Vietnamese are permitted to work in Taiwan (China) again, 10 years afterthe island was put off limits to Vietnamese nationals because so manydisappeared rather than return home.

The Overseas WorkersManagement Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and SocialAffairs said that Taiwan had decided to allow Vietnamese domestichelpers and fishing crews enter and work from the start of July.

Accordingto a bilateral agreement, domestic helpers will have to pay 2,036 USD(expenses for agency, recruitment, passport and other legal procedures)not including a deposit of 800 USD.

In return, Vietnamese workers will receive at a minimum monthly wage of 17,500 Taiwan dollars (565 USD).

Feesfor fishermen amount to 1,550 USD (expenses for recruitment, passportfee and other legal procedures) not including a deposit of 900 USD.Wages amount to about 19,293 Taiwan dollars (623 USD) per month.Contracts are for three years.

Employers must provide workers with free accommodation and at least a one-way airline ticket to return home.

Toprevent worker from absconding, the department asked Vietnameseenterprises specialising in sending workers abroad to work closely withTaiwanese partners in managing those about to end their contracts.

Stateauthorities will punish Vietnamese enterprises if they collect moreexpenses than they are entitled to - or ignore workers' complaints.

The Vietnamese labour ministry has already suspended agreements with companies that did not comply.

Labourexports from Vietnam have faced many challenges in recent years becauseof runaway workers in the Republic of Korea and Taiwan. In April, theRepublic of Korea asked Vietnam to submit 5,400 workers' files, fromwhich 2,900 will be selected to work in manufacturing, construction andagriculture.

Vietnam started to send worker to Taiwan in 1999.Eighty percent were domestic helpers. In 2005, Taiwan stopped acceptingthem due to the high number who disappeared. About 7,000 Vietnamese arepresently working in Taiwan.-VNA