Hanoi (VNS/VNA) -Businesses involved in labour exports are at a standstill due to thecomplex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Le Quoc Hung, Deputy General Directorof Hanoi Investment General Corporation (HANIC), said the corporation’scontracts to send employees to key markets like Taiwan and Malaysiahad been serious affected since the outbreak of the disease inChina's Wuhan city in late November last year.

“Wuhan is a centre whichsupplied input materials for production at factories in Taiwan andMalaysia. This affects the supply chain in markets where we send laborersto work," he told Thoi bao kinh teSai Gon (Saigon Times) newspaper.

Hung said that the company hadstopped sending workers to Taiwan since late last year. It stopped sendinglabourers to Malaysia at the end of February.

Sending workers overseas wasparticularly dangerous at present as the risk of beinginfected was high at airports, he said, adding that HANIC's partners hadtaken the initiative to suspend bringing in workers from overseasunder contracts signed earlier due to the lack of jobs.

Normally, demand in Japan,Taiwan and the Republic of Korea is quite robust from the beginning of theyear but the number of orders has sharply decreased this year due to impacts ofthe pandemic.

A number of labour exportcompanies had reportedly suspended the departure of workers although they hadreceived the orders in February.

The director of a labourexport company, which sent about 700 labourers overseas last year, saidorders from some countries and territories including Japan and Taiwanhad decreased after the Tet (LunarNew Year) holiday.

In March, some markets stoppedaccepting workers and a number of international airlines also stopped theirflights.

“International flights havebeen cancelled so foreign partners can not come to Vietnam to interview workerswhile many labourers cannot fly to their designated countries, even thoughthey have completed visa procedures” he said on condition of anonymity.

In related news, the Ministryof Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) on April 5 asked the Departmentof Overseas Labour to order businesses to suspend sending workers abroad untilthe end of April.

It has also requested leadersof agencies under municipal and provincial Departments of Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs to step up urgent measures against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overseas Vietnamese labourmanagement boards should encourage Vietnamese labourers to stay calm, observehost countries’ regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control, and avoid tripsto disease-hit areas, while ensuring the rights and interests of labourers whoare affected by the epidemic.

In case labourers are laid offor lose their jobs due to COVID-19, they will have their brokerage fees andother fees reimbursed. They will also receive assistance from the overseasemployment support fund.

Pham Do Nhat Tan, Vice Chairmanof the Vietnam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS), said due to labourcontract expiring, nearly 5,000 labourers had returned to the country in thefirst quarter of this year.

He said it was time forenterprises to restructure their operations and apply information technology intraining and recruitment activities.

Currently, there are more than560,000 employees working overseas under limited employment contract in 36countries and territories, according to MOLISA.

Of these, over 10,000Vietnamese workers are in European markets.

There are more than 230,000Vietnamese trainees and workers in Japan, 48,000 labourers in the Republic ofKorea and over 224,700 in Taiwan./.