HANOI (ILO News) – Viet Nam’s labour statistics will be improved in the next four years under a memorandum of understanding signed between the General Statistics Office (GSO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Hanoi today.

The 2012-2016 MoU aims to strengthen capacities of data producers, providers and users of labour and employment statistics for evidence-based policy making.

“If Viet Nam wants to become a market economy, the country really needs to have very good statistical data in terms of labour to inform the Government and policy-makers of the gaps they need to fix,” said the ILO Deputy Director General, Sandra Polaski.

Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh emphasized the importance of enhancing statistical work. “The demands for objective and reliable statistics for people-centred policy making in order to ensure the quality growth of a middle-income country has become more urgent than ever,” he noted at the signing ceremony.

Viet Nam is now able to conduct monthly labour force surveys and produce labour market data on quarterly basis. The first quarterly reports will be published by the end of 2012.

Praising the GSO’s efforts and commitments, the ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Yoshiteru Uramoto said these achievements will help Viet Nam narrow the gap with other regional developing countries in labour statistics.

The country, however, still has a lot of work to do in this field.

“Viet Nam has some good statistical data but not as much as it needs to have,” said Ms Polaski, who emphasized that the ILO can offer Viet Nam technical support on collecting, analysing, and disseminating labour statistics.

Under the MoU, the GSO and ILO confirmed their cooperation in improving the quality of labour data production in such areas as labour force surveys, as well as occupational wages, informal sector, child labour and school-to-work transition surveys.

Priorities will also be given to production and analysis of decent work indicators, including in-depth studies on key labour market issues, and capacity-building for GSO specialists.

The MoU is expected to help Viet Nam implement its 2011-20 Statistical Development Strategy. Effort is made so that by 2020, the statistical capacity of Viet Nam Statistics will be ranked in the group of good level in the region by 2020 and advanced level by 2030.

The ILO’s assistance in labour statistics is also part of the organisation’s support to the Viet Nam Decent Work Country Programme and the One Plan of the United Nation in Viet Nam that cover the same period of 2012-16.

For further information please contact:

Population and Labour Statistics Department
General Statistics Office

6B Hoang Dieu, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

Tel.: 04 38230100

Email

Ms Tran Quynh Hoa
Communication officer
ILO Country Office for Viet Nam
48-50 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hanoi

Tel.: 04 3734 0902 Ext.118
Email