They are the first Vietnamese guest workers returning to this market since 1992.

Established in 1997, SIMCO Song Da is a subsidiary of the Song Da Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, which, together with former Soviet experts, built the Hoa Binh hydro-electric power plant in the 1980s – the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia and a symbol of friendship between Vietnam and former Soviet Union at the time.

Every year, the company sends between 2,000-3,000 workers abroad to work in civil engineering and other services. Besides its traditional markets such as Chinese Taiwan, Japan, the Middle East and Malaysia, it is expanding into markets in the US, Russia and Canada.

According to Chu Minh Tuan, chief executive officer of SIMCO Song Da, Russia has been in dire need of guest workers, especially in civil engineering, thanks to its rapid economic development in recent times.

Seizing this chance, the company worked closely with the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia and the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association to send its skilled workers to this market.

As a result, it signed a contract with Sitmontaz plant in late May and the first 48 workers arrived in Russia on October 30 to work on electrical equipment production lines for over two years.

“This is a good start, opening up the prospects for sending skilled Vietnamese workers to Russia in future,” says Mr Tuan.

Before leaving, Vietnamese workers attended a training course and learnt about Russia’s customs and traditions, as well as the plant’s working rules.

The plant also made thorough preparations to welcome Vietnamese guestworkers, by providing accommodation and warm clothes, installing a satellite dish to catch Vietnamese channels and establishing an Internet link to facilitate communications between Russia and Vietnam.

“We will continue to seek lucrative contracts and send more workers to this market so that they can return home after a couple of years to contribute to national development,” says Mr Tuan.

“During our trip to Russia in May, we found that Russia aimed to become a financial centre in Europe and needed a large number of guest workers. We plan to send between 1,000-2,000 workers to this market in 2009.”

To this end, SIMCO Song Da has purchased new equipment worth more than VND40 billion for its vocational school.

Mr Tuan also rules out the possibility of Vietnamese guest workers breaking the contract and working outside the plant as they did previously.

“We have kept workers’ deposits and warned them of the consequences and risks if they intend to break the contract.

In addition, Russia has applied strict policies to guest workers. So, I do not see any reason for worrying about that,” says Mr Tuan.

Radio Voice of Vietnam - November 16, 2008