The Asian Economic Forum 2019 opened in Singapore on August 29 with the participation of more than 150 experts, scholars and representatives from 10 ASEAN member countries and other nations.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee held a seminar on August 15 to discuss workforce training in accordance with international standards for the 2020 – 2030 period.
The labour productivity gap between Vietnam and other countries in the region continues to expand and the economy will face huge challenges to catch up with regional countries in the time ahead.
The Government needs to establish a national strengthening productivity committee to better labour productivity, thus promoting the economic growth, said Director General of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam Nguyen Bich Lam on August 7.
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung has stressed the urgent significance of improving labour productivity in promoting growth, overcoming the middle-income trap, avoiding falling behind and narrowing down development gap with other countries.
Vietnam is among the top countries attracting foreign direct investment in the Asia-Pacific region, but the rate of domestic small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participating in the value chains of foreign-invested companies is rather low, according to the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC).
Seeing the important role of the private sector to local development, Ho Chi Minh City will work to attract more private investment to carry out smart urban area projects and branch out Industry 4.0 services, said Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan.
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) held a seminar in Hanoi on March 21 to seek to increase labour productivity to enhance national competitiveness.
Provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta have set ambitious targets this year with a focus on high-quality agriculture combined with eco-tourism, services and industry.
Labour productivity in the Vietnamese economy has been estimated at 102 million VND (4,512 USD) per workhand in 2018, up 8.8 million VND (346 USD) from the previous year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
After five years of implementing the project “Restructuring agriculture towards improving added value and promoting sustainable development”, agricultural production has surged significantly.
Vietnam’s agriculture sector is aiming for annual growth of a minimum 3 percent, with labour productivity improving 3.5 percent a year by 2020, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan.
Decreasees in labour productivity have deterred Vietnam’s economic growth, especially during 2003-2013. Improving labour productivity is now critical to boost the country’s GDP.
Although Vietnam has focused on increasing labour productivity and overall productivity growth, there have been relatively few opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to get customised support as they grow, said Max Bulakovskiy, policy analyst in Global Relations at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Vietnam can escape the middle income trap to achieve rapid and sustainable growth only by improving its labour productivity, heard a policy dialogue on September 26 in Hanoi.
The issue of labour productivity attracted much attention at a forum in Hanoi on September 24 that focused on Vietnamese trade unions’ support for the Government’s efforts to improve national competitiveness and sustainable development.
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