Vietnam asks donors for continued assistance

Vietnam is seeking continuous assistance from donors so it can successfully implement its socio-economic development strategy during the 2011-2020 period, a senior Vietnamese official has said.

When addressing the Consultative Group meeting in Hanoi on December 7, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said that Vietnam will perfect its socialist-driven market economic institutions, develop its human resources and build a comprehensively-developed infrastructure over the next ten years.

He highlighted the international community’s contributions to Vietnam ’s development in the past, which have, along with efforts by the Government and people, helped Vietnam to prevent economic decline and achieve a GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent in 2010.

In the 2006-2010, Vietnam posted an annual GDP growth rate of 7 percent on average and obtained a per capita income of 1,160 USD a year. Plus it has achieved almost all of its millennial development goals.

The Country Director of the World Bank, Victoria Kwakwa, applauded Vietnam ’s achievements, especially its successful transition from a low-income country to a middle-income country.

She underlined that Vietnam ’s proactive preparations for its 2011-2010 development strategy are an important step which will enable it to avoid a middle-income country’s problems and pursue a modern economic model.

To sustain a robust and sustainable growth rate, Vietnam needs a new method of approach instead of retaining its current development strategy, which is based largely on the country’s natural resources, said the WB official.

According to Kwakwa, Vietnam needs to develop its human resources, create a more balanced environment for State and private enterprises to operate in as well as local and foreign businesses, encourage environmentally friendly developments and adopt a policy on social development to narrow the differences between urban and rural areas and the gender gap.

The two-day meeting focuses on stabilising the macro-economy and promoting sustainable growth, in addition to public governance, transparency and the effectiveness of the State economy. They will also discuss the fight against corruption, and future relations between Vietnam and its development partners when it becomes a middle-income country.

At the meeting, the donors are expected to announce their ODA commitments to Vietnam for 2011.

In 2009, they pledged over 8 billion USD, which is the highest amount of ODA Vietnam has obtained to date./.

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Japan finalises port city strategy research

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on October 13 handed over its final research on a development strategy for Da Nang city.

The research aims to help build development strategies for the central port city that prioritize harmony in development between urban and rural areas, ensuring a sustainable future for Da Nang and its neighbouring provinces, including Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai.

The research focuses on major targets of development strategies that promote regional connection in the key economic zone of the central region, a master plan on major city development up till 2025 and short-term programmes of action till 2015 for Da Nang city.

The project aims to help the central key economic zone avoid problems affecting the northern and southern key economic zones due to poor management of booming investment projects.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are facing major traffic jams and traffic accidents, serious environmental pollution, dire shortages of dwelling houses, poor management of solid wastes, decrease in tree cover, a surge in crime and a widening gap between rich and poor.

The result of the JICA research was opened to public in an exhibition on the day it was handed over to the Da Nang administration.

Also on display is the result of DaCRISS-funded research to collect public opinion on a development strategy for the central key economic zone as well as a master plan on urban development for Da Nang.

The exhibition, scheduled to last until October 19, is also expected to help ordinary people further understand urban issues related to the city and the region as whole./.

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Labor market faces diverse challenges

High levels of redundancy and a low ratio of skilled workers are major problems for fulfillment of the labor market development strategy for 2011-20, said the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) at a workshop on Thursday.

The workshop, co-sponsored by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and held in the nation’s most populous Ho Chi Minh City, revealed that if part of the workforce is withdrawn, there would be no change in national production outputs.

Agricultural labor’s domination is evidence of the low quality of the labor market.

The GDP-employment ratio of 0.28, namely when the GDP rises one percent, the employment rate goes up by just 0.28 percent, is low in the region.

Underemployment is another problem. In 2008, the country witnessed 1.43 million underemployed, of whom 1.4 million came from countryside.

Labor costs in Vietnam are considered cheap, with minimum and base salaries meeting just 60-65 percent of basic living costs.

The quality of human resources fails to meet market demands. Statistics in 2009 showed that skilled workers made up just seven percent of the labor force.

The labor market revealed some other weak points related to the legal system, dialogue mechanism, labor security and flexibility, social welfare and support for vulnerable groups.

Lin Lean Lim, a senior expert from the ILO, said the competitive edge of Vietnamese labor was on a downward trend.

She said one of the main causes was that human resource quality improvements were placed on hold while economic growth and scientific and technological infrastructure were multiplied.

She called on Vietnam to gear human resources development to market demands and said a worker should master one skill but be capable of applying it to different jobs and in different conditions.

MOLISA forecasts that the labor force would grow by almost 500,000 in each of the next 10 years, bringing the total number to 53.14 million by 2020.

The national labor market development strategy for the 2011-20 period targets at 58.5 percent of skilled workers and a reduction of farmers to 31 percent from the current 51 percent.

Unemployment is estimated at 1.72 million by 2020, and the number of insured workers will be 15.7 million.

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Labour market faces diverse challenges

High levels of redundancy and a low ratio of skilled workers are major problems for fulfilment of the labour market development strategy for 2011-20, said the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) at a workshop on August 19.

The workshop, co-sponsored by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and held in the nation’s most populous Ho Chi Minh City , revealed that if part of the workforce is withdrawn, there would be no change in national production outputs.

Agricultural labour’s domination is evidence of the low quality of the labour market.

The GDP-employment ratio of 0.28, namely when the GDP rises one percent, the employment rate goes up by just 0.28 percent, is low in the region.

Underemployment is another problem. In 2008, the country witnessed 1.43 million underemployed, of whom 1.4 million came from countryside.

Labour costs in Vietnam are considered cheap, with minimum and base salaries meeting just 60-65 percent of basic living costs.

The quality of human resources fails to meet market demands. Statistics in 2009 showed that skilled workers made up just seven percent of the labour force.

The labour market revealed some other weak points related to the legal system, dialogue mechanism, labour security and flexibility, social welfare and support for vulnerable groups.

Lin Lean Lim, a senior expert from the ILO, said the competitive edge of Vietnamese labour was on a downward trend.

She said one of the main causes was that human resource quality improvements were placed on hold while economic growth and scientific and technological infrastructure were multiplied.

She called on Vietnam to gear human resources development to market demands and said a worker should master one skill but be capable of applying it to different jobs and in different conditions.

MOLISA forecasts that the labour force would grow by almost 500,000 in each of the next 10 years, bringing the total number to 53.14 million by 2020.

The national labour market development strategy for the 2011-20 period targets at 58.5 percent of skilled workers and a reduction of farmers to 31 percent from the current 51 percent.

Unemployment is estimated at 1.72 million by 2020, and the number of insured workers will be 15.7 million./.

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