(VOVworld) – A workshop on economic cooperation within the framework of the economic cooperation forum between Vietnam and Middle Eastern and North African partners opened in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the forum

Vietnam now has approximately 30,000 workers and experts in the Middle East-North Africa region involved mainly in the areas of healthcare, education, construction, engineering, transportation, security, and hotel services. Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hoa said: “Middle Eastern and North African countries have great potential for economic cooperation. Many of them such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait are promoting investment in infrastructure development while others including Iraq and Libya are in the process of reconstruction. They need a great number of foreign workers in many areas such as construction, engineering, and tourism. This labor market is suited to Vietnamese workers. They are trying to improve regulations to protect laborers’ rights.”

Vietnamese ambassador to Saudi Arabia Tran Nguyen Tuyen said that Vietnam needs to develop long-term policies to promote labor cooperation with this region. He said: “There should be a mechanism to coordinate labor management in the Middle East-North Africa region. Labor companies should work closely with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and inform Vietnamese embassies abroad. These companies must have their representatives abroad. There are 15,000 Vietnamese workers in Saudi Arabia but most of the labor companies do not have representatives there.”