In the first eight months of the year, there were 91,663 overseas Vietnamese workers, with 36,825 (40.17 percent) taking a job in Taiwan, according to a CNA report on Tuesday (Oct. 1).

The CNA report was based on Vietnam government statistics. Of the 91,663 Vietnamese migrant workers, 30,734 were female.

Taiwan is the second largest employer of Vietnamese overseas workers behind Japan, which hired 45,622 Vietnamese during the same eight-month period. Also, in August, Vietnam sent out 11,699 overseas workers, 6,080 of whom went to Japan, with 4,566 going to Taiwan, the report added.

Vietnam’s labor authority plans to send a total of 120,000 migrant workers to foreign countries this year. So far, the figure stands at 76.38 percent of the total.

The Vietnamese government has placed a big emphasis on overseas workers, as part of a national policy to eliminate poverty and acquire wealth, the CNA report said. Taiwan has been the largest importer of Vietnamese labor over the past few years, but this changed after Japan opened up to foreign labor.

Taiwan News