60 percent of the demand has pushed Vietnamese authorities to rush to reach an agreement in this field.

The Overseas Workers Management Bureau says guest workers can get paid between US$1,300 and 1,500 a month.

In 2008, the Middle East market embarked on receiving Vietnamese guest workers through a program of cooperation in training of apprentices signed with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

As a result, 236 Vietnamese guest workers have been so far sent to work in Israel with annual net incomes ranging from $5,000 to $7,000.