Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The World Bank (WB) released the“Migrating to Opportunity” report via a teleconference with Vietnam on October9, saying that easing restrictions on labour migration can boost workers’welfare and deepen regional economic integration.
Introducing the report, Sudhir Shetty, WB ChiefEconomist for the East Asia and Pacific region, said: “With the right policychoices, sending countries can reap the economic benefits of out-migrationwhile protecting their citizens who choose to migrate for work. In receivingcountries, foreign workers can fill labour shortages and promote sustainedeconomic growth, if migration policies are aligned with their economic needs.”
According to the report, Vietnam will need toevaluate its current policies for incentivizing out-migration to determinewhether they are meeting the country’s needs. While the intention of thesepolicies is laudable, other reforms are also necessary, including review ofrecruitment agencies’ frequent and at least tacitly sanctioned practice ofrequiring migrant workers to pay a security deposit to guarantee their return,which is frequently not repaid.
A national migration strategy could help toguide reforms, the WB says in the report.
It notes that lowering the barriers to mobilityin ASEAN would increase the welfare gains workers receive from economicintegration.
Intraregional migration in ASEAN increasedbetween 1995 and 2015, turning Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand into regionalmigration hubs. These three countries are now home to 6.5 million ASEANmigrants, 96 percent of the total.
Low-skilled, and often undocumented, ASEANmigrants move in search of economic opportunity, mainly in the construction,plantation, and domestic services sectors. Higher-salary jobs are available,yet workers are not always able to take advantage of these opportunities, thereport says.
It added the ASEAN Economic Community has takensteps to facilitate mobility, but these regulations only cover certain skilledprofessions – doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers, architects, accountants,and tourism professionals – or just 5 percent of jobs in the region.
Overall, migration procedures across ASEAN remainrestrictive, the report says, adding that barriers such as costly and lengthyrecruitment processes, restrictive quotas on the number of foreign workersallowed in a country, and rigid employment policies constrain workers’employment options and impact their welfare. These restrictive policies arepartly influenced by the perception that an influx of migrants would havenegative impacts on receiving economies.
However, there is evidence to the contrary. InMalaysia, simulations find that a 10 percent net increase in low-skilledimmigrant workers increases real GDP by 1.1 percent. In Thailand, recentanalysis finds that, without migrants in the labour force, GDP would fall by0.75 percent, according to the report.-VNA
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