Vietnamese labor export companies are increasingly exploring new markets, including the Nordic countries, to provide job opportunities for workers. For instance, East Sea Labor Export, Services, and Trade (Estrala) in Ho Chi Minh City has been partnering with businesses in Poland and Germany to connect them with Vietnamese laborers.
“We are expanding to new markets to offer more choices for workers and reduce our dependency on a single market,” said Nguyen The Dai, deputy CEO of Estrala.
While Estrala has been sending workers to Japan for years, it has recently faced challenges in this market due to the decline of the yen and increasing competition with other labor exporters.
Dai said that Europe—including the Nordic countries—has a strong demand for labor, offering competitive salaries and robust welfare benefits.
In January 2025, Vietnam and Finland signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a labor migration partnership, aiming to promote the dispatch of Vietnamese experts, skilled workers, and seasonal workers to Finland.
Pham Viet Huong, deputy head of the Department of Overseas Labor, said that alongside traditional markets such as Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, Vietnam is actively expanding into new markets.
Labor cooperation has been a key agenda item in high-level meetings. Vietnam has already signed agreements—or is in the process of doing so—with countries like Germany, Greece, Finland, Poland, and other Nordic nations, he said.
Other potential markets include France, Denmark, and Spain, where Vietnamese companies are actively seeking partnerships before government-level agreements are achieved, he added.
Over 650,000 Vietnamese workers are employed in more than 40 countries and territories, sending home an estimated US$3.5-4 billion in remittances annually, official data show.