Namwon-si and Laos Sign MOU for Introduction of Foreign Seasonal Workers

"Solving the Rural Labor Shortage Problem"

Namwon City in Jeonbuk has joined hands with the Ministry of Labor, Social Welfare of Laos to address the labor shortage caused by the decline and aging of the rural population.

Namwon City announced on the 10th that it signed a business agreement with the Ministry of Labor, Social Welfare of Laos on the 9th to expand the introduction of foreign seasonal workers.

Namwon City signed a business agreement with the Ministry of Labor, Social Welfare of Laos to address the labor shortage caused by the decline in the rural population and aging. Photo by Namwon City

Last year, the city signed an MOU with Luang Prabang City in Luang Prabang Province, Laos, to introduce foreign seasonal workers, and introduced 125 seasonal workers this year.

The foreign seasonal workers worked in Namwon's agricultural fields, helping to solve the labor shortage, and the public-type seasonal workers were paid lower than the market wage, greatly contributing to reducing the agricultural management costs for farms.

This MOU with Laos is the second one following last year, conducted to introduce foreign seasonal workers with Nambak County in Luang Prabang Province, Laos. Attendees included Anuson Kamsingsawat, Director of the Employment Department of the Ministry of Labor, Social Welfare of Laos, the Director of Agricultural Policy of Namwon City, and Baek Nam-jeong, CEO of Namwon City Cooperative Joint Business Corporation.

Director Anuson Kamsingsawat promised to support pre-adaptation training to ensure the stable adjustment of Laotian workers, and the Director of Agricultural Policy of Namwon City stated that they would deploy and support interpreters to help Laotian seasonal workers adapt to Namwon’s rural environment and strive to protect workers' human rights.

A city official said, “We hope that the expansion of this foreign seasonal worker MOU will help resolve the increasingly severe rural labor shortage every year, and we look forward to expanding exchanges between the two countries in various fields beyond agriculture in the future.”