Preliminary Report Vietnam

1. Preliminary Country Report:
For Teys
Australia:
By Yangwha
Australia:
Vietnam
23 September 2014

2. Contents
Background 3
Government Mandatory Requirements 3
Typical Fees 4
English Language Requirement 4
Review of Potential Vietnamese Partners 5
Slaughterhouses 6
Further Action 7
Exhibit A Government Policy Statement 8
Exhibit B MOLISA Compliant Contract
Vietnamese and English 19
Exhibit C Vietnamese Government
Agency License 30
Exhibit D Article of Note 33
2

3. Background
As Teys presently employs Vietnamese workers some of this information may
well be already known to you but is included as a basis for discussion.
Vietnam presently deploys over 400,000 workers overseas remitting over $1.7
billion USD annually. They are second behind the Philippines in South East
Asia. With a population of nearly 90 million Vietnam is the 13th most populous
nation in the world. Basic English is now taught in Vietnamese primary schools
but this is a recent development.
It is the official policy of the Vietnamese government to support the deployment
of overseas workers for the benefits returned to the domestic economy in both
remittances and the skills development and investment ability of workers that
later return to the country. (see ExhibitAMOLISA policy paper)
The deployment of Vietnamese workers is regulated by the Ministry of Labor-
Invalids and Social Affairs or MOLISA. This Ministry oversees the Department
of Overseas LaborManagement or DOLAB which serves a role similar to that of
the POEA in the Philippines, but the rules and regulations appear to be less
developed than their Philippine equivalent. In addition there is an industry
organization, endorsed by MOLISA, called VAMAS, Vietnam Association of
Manpower Supply. This organization has a code of conduct for manpower
companies and the treatment of workers they are processing. Whether or not
member companies that subscribe to the organization actually adhere to its
requirements or merely subscribe for the marketing benefits is yet to be seen, but
repeated attempts to contact this organization were unsuccessful and its role was
mostly dismissed even by those companies that were members.
Government Mandatory Requirements
The government mandatory requirements for processing of workers consist of
the following:
Company approval-the above mentioned government department, DOLAB, must
approve the company that is intending to hire Vietnamese migrant workers.
This process can be managed through the Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate.
3

4. As Teys Cargill is an internationally recognized company and you already have
successfully employed Vietnamese workers for the long term this approval
should be a formality. In some cases representatives of the Vietnamese
manpower agency may be required to visit the workers onsite during their
employment to check on their conditions and welfare.
Valid passport (if a worker does not possess a passport a passport can be issued
in 1-2 weeks and the cost is nominal, about $10)
Contract-signed and in an approved format, similar to the requirements for
DIBP and the POEA(See example Exhibit B)
Government Licensed Agent as a partner to manage processing and interacting
with job applicants and government filings (see example Exhibit C)
Typical Fees
Typically legally allowed fees structures are as follows:
Placement fee: One month salary regardless of the contract of contract length
Brokerage or Agency fee: One month’s salary for each year of the contract, so
for example a 4 year contract equals 4 months’ salary
Document fee: This is for processing a passport application, a medical
examination, police clearance, document translation and preparation of
educational and trade skills and job experience certificates.
Due to the fact that the majority of the workers sent overseas are unskilled or
semi-skilled the total cost of the fees these agencies receive per worker will be
roughly equivalent to the costs incurred per worker with our Philippine
partners YWA.
English Language Requirement
As we know the language requirement will be the biggest challenge in
obtaining 457 visas for Vietnamese workers. I met with Mr. Le Xuan Binh,
Business Development and Marketing Manager, at the British Council
organization in Ho Chi Minh city. Per their information it will require 1-2
years for a student to acquire sufficient English language skills in order to
achieve an IELTS band score of an average of 5 across all bands. 4

5. This is based on 2 weekly classes of 2 hours each, and home study of 8 hours a
week, so a total of 12 hours of weekly of language study. Current Vietnamese
school curriculum does include some elementary English classes, and Vietnam
uses the Roman alphabet as introduced by the French during their rule of
Indochina.
The following are the largest, best regarded English language training and
IELTS preparation schools operating in Vietnam:
ILA www.ilavietnam.com
VUS www.vus.edu.vn/
Australia-Vietnam School of English http://avse.edu.vn/
Apollo http://teachatapollo.com/
The contacts at the British Council, a licensed IELTS testing company, suggested
Apollo as a reputable school with affordable classes. I investigated these
possibilities under the assumption that there may not be an English school
focused on IELTS training located near any slaughterhouse and it might be
necessary to contact them about establishing a program should a decision be
made to pursue Vietnamese slaughter men.
Review of Potential Vietnamese Partners
During my visit I met with the 4 manpower agencies listed below. The first three
are located in Ho Chi Minh city, the last, VTC is located in Hanoi.
Hitechco: I met with Mr. Ngo Van Long, they primarily ship factory workers to
the tech industry in Taiwan and Japan. The office was modest and the fellow I
met did not strike me as a dynamic individual.
Coopimex: I met with Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa and Mr. Ho Van Luong. They are a
larger operation. They were formally a state run enterprise that is now a
privately held share based company. They indicated that their former status as a
government entity gave them certain advantages. This may well be true. Ms.
Nguyen seemed tough and focused. Her colleague, Mr. Ho, was younger and
seemed dynamic
5

6. FLC Group I met with Mr. Trinh Tuan Quang, Head of Business
Development for the Manpower Division. FLC is a large Vietnamese
conglomerate that is also involved in real estate, mining and minerals,
financial services, import export and overseas recruitment. I had two
meetings with Mr. Tuan and he is very interested in participating and eager
to learn how they can help us.
VTC/VINACOM I met with Nguyen Trung Truc, Vice Chairman and
General Director, and his assistant Trinh Thi Loan aka Sara. Sara speaks
very good English and is sharp and on the ball. Mr. Nguyen also speaks
English. They have an impressive operation and were very forthcoming
about answering direct questions.
Based on my impressions from the meetings either FLC Group, which is very
interested in partnering with us or VTC/VINACOM would make a good
partner in Vietnam for the Vietnamese government required interface.
The scope and time frame of the proposed undertaking concerned them both
as to whether it could be successfully executed and further meetings would
be required with VTC/VINACOM to give further details.
Slaughterhouses
My inquiries about locating a suitable slaughterhouse for testing and as a
source of workers lead to mixed responses. When I mentioned the possibility
of working with a state owned slaughterhouse concern and some fear was
expressed. We now have a contact that has some connections at the highest
levels of the Vietnamese government. We will work to see what we might
accomplish in terms of introductions to local officials involved in the state
sector of the meat industry. There is the possibility of selling the program as
one for local economic development. Alternately there is a private sector as
well. The largest private meat company here is Vissan www.vissan.com.au
Their website makes for some interesting reading as a domestic producer
competing withAustralian beef imports.
6

7. Further Action
The two main hurdles in this effort are first, the English language
challenge, though should rumored reductions in the IELTS requirements
come to pass, this would be of less concern and shorten the timeline
required to get the workers to a level where they could meet the IELTS
requirement.
Second is identifying a slaughterhouse that could be induced or persuaded
to participate in setting up a large scale IELTS/English language training
program for their workers.
Should a decision be reached to further pursue Vietnam as a labour
source, I would suggest a follow on visit with the objectives of a direct
meeting with officials of MOLISA and DOLAB. Additionally, meetings
with government officials (national and local) that could endorse the
program and endorse the participation of state run slaughterhouses as a
labour source should be arranged.
Another step would be visits to the provinces involved in raising livestock
so slaughterhouses could be identified and visited as potential sources of
workers and to review the conditions there in the company of a Teys
representative.
Finally, an English language school would need to be approached about
setting up a satellite school campus to serve the skilled meat workers that
are interested in learning English.
7

8. Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement
8

9. 9
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

10. 10
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

11. 11
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

12. 12
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

13. 13
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

14. 14
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

15. 15
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

16. 16
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

17. 17
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

18. 18
Exhibit A
Government Policy Statement

19. 19
Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese

20. 20
Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese

21. 21
Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese

22. 22
Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese

23. 23
Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese

24. 24
Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese

25. Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese
25

26. Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese
26

27. Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese
27

28. Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese
28

29. Exhibit B
MOLISA Compliant Contract
English and Vietnamese
29

30. Exhibit C
Vietnamese Government
Agency License
30

31. Exhibit C
Vietnamese Government
Agency License
31

32. Exhibit C
Vietnamese Government
Agency License
32

33. Exhibit D
Article of Note
Giant Vietnamese agriculture complex ready for Australian cattle
The Red Star Company in
Vietnam has spent the last two
years, and around $US5 million,
building an 'agriculture complex'
to cater for Australian cattle.
At a meeting last week with
delegates from the Northern
Territory Government, Red Star's
director general, Mr Nhi, proudly
announced his facility was ready to
start importing Australian livestock.
The Red Star Agricultural Complex is nothing short of impressive.
In the Dak Lak Province, north-west of Nha Trang, the company has built from scratch
an integrated farming system that includes a feedlot, abattoir and 1,500 hectares of
nearby farmland to grow feed for the cattle.
Mr Nhi says he's looking forward to the first cattle arriving from Australia.
"We are intending to import our first shipment (of cattle) in April and in the first week of
May," he said.
"And everyone is very excited, because as soon as we started building this project,
there have been many people checking on when the cattle will come... visitors and
locals say this looks like an international airport, not a feedlot."
Mr Nhi says other companies are importing cattle from countries such as Cambodia, but
he is only interested in Australian cattle because the 'quality is better'.
He says beef processed at his facility will be sold mostly to those living in the Dak Lak
province and the complex will directly employ about 60 people once the cattle arrive.
Ben Hindle, from the NT Livestock Exporters Association, says the work done by Red
Star to meet the requirements of handling Australian cattle has been impressive and
exporters will be doing all they can to supply its needs.
33

34. "The three exporters
working to export cattle to
Vietnam, have Vietnam at
the front of their mind," he
said.
"They understand the
needs and wants for
Vietnam and are rapidly
increasing their scale and
their project-based
management to get a lot
more cattle into this
country.
"Given the scale and the
operation here, together with the investment through our country too, I think it's a perfect
fit."
ABC Rural's Matt Brann has travelled through Vietnam courtesy of the Northern
Territory Government.
34