First health insurance for relatives of Vietnamese workers in Japan launched

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu and Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, Nagasaki Kotaro, co-chaired a joint press conference. (Photo: Xuan Giao/VNA)

Amid the continuing decline in the working population in developed countries and increasingly fierce global competition for human resources, Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture has announced its first family insurance program for Vietnamese workers working in the prefecture.

This is the latest measure by Yamanashi province in its efforts to become a more attractive destination to attract foreign human resources, notably Vietnamese workers.

According to a VNA reporter in Tokyo, on June 12, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu and Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, Mr. Nagasaki Kotaro, co-chaired a joint press conference at the Vietnamese Embassy to introduce this special insurance program.

Attending the press conference were representatives of many leading Japanese media agencies such as Mainichi and Kyodo, along with representatives of many Vietnamese and Japanese businesses.

In his opening speech, Governor Nagasaki Kotaro said that Japan is facing the problem of an aging population and an increasingly serious shortage of labor resources.

According to the Governor, Yamanashi Prefecture is simultaneously implementing many measures to deal with the above situation, but many businesses are still facing difficulties in human resources.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu and Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, Mr. Nagasaki Kotaro. (Photo: Xuan Giao/VNA)

Governor Kotaro admitted that in that context, for Japan in general and Yamanashi province in particular, foreign workers play an indispensable and important role.

Governor Kotaro expressed his hope that Japan in general and Yamanashi in particular will become an attractive destination for foreign workers, with the goal of securing human resources for the locality. Therefore, the prefecture is making efforts to create a favorable environment for foreign workers to feel secure working and living in Yamanashi.

Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu expressed his gratitude to Yamanashi province and Governor Nagasaki Kotaro for issuing a very humane and meaningful insurance regime for Vietnamese workers.

The Ambassador said that Yamanashi is a leading province in issuing policies and regimes to attract and retain Vietnamese workers.

The Ambassador expressed his belief that this insurance program, if widely and sustainably implemented, will help Vietnamese workers feel secure working in Yamanashi Prefecture as well as attract more workers from Vietnam and other localities in Japan to live and work in the province.

The number of Vietnamese workers in Yamanashi prefecture will increase in the coming time and become the core labor force of the prefecture.

The Ambassador believes that with the attention of the province and receiving enterprises, Vietnamese workers will continuously learn, work hard, contribute to the development of receiving enterprises, and contribute to the development of Yamanashi province.

The Ambassador hopes that Yamanashi province and its receiving enterprises will have more good policies and welfare regimes so that Vietnamese people in general and Vietnamese workers in particular can feel secure living and working in the province.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu speaks at a joint press conference. (Photo: Nguyen Tuyen/VNA)

The Ambassador affirmed that these policies and regimes will contribute to increasing the attractiveness of Yamanashi province to Vietnamese workers, and many Vietnamese workers will choose to come to Yamanashi province to work.

According to the announcement of Yamanashi Prefecture, with the view that the first thing to do is to reduce the concerns of foreign workers about their relatives in the country, in which the biggest concern is the health of their relatives, Yamanashi Prefecture cooperates with Tokio Marine Insurance Company Vietnam to build a health insurance system for relatives of workers in the country.

This medical accident insurance program is applied at all hospitals in Vietnam, stipulating that relatives living in Vietnam who are injured or sick, after paying medical expenses at any hospital in Vietnam, if they submit a claim to Tokio Marine Insurance, they will receive insurance money from this company with a payment level of up to 90% of the medical expenses paid at the hospital.

Participants are Vietnamese citizens working at companies/organizations belonging to the “Network for Promoting Improvement of Working Environment for Foreigners in Yamanashi.”

The prefecture has set two requirements for Vietnamese workers to participate. The first requirement is that the company or organization where the Vietnamese worker works is a member of the “Yamanashi Network for Promoting Improvement of the Working Environment for Foreigners.”

The second requirement is that the company or organization where the Vietnamese employee is working must subsidize at least 3/4 of the insurance premium.

To support companies, the province has set up a subsidy system that will support up to 50% of the amount that companies/organizations support insurance premiums for Vietnamese workers. The insurance system will accept applications starting from July 1 and the support period will last until August 31, 2024.

Responding to a question from a VNA reporter, Ms. Yukiko Irikura, Deputy Head of the Gender Equality and Promotion of Foreigners' Activities Division of the Yamanashi Prefectural Government, said that after deducting the amount supported by the company/organization, the insurance premium that a Vietnamese worker pays for a one-year insurance contract is estimated to be around 26,000 yen (about 4,200,000 VND/year).

Referring to the reason why Yamanashi Prefecture chose Vietnamese workers as the first group of foreign workers to participate in this insurance program, a representative of Yamanashi Prefecture said that Vietnamese workers are the largest foreign labor force in Yamanashi Prefecture with 3,019 people, accounting for 26.9% of the foreign labor force in the province.

Besides, another reason is the deep friendship between Vietnam and Japan as well as between Yamanashi province and Vietnamese localities such as Quang Binh and Yen Bai provinces.

Regarding the subjects eligible for the insurance program, Ms. Yukiko Irikura noted that the insurance program is only for companies/organizations that are members of the “Yamanashi Network for Promoting Improvement of the Working Environment for Foreigners,” which was established with the goal of creating a foreigner-friendly working environment.

With the desire to expand this network, the province welcomes businesses/organizations that employ foreign workers, especially Vietnamese workers, to participate to receive support from the province when Vietnamese workers wish to participate in the new insurance program.

A representative of the Yamanashi prefectural government believes that the more companies/organizations that join this network, the more comfortable working environment will be created for foreign workers across the prefecture.

According to official figures, as of the end of October last year, the number of Yamanashi businesses employing foreign workers reached 1,900 establishments, double the number from 10 years ago.

Official figures from Yamanashi Prefecture show that there are currently more than 20,000 foreigners living and working in the prefecture, accounting for 2% of the local population.

With the number of foreigners coming to work in the prefecture expected to increase in the future, Yamanashi has increasingly high expectations for the prospect of foreign workers playing an important role in local industry and communities.

Regarding the impact of Yamanashi Prefecture's new insurance program on sending Vietnamese workers to Japan, Ambassador Pham Quang Hieu said that not only Yamanashi Prefecture but also many other localities and businesses in Japan are lacking human resources and have a need to receive Vietnamese workers.

The Ambassador hopes that in the coming time, more localities and enterprises receiving Japanese workers will issue policies and regimes to attract and retain Vietnamese workers. The Ambassador believes that the policies and regimes of localities and enterprises will contribute to increasing the attractiveness of Vietnamese workers and increasing the number of Vietnamese workers working in Japan.

The Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture assessed that Vietnamese people actively participate in exchange activities with local people, so it can be said that for Yamanashi Prefecture, Vietnamese people are like close friends.

Governor Kotaro expressed his hope that once they come to live and work in Yamanashi Prefecture, Vietnamese workers will not need to worry about the health of their family members because there is a health insurance system for relatives.

Governor Kotaro emphasized: "It is our province's greatest wish that you can settle down and work in Yamanashi."./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/trien-khai-bao-hiem-y-te-dau-tien-cho-than-nhan-lao-dong-viet-nam-tai-nhat-ban-post958747.vnp