Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has implemented numerous policies to promote the role and ensure legitimate rights and interests of individuals and informal enterprises, especially household businesses, thus maintaining social and cultural cohesion and promoting sustainable production, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Vietnam's Permanent Representative to the UN has said.
Addressing a high-level dialogue on leveraging informal employment for inclusive development in Asia and the Pacific held by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York on May 14, the diplomat said close to 65% of the workforce in Vietnam is employed in the informal area.
He shared Vietnam's experience in improving legal frameworks, encouraging mutual support among business households through appropriate partnership models such as cooperatives, ensuring strict management, and timely support from local authorities for individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, and household businesses.
Representatives assessed trends related to the informal labour sector in the region, and shared good practices and lessons in implementing policies and support measures for informal labourers and enterprises to enable them to continue contributing to economic development efforts.
According to the definition in the 2022 Report on Informal Employment in Vietnam by the General Statistics Office (GSO), the informal sector comprises establishments engaged in production or business owned by households and not established as separate legal entities, not independent of the households or their members owning them.
Informally employed individuals are those engaged in work that, as defined by law or in practice, is not protected by a labour law, does not entail income tax payment, or does not entitle them to social protection and other employment benefits./.
Informal workers wary of opt-in social insurance
Farmers and workers in the informal sector are often reluctant to buy voluntary social insurance because they do not understand its benefits and lack knowledge about the programme, according to the Vietnam Social Security.
