Vietnam suspends labor export to KL

Vietnam suspends labor export to KL

HANOI, Vietnam: Vietnam has stopped sending construction workers to Malaysia while that country's building industry remains hit hard by rising steel prices, an official said on Tuesday.

Malaysia is Vietnam's largest labor export market, with more than 75,000 people working there - about a third of them in the construction industry, a Labor Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

In recent months, around 700 Vietnamese construction workers have lost their jobs and many more were expected to be laid off as Malaysia suspends several major construction projects due to the recent sharp increase in the price of steel, she said.

The official said the government expects a recovery in Malaysia's construction industry. He said Vietnam was suspending efforts to send construction workers there, but that it may be able to resume as early as July.

Laborers working in factories were not affected, she added.

In 2003, Vietnam sent about 75,000 workers overseas, with more than 40,000 of them to Malaysia. Other top labor export markets are Taiwan, South Korea and the Middle East.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has shelved some big projects tied to former leader Mahathir Mohamad as he wages a campaign against cronyism and graft. -- AP