Vietnam sent more than 70,200 workers abroad in the first 10 months of 2013, which is positive sign for the set target of 80,000 workers sent abroad 2013 to be fulfilled, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs ( MOLISA). In October alone, nearly 7,500 Vietnamese workers, including 2, 900 women, were employed abroad, reported the ministry's Department of Overseas Labor on Friday. The department's statistics showed that China's Taiwan still ranked as the largest market for Vietnamese laborers in October with over 4,300 workers. It was followed by Japan, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia. In 2012, Vietnam sent 80,000 workers overseas, down 10 percent as scheduled. Of which, Japan, South Korea, China's Taiwan and Malaysia accounted for 70 percent. South Korea is the third largest market, hiring over 10,000 people. However, since August 2012, this country tightened recruitment for Vietnamese workers due to a large number of illegal over-staying workers. According to the National Committee for Overseas Vietnamese under Vietnam's foreign ministry, there are about 4.5 million Vietnamese who are living, studying or working in 100 countries and regions, and 500,000 are guest workers. Remittances sent home by overseas Vietnamese in 2012 reach over 10 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 20 percent compared with the average 10-15 percent in previous years. The figure is estimated to reach 11 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, making the country rank the second in Southeast Asian countries (after the Philippines), and ninth in the world among the biggest remittance receivers, according to the World Bank.