Vietnam nationals to be allowed to work in Taiwan

Vietnam nationals to be allowed to work in Taiwan

TAIPEI (AFP): Taiwan will allow Vietnamese nationals to work in construction and labor-intensive industries and will permit all foreign workers here to extend their services for one more year, officials said Thursday.

"After a coordination meeting, we have decided to allow nationals from Vietnam to work in Taiwan and extend the current service period for foreign workers from two to three years," said the vice economics minister, Lee Shu-chiu.

Lee said the decision was expected to help local employers cope with a labor shortage.

Currently, foreign workers are allowed to work here for only one year and to extend for another year, and local employers have complained, saying many workers had to leave not long after they were effectively trained.

Taiwan has allowed nationals from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand to work here legally since 1991. Currently, there are more than 100,000 such workers here, 70 percent of them from Thailand.

Lee said Taiwan and Vietnam would soon sign a labor agreement allowing Vietnamese to come to work here, but he did not say how many Vietnamese would receive permission.

Chao Shou-po, chairman of the labor affairs council, said the council was not going to increase the overall number of foreign workers allowed to work here as a result of the decision on Vietnam.

The council has said it may ultimately allow some 360,000 foreign workers into Taiwan.