Students in class at the Dak Lak Vocational College in the Central Highland’s province of Dak Lak. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – In addition to trade and investmentopportunities, the participation in the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will offer Vietnam a chance tomodernise its labour laws and industrial relations system, thus creatingsustainable jobs and bringing practical benefits to workers.
Vietnam officially became a member of the CPTPPafter the 14th National Assembly passed a resolution onNovember 12, approving the deal and related documents with 96.7 percent ofvotes.
The CPTTP, together with the EU-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement (EVFTA), includes specific requirements on labour rights andwork conditions to ensure that the free flow of trade will contribute tosustainable development and enable workers and businesses to enjoy their fairshare of economic gains, according to the International Labour Organisation(ILO).
Having to abide by labour commitments andrequirements was an inevitable result of joining FTAs, said Head of theMinistry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Department of International CooperationNguyen Manh Cuong at a dialogue on Vietnam’s CPTPP labour commitments in Hanoion November 13.
The implementation mechanisms foreseen in theagreement include co-operative activities to engage representatives of businessand worker organisations as well as international organisations such as the ILOto strengthen labour market institutions that lay the foundation for improvingsocial dialogue between employers and workers, according to the ILO.
“This is an opportunity for Vietnam to moderniseits labour laws,” said ILO Vietnam’s director Chang-Hee Lee in a press release.“The need for such reforms comes from the country’s internal context.”
In years after the CPTPP comes into effect, itis expected workers will be allowed to establish or join organisations of theirown choosing, which can choose whether they will be part of the Vietnam GeneralConfederation of Labour (VGCL).
Vice President of the VGCL Ngo Duy Hieu saidfacing membership competition would be a chance for VGCL to continue itsreforms and improve its efficiency to better represent workers.
Vietnam committed to fully implementing itsCPTPP labour obligations from the day it takes effect in the country, said Cuong.
"The country is in the process of amendingthe Labour Law to make it fall in line with some contents of the CPTPP and makeits commitments about labour more concrete," he said.
It is expected to take three to five years for Vietnamto amend the law and its related regulations, and to improve awareness amongthe public, workers and enterprises, according to Cuong.
Director of the Institute of Labour Science andSocial Affairs Dao Quang Vinh said the institute’s recent study on impacts of Vietnam’sparticipation in FTAs showed that joining CPTPP would help to create17,000-27,000 jobs each year for Vietnamese workers from 2020.
FTA participation would also help increaseinvestment flows, enhance competitiveness and productivity, draw moreskilled labourers and raise workers’ incomes, he said.
However, Vinh said big wage differences would beseen between foreign-invested enterprises and local businesses as well asbetween skilled labourers and low-qualified workers, thus creating policychallenges relating to employment, job generation and vocational training.
He also stressed that Vietnam needed to prepareits workforce to take advantage of opportunities created by the agreement.
“For example, when tariffs are reduced, will Vietnamimprove productivity in order to tap this market opportunity?” he said. “Itdepends on how we prepare human and investment resources to ensure thatVietnamese products will be accepted by members of the agreement.”
He warned that changes in employment and labourstructures would happen more rapidly than forecasted due to FTAs and the FourthIndustrial Revolution, so Vietnamese policy makers need to amend theirforecast.
VGCL Vice President Hieu suggested increasinginformation dissemination to raise awareness of the public, enterprises andcredit institutions of opportunities and challenges of CPTPP.
The Government should build specific plans afterCPTPP takes effect in order to deal with initial and long-term challenges, hesaid.
The 11-nation accord, which forms a market of500 million people, is expected to increase Vietnam’s GDP by an additional 2.01percent by 2035, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.-VNA
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