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Laos has huge potential for labour export
Tens of thousands of Lao nationals entered the international labour market in 2017, raising hopes that Laos can turn this business into a new foreign exchange earner.
According to data from the Lao National Statistics Bureau, Laos supplied about 49,000 labourers to the international market in 2017 through a bilateral labour cooperation mechanism.
The bureau did not give details about the countries that accepted Lao workers but it is widely understood that the largest recipient was Thailand.
Laos and Thailand entered into an agreement on labour exchange a decade ago. Under this mechanism, Lao workers have the same benefits and protection as Thai workers.
Laos also signed similar agreements with the governments of the Republic of Korea and Kuwait. Korea has begun hiring Lao workers and the country promises well paid jobs and welfare benefits.
Last week, the Kuwaiti government asked the Lao government to implement the labour cooperation agreement that the two countries signed a decade ago. The Lao National Statistics Bureau, which cites data from the Lao Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare as a reference, says the main areas of employment for Lao workers are services, industry and agriculture.
Some 31,000 workers who were authorised to work in foreign countries are seen to be working in the service sector, 11,000 were identified as working in industry, and 6,000 are working in agriculture. Observers say the hiring of Lao workers in foreign countries will become a foreign exchange earner.
At present, the key foreign exchange earners for Laos are exports of electricity, tourism, and the garment industry. Observers say there is great potential for the employment of Lao workers in other countries.
One of the factors that makes this outlook promising is that many international companies are looking to employ workers from a wide variety of countries. They believe that diversity within the workforce will lead to greater success of their business operations in this age of globalisation.
According to this theory, businesses should not rely on a workforce from a particular country as too much reliance on a single source of workers poses a very high risk. One example of this is that workers with the same culture might all want to have a holiday at the same time.
The strength of Lao employees is that they are hard workers, honest and flexible, observers say. But in order to make an economic success of the foreign hire of Lao workers, they need a lot of training and must be well disciplined.
Source: http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/freeContent/FreeConten_Laos_has_257.php