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Agreement between the GDR and Vietnam on the Importation of Contract Labor (April 11, 1980)

Like West Germany, East Germany also needed more workers to support its economy. Thus the GDR government signed an agreement with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the importation of contract labor. The GDR government put a careful spin on this agreement: it downplayed its own need for additional workers and emphasized that the agreement would benefit Vietnamese workers by giving them an opportunity to improve their occupational skills in GDR enterprises.

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Agreement between the Government of the German Democratic Republic and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the Temporary Employment and Training of Vietnamese Workers in the Enterprises of the GDR


Guided by the wish to deepen the brotherly cooperation between the two countries and [proceeding] on the basis of a mutual interest in the temporary employment and training of Vietnamese workers in the enterprises of the German Democratic Republic, the government of the German Democratic Republic and the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have concluded this agreement and decided upon the following:

Article 1

(1) The government of the German Democratic Republic authorizes Vietnamese skilled laborers and cadres from vocational schools and colleges (hereinafter referred to as Vietnamese workers) sent by the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to take up employment in the enterprises and institutions (hereinafter referred to as enterprises) of the German Democratic Republic for a period of four years in each case.

This employment is associated with the acquisition and extension of practical occupational experience in the processes of production, as well as with occupational training and continuing education within the framework of adult on-the-job training.

(2) The number of Vietnamese workers who shall be employed in the enterprises of the German Democratic Republic, the areas of their employment, and the workers’ designated activities shall be agreed upon in annual protocols.

(3) In agreeing to the activities in the annual protocols, the greatest possible consideration shall be given to allowing the Vietnamese workers to deepen their knowledge in different areas of the industrial work process and to round out their professional qualifications.

Article 2

(1) Employment in the enterprises of the German Democratic Republic shall be given [both] to those Vietnamese workers who remain in the German Democratic Republic after completing their training and those who travel directly from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The age of the workers upon the assumption of their employment shall be between thirteen and thirty-five years for skilled workers and up to forty years of age for cadres from vocational schools and colleges. [ . . . ]

(3) The Vietnamese workers shall live in the German Democratic Republic without family members. In exceptional cases it is possible for both husband and wife to be employed on the basis of the agreement. [ . . . ]

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