Tokyo (VNA) – Minister of Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs (MOLISA) Dao Ngoc Dung had a working session with Japanese Ministerof Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) Katsunobu Kato in Tokyo on September 5, suggesting that the Japanese side consider the exemption ofresidence tax and income tax for Vietnamese interns as applied to those fromother countries.

Kato thanked the MOLISA for working closely with ministriesand sectors of Japan in bringing Vietnamese apprentices to Japan to work overthe years, affirming that Japan prioritises cooperation with Vietnam inreceiving Vietnamese apprentices, skilled workers and engineers.

He said that his ministry has given strict punishments, including thewithdrawal of licences, to businesses violating regulations in receivingforeign apprentices, especially acts of violence against foreign workers orunsatisfactory working conditions.

Dung highly valued the coordination of the MHLW over the years aswell as the cooperation outcomes between the two ministries in labour andsocial welfare, especially in human resources development.

He said that Japan is one of the favourite destinations forVietnamese workers. For higher cooperation efficiency, he suggestedthat Kato propose to the Japanese Government expanding areas receivingVietnamese workers, especially sectors that face workforce shortage such as restaurant,hotel, and bus services.

Minister Kato committed to coordinating with relevant ministries to considerDung’s proposals.

The same day, Dung had a working session with Hitoshi Kanamori, President ofthe Public Interest Foundation International Manpower Development Organization(IM Japan), during with Dung highly valued IM Japan’s programme to receiveforeign interns. He noted that over the past 17 years, 17,838 Vietnameseinterns have arrived in Japan within the programme.

He proposed that IM Japan continue to support Vietnamese interns, whileincreasing the inspection over Japanese businesses to ensure good working andstudying conditions for the interns.

Dung expressed his hope that the memorandum of understanding onthe technical internship training programme for Vietnamese technical interns inJapan signed by the MOLISA and IM Japan in June will be implementedeffectively and become a model of labour cooperation between the two countries.

Kanamori committed to enhancing its managementcapacity and directing member enterprises to improve the living and workingconditions for Vietnamese workers.

During his stay in Japan, Minister Dung also visited TaiseiIndustry Corporation and Aioi Denshi company in Kanagawa Prefecture.

On September 6, he will have a working session with JapaneseMinister of Justice Hanashi Yasuhiro to discuss measures to further increasethe sending of Vietnamese workers to Japan, improve the workers’ working conditionsand minimise illegal residence by the workers./.