Taiwan recruited 10,906 Vietnamese workers during the first two months of this year, making it Vietnam’s largest labor export market, according to the latest official data from Hanoi.
A total of 17,206 Vietnamese were sent abroad to work in the two-month period, according to a Wednesday report on VGA News, the Vietnamese government-run newspaper Web site, which cited statistics compiled by the Vietnamese Overseas Labor Management Department.
The report said that last month, 8,537 Vietnamese workers were sent abroad, including 5,770 to Taiwan, 1,884 to Japan and 295 to Saudi Arabia.
Taiwan is expected to hire more workers from Vietnam this year as it is planning to end a freeze on the hiring of Vietnamese fishermen, caregivers and domestic helpers.
Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) on Thursday said that the arrangements for the hiring of Vietnamese workers for such industries could be finalized before June at the earliest.
Authorities from the two sides are expected to hold a meeting at the end of this month to discuss Taiwan’s lifting of a decade-old ban on Vietnamese domestic workers and caregivers, while a ministerial-level meeting between the two sides could take place next month, Chen said.
Due to a serious absconding problem, Taiwan imposed a ban on Vietnamese fishermen in May 2004 and froze imports of Vietnamese caregivers and domestic maids in January 2005, although workers in other categories are not covered by the freeze.
Pending a plan by Indonesia to gradually reduce the number of domestic workers it sends to Taiwan and other nations in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan, which has more than 174,000 Indonesian caregivers, has been planning to reinstate the hiring of fishing crew and domestic helpers from Vietnam, as well as introducing workers from other nations.
According to official statistics, of the about 219,000 foreign caregivers in Taiwan, 79 percent are from Indonesia.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
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At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
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