Vietnam News Agency (VNA)

Viet Nam attends ILO Governing Body’s meeting

11/03/2008 -- 11:54 AM

Geneva (VNA) – A delegation from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) led by Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan took part in the 301 st session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Governing Body held in Geneva on March 10.

At the meeting, Minister Ngan highlighted Viet Nam ’s achievements in implementing the National Strategy on Employment during the 2001-2007 period and solutions for the coming years.

She said that Viet Nam ’s Employment Strategy for the 2001-2010 period defines the objective of “shifting employment structure in line with economic structure; providing employment for people who have a demand for work; increasing productivity, income and improving living conditions for the people.”

To realise this goal, the country has encouraged the development of all economic sectors, attracted foreign investment and created a favourable environment for business activities.

Viet Nam has restructured and reformed State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and established eight state-owned corporations to date, each operating in different fields and sectors. The country has set up 183 industrial zones, of which 111 are operational.

Individual household and collective economy has enjoyed a strong development with over 3 million household businesses, over 17,500 cooperatives and more than 2,000 craft villages, all creating stable jobs for tens of millions of workers.
Viet Nam has paid special attention to human resource development strategies, the Vietnamese minister said, adding that the government has affirmed that spendings on education means investment into future development, thus encouraging workers’ learning to broaden their knowledge and improve their skills.

The country has also urged the private sector’s participation in education and training, increased the budget allocation for education and training (18 - 20 per cent of total budget spending) and issued employment and market development policies.

Due attention has been paid to providing support for disadvantaged groups, giving vocational training and jobs for disabled and rural workers and ethnic minorities people.

Viet Nam has also implemented many programmes to encourage voluntary participation of young people in labour-intensive infrastructure development and developed laws and regulations to ensure equality of employment and occupation for women workers.

The minister also proposed Viet Nam ’s cooperation activities with ILO in the 2008-2010 period, including putting Viet Nam on the list of ILO’s priorities for cooperation in order to help the Southeast Asian country participate deeper in the organisation’s regional and global projects.

ILO General Director Joan Somavia and members of the Governing Body and the Committee for Social Policies and Employment highly valued Viet Nam ’s achievements in implementing employment policies over the past time as well as the country’s cooperation in ILO programmes.

They said they backed Viet Nam ’s proposals with ILO and that Viet Nam will be one of the two countries worldwide selected by ILO to implement a pilot project on the combination of sustainable employment strategies into socio-economic development strategies.

During its three-day working trip, the Vietnamese delegation will have a meeting with the ILO Project Management Group and work with the ILO Regional Director for Asia-Pacific region, Yamamoto, and other ILO officials on the implementation of the national employment strategy.-Enditem

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