Vietnam - Approximately 300,000 to 400,000 jobs will be lost in Vietnam this year, according to government estimates.

At a parliamentary session last Friday, labour minister Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said that the job losses would mostly stem from export-processing sectors such as garmets and footwear.An additional 6,000 Vietnamese based overseas are expected to lose their jobs as well. 

According to Reuters, Vietnam's workforce currently stands at 45 million, with the country's unemployment rate at 4.65%. Roughly half the population are employed in the agriculture, forestry and fishery industries.

The government aims to send some 90,000 workers overseas this year, an increase from 85,000 last year. The country sent about 18,000 workers in the first two months of 2009 to countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Japan.