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Viet Nam feels economic pinch
The economy shows the first signs of strain amidst the global crisis
Though Viet Nam's economy had remained stable even amidst the current global economic crisis, it was beginning to show signs of decline, resolutions of a Government meeting said.
Participants of the two-day meeting, which wrapped up last Wednesday, were told that industrial production value had fallen by 4.4 per cent compared with the same period last year (an 8.6 per cent decrease from December).
Export turnover in January had also dropped, as have foreign direct investments.
Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc predicted that foreign direct investments would reduce significantly during 2009-2010, compared to the previous year, due to complicated and difficult happenings in the domestic and world economies.
To cope with these difficulties, the Government had already instructed ministries, industries, cities and provinces to implement resolutions on socio-economic development, beginning at the start of this year.
It had also asked these agencies to strictly allocate State budget estimates as regulated while carrying out drastic measures to minimise economic decline, maintaining economic growth and ensuring the nation's social welfare policy.
A series of actions were also put forth, including an expansion of the domestic market, increased purchasing power among the people and speeding up the development of tourism and other services.
Ministries, industries, cities and provinces were asked to continuously ensure social welfare while carrying out promulgated policies... on health, education and society.
Due attention would be given to provide vocational training to the poor, farmers and retired servicemen.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung gave authority to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to preside and co-ordinate with the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour and relevant agencies to propose an over-all solution to support jobless people to the Government for consideration and approval.
He also asked ministries, industries, cities and provinces to build action plans to implement a Government resolution on helping the 61 poorest districts alleviate poverty in an attempt to make them develop on the same level as other areas nation-wide.
Chairman of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam said it would be essential to effectively implement existing policies on poverty alleviation while supplementing and issuing new ones in an attempt to help these areas in most effectively.
In an exclusive interview with a Vietnam News Agency reporter on Saturday, the chairman said that efforts should be focused on investing in infrastructure to boost economic development and to improve the material and spiritual lives of the people.
The proportion of poor households remained high nationwide, hovering at roughly 13 per cent, mostly concentrated in the 61 poorest districts, where over 50 per cent of households were poor.
Range of issues
Other ministries were also assigned to do concrete tasks after they had delivered reports on a wide range of issues to the Government at the meeting.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat presented a national food security project by 2020 and 2030 to the Government.
He said that an increasing population, a decrease in arable land caused by urbanisation and industrialisation and global climate change would severely impact agricultural production. Epidemic diseases among livestock and poultry would also be on the rise.
Malnutrition rates had also remained high. Food safety and hygiene issues would require synchronous measures to ensure national food security, Phat added.
The Government also heard Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh report about production activity and the equitisation of State-owned enterprises, with due attention given to economic corporations and groups.
The Government agreed with the ministry's judgement that despite unfavourable fluctuations, economic corporations and groups would still operate with stability and achieve moderately good socio-economic efficiency.
Yet, the meeting also heard that some limitations would need to be addressed, as these corporations and groups had been exposed in the past years.
The Government confirmed positive results in reorganising and equitising State-owned enterprises in the past, while pointing out limitations and reasons causing delays in progress.
It asked the finance ministry to assess the efficiency of equitised enterprises before reporting back to the Government.
Plan eyes more rural jobs
The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) is planning to provide vocational training and intensify job creation in rural areas to cope with the potential influx of jobless workers returning home from cities.
More workers are expected to return home from cities, as the economic downturn has significantly reduced urban employment opportunities.
Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said that MoLISA would also focus on training rural labourers in modern breeding and production methods in a bid to stimulate household-based production.
The Government would allocate more funds for employment generation in remote and needy areas, and initiate projects to further develop farming and traditional craft villages, she said.
MoLISA had set Itself a target of creating 1.7 million fobs this year, the minister said.
The ministry estimated that about 150,000 jobs could be lost this year as the global recession continued to impact the domestic economy. Last year, many firms in cities and industrial parks cut production or closed their doors, laying off tens of thousands of workers.
A recent report by the HCM City Labour Federation said that 46 companies slashed their workforce by 10,726 last year. Of these, 8,367 have found other jobs and the rest have returned home.
VietNamNet, Viet Nam News
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