Bulgaria`s factory "Promishlena Energetika" ("Industrial Energy") JSC located in the southwest town of Yambol has hired its first five workers from Vietnam, the Bulgarian Information Agency BTA reported Wednesday.

These are the first Vietnamese guest laborers hired under a bilateral agreement between the governments of Bulgaria and Vietnam. Bulgarian firms may hire Vietnamese workers only if no Bulgarian citizens are available to fill the spots.

The five Vietnamese will work as welders in the Yambol plant. They are between 21 and 33 years of age, and were selected among 100 candidates in Vietnam by two representatives of "Industrial Energy" JSC.

The pay of the Vietnamese welders will be the same as the salaries of their Bulgarian colleagues, and they will have the same rights under the Labor, as well as social and health insurance. The employer is also providing them with apartments and lunch.

According to the Industrial Energy JSC CEO Stefan Lazarov, his company was forced to hire the foreign workers over the increasing labor shortage in the region.