At the center. Source: NHK

The center opened in Chiba City on Monday (July 1).

The local office says this is Japan's third consultation center for foreign caregivers. Gifu and Aichi prefectures have already set up their own centers.

Caregivers can ask staff at the center for advice about problems in their daily lives and at work.

In a speech at the opening ceremony, Chiba’s Governor Kensaku Morita said anyone can become homesick even if they have strong determination or a dream to succeed. He said the prefecture hopes it can help foreign caregivers and students to enjoy working in Chiba.

The Labor Bureau of Chiba Prefecture says about 1,200 foreigners work at nursing care facilities in the prefecture. The majority of them are from the Philippines and Vietnam.

The new center is staffed with two Japanese coordinators who speak English and two Vietnamese.

One of the Vietnamese coordinators, Thuy Miura, said she wants to use her own experiences to help people.

On July 1, Chiba’s Governor Kensaku Morita met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Tokyo.

During the meeting, Morita explained that his prefecture, which is next to Tokyo, has opened a support center for foreign residents working at nursing care facilities. He said some staff members speak Vietnamese and called on PM Phuc to cooperate in sending nursing care workers to Chiba.

PM Phuc said he appreciates the support center for foreign workers living far away from their home countries. The prime minister said he has confidence that Vietnam and Chiba will have further exchanges.

After the talks, Morita told reporters that nursing care facilities in his prefecture are interested in hiring foreign labor. He pledged to support Vietnamese workers so that they will feel positive about working in Chiba.

In 2012, total Vietnamese people in Japan was more than 50,000 people and to June 2018, this number has increased to 300,000 people, increase 6 folds during 6 years. In which, the skilled trainees are more than 140,000.

According to Governor Morita, there are 54,000 foreign workers living and working in Chiba Prefecture, including 14,000 Vietnamese people. Chiba’s enterprises always appreciate Vietnamese workers for their hard work and diligence. That is reason of Chiba Prefecture is implementing policies and programs to support Vietnamese workers who are working in Chiba Prefecture, in order to help workers feelling comfortable and finding joy when living in the prefecture, he said.

Also, this March, Ministry of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) of Vietnam and Chiba Prefecture’s Authorities of Japan signed the MoU on human resource. The MoU set up the cooperating framework between the two sides in the field of human resource including: dispatching and receiving engineers, technicians, skilled trainees, specified labour, vocational students in the mutual interested fields of the two sides.

Morita said that the signing of the MOU on Human Resource Development between the MOLISA, the Authorities of Chiba and Japan is one of the contents opening the cooperation between Chiba Prefecture and Vietnam in the near future./.

Vietnamese version: https://thoidai.com.vn/nhat-mo-trung-tam-tu-van-cho-1200-dieu-duong-vien-nuoc-ngoai-tai-tinh-chiba-81342.html

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