The Foreign Ministry said Friday that 138 Vietnamese candidates for nurse and caregiver jobs will arrive in Japan on June 6 under an economic partnership agreement.

They will be the first candidates from the communist country accepted under the bilateral EPA that took effect in October 2009.

After taking intensive Japanese lessons, the trainees will work at hospitals and care facilities across the nation starting in August. While gaining experience, they will aim to pass the national exams required to work as nurses and caregivers.

At a bilateral summit in January 2013, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, agreed to promote the program.

Japan has been accepting nurse and caregiver candidates from the Philippines and Indonesia, but their pass rates stand at only about 10 percent, mainly due to the language barrier.