Vietnam’s labor productivity remains low against other Southeast Asian countries despite witnessing an on-year rise in the total productivity of 5.1%, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) said in a recent report.
The Southeast Asia country’s productivity is equivalent to 1/5 of average productivity in ASEAN countries and one tenth of Singapore’s level, according to the report on Vietnam’s labor and social trends in 2009-2010.
The report also indicated that Vietnam’s strong economic growth since 2000 and rapid changes in economic structure. Agricultural worker proportion dropped from 65.3% in 2000 to 52.2% in 2007 due to a workforce transformation to industrial and service sectors.
Although Vietnam has weathered the global economic downturn, the country needs to adopt middle-term policies aimed at making the most of its dynamic workforce in order to help the national economy to bounce back on a sustainable basis, it noted.
Vietnam is preparing for a five-year socio-economic development plan with a focus on investment and development policies as well as raising knowledge and improving professional skills for workers, MoLISA Deputy Minister, Dam Huu Dac said.
Over the past ten years, market reform and global integration has greatly helped Vietnam make headway towards poverty reduction and development. However, there remain challenges the country needs to respond to in labor and social affairs, ILO Director Rie Vejs Kjeldgaard said.
The report also mentioned proposals to revamp legal and institutional frameworks, promote social dialogues, boost labor productivity in small and medium-sized enterprises, support households in rural areas and the most vulnerable workers who fail to benefit from Vietnam’s economic growth.
Vietnam now has more than 47 million people of working age. The country’s workforce is expected to increase by 1.5% annually equivalent to around 738,000 workers per year in the 2010-2015 period. (News, Youth)
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