Report highlights structural transformation, growth in rural areas

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Policy-relevant information on the economy and society in Vietnam’s rural areas and assessments of Vietnamese rural households were detailed in the report “Growth, Structural Transformation and Rural Change in Vietnam: A Rising Dragon on the Move”, released at a workshop in Hanoi on August 5. 

As part of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER) Structural Transformation and Inclusive Growth in Vietnam project, the synthesis report presented key findings and recommendations.

Addressing the event, Deputy Director of the Central Institute of Economics Management (CIEM) Nguyen Thi Tue Anh said outcomes from the report’s survey aim to draw an overall picture of the rural Vietnamese society as well as impacts related to changes in rural households and their ability to access capital resources, labour and land markets.

The report is comprehensive and a useful document for policymakers to design rural economic development plans, she noted.

According to Director of the UNU-WIDER Finn Tarp, who led the study team, the report introduced detailed studies and assessed the living conditions of Vietnamese families in rural areas and the improved social welfare services they received.

The poverty rate has reduced remarkably in rural areas and families now own more assets, he noted, expressing his hope that the report will be used to form policies in the future.

The 409-page report was based on five rounds of the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Surveys (VARHS) carried out among 2,162 households in 12 provinces in Vietnam every two years between 2006 and 2014.

It analyses the impact of rural household access to markets for land, labour and capital as well as the impacts of governmental policies on growth, inequality and poverty at the village level in Vietnam, including the distribution of gains and losses from economic growth.

It also creates a comprehensive set of materials and studies for policymakers, scholars, students and those interested in an integrated approach to studying growth, structural transformation and the microeconomic analysis of development in the country.-VNA