The two countries’ labour ministers signed an agreement on the programme in Hanoi on Friday after Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung visited Qatar in mid-December, the Vietnam News daily reported.
Vietnam last year sent 85,000 workers abroad — mostly to Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and other Asian countries – generating income and reducing unemployment at home, where 1.5mn people enter the job market every year.
About 10,000 Vietnamese already work in Qatar, says Vietnam’s government, which sees the Middle East, including the Gulf states, as a promising growth market for its labour exports.