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Binh Duong says no to labor-intensive projects
Binh Duong Province has called off licensing new labor-intensive projects, particularly low added-value ones as a measure to cope with prolonged labor shortage and support operations of existing enterprises, the provincial chairman said on Tuesday.
“Our policy (now) is not to license labor-intensive projects, especially in apparel as well as shoe and leather sectors because the projects in these areas do not generate much added values,” Nguyen Hoang Son told reporters on Tuesday, after a seminar entitled: “Provincial Competitiveness Index: Diagnosing Competitiveness in Binh Duong.”
The event was held by the province in collaboration with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the USAID-financed Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative (VNCI).
Son said in the past years labor shortage had become a chronic issue, as a result of fast industrial development in Binh Duong, forcing the province to make efforts to lure workers from other localities.
It has cost enterprises dearly when it comes to recruitment and training.
Le Hong Phao, Chief Executive Officer of Binh Duong Apparel Co., gave an example that the company spent VND200 million on recruitment but up to VND1.2 billion on training courses for new employees last year.
Phao, who is also Chairman of the Binh Duong Textile and Apparel Association, told the seminar that many companies in the industry had to compete for labor.
“The struggle for experienced and trained employees has placed much impact on the business and production of many companies, leaving their activities in disorder,” Phao said.
Son said Binh Duong needed more than 30,000 employees this year to satisfy the demand of enterprises in the southern province, and over 10,000 had been supplied to them. These 10,000 workers were among the 12,000 who lost their jobs recently.
Son said Binh Duong was exerting more efforts in training workers and encouraging enterprises of different business sectors to join this. “We are spending more building training centers and upgrading vocational schools.”
Training was among the areas that VNCI had urged Binh Duong to boost improvement if the province wanted to maintain its position in the list of most competitive localities in accordance with the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI).
Last year, the central coastal city of Danang unseated Binh Duong to become to the most competitive locality in Vietnam, a title that the southern province had retained for three continuous years since the launch of the PCI in 2005.
The index was developed by VCCI and VNCI, and Saigon Times Group had been chosen as the official media to publish the PCI report for the fourth consecutive year.
Son acknowledged that leaders of Binh Duong had thought much of the ranking downgrade and was striving to make the province a more favorable and attractive destination for investors.
Binh Duong will not license new domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) projects that pollute the environment. The dyeing and tanning projects are among those the province will shrug off.
“We look to sustainable growth so we will weigh the environmental impact of a project more carefully before granting it a license,” Son said. “We will not attract investment at any cost.”
Binh Duong has so far attracted more than 7,200 domestic projects with combined capital pledges of VND50 trillion and around 1,850 FDI projects with total investment capital of US$11.5 billion. The first quarter of this year registered FDI pledges of US$314 million, or half of the amount in the same period last year.
At the seminar, VCCI clinched an agreement with Binh Duong to help small- and medium-sized enterprises to operate more efficiently, improve information technology, and establish an effective mechanism to deal with work stoppages and disputes.
vietnamnet, sgt
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