Vietnamese workers rank high in ASEAN skills competitions, but its labour productivity remains lower than other countries, Nguyen Anh Tuan of the Vietnam Productivity Institute told Ha Noi Moi newspaper.

Tuan said t he country's labour productivity has increased by 3.5 percent annually since 2005, reaching about 74.3 million VND (3,500 USD) per labourer, according to recent statistics. However, data from 2012 showed Vietnam's productivity was about one fifteenth that of Singapore, one ninth of Japan's, one seventh of the Republic of Korea's and one third of Thailand's.

Acdording to the official, labour productivity is affected by two factors: capital power and total factor productivity (TFP). TFP in economics is also called multi-factor productivity – the strengthening of investment capital in production and business activities. So, infrastructure and transport construction will help boost labour productivity.

Thus, with the same quantity of human resources but more preferable conditions, entrepreneurs will have more capacity to boost their production. Labour capacity will also improve, which will lead to an increase in labour productivity, he said.

In fact, as Vietnam is a developing country, more investment capital power would play an important role in improving socio-economic growth. However, to maintain economic development and help the nation catch up with others countries in the region, Vietnam needs to focus more on improving labour productivity through an increased use of science and technology.

He added that the country also needs to improve labour quality, and effectively allocate human and financial resources.

On measures being taken to improve national labour productivity, the official cited Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's report at the 8th session of the 13th National Assembly, which said that the Government will restructure the agricultural sector; construct new rural areas; encourage bio-tech and information technology applications; accelerate mechanisation, technological modernisation and automation; reduce production costs; improve product quality; and promote domestic and foreign financial sources for investment in socio-economic infrastructure.

The measures also include improving the quality of education and vocational training.

Tuan said the Vietnam Productivity Institute will consult the Government and the Ministry of Science and Technology on creating policies on labour productivity.

They will also research human resource training and build new models for labour productivity, he said.-VNA