Double digit addition without regrouping

E-commerce platforms are effective tools that can help farmers reduce losses when there is an oversupply of produce and sales are slow. In Gia Loc district in Hai Duong province on March 2, the roads were very quiet even though in a few hours the social isolation order would expire (at 0:00 on March 3). Somewhere in the fields were farmers who were still doing their daily work. For them, their fields must be taken care of every day. With more than 93,000 hectares of agricultural land, accounting for 56.5% of the total area, Hai Duong is among provinces with a large agricultural production area. Its main agricultural products are vegetables, fruits, livestock and poultry. Before the pandemic, the biggest difficulty for local farmers was the connection between producers and consumers. During the pandemic, because of the blockade and restriction of means of travel, the difficulties multiplied. Born into a family with a farming tradition, like many previous generations, the life of Mr. Do Van Chung (a resident of Quang Bi village, Pham Tran commune, Gia Loc district, Hai Duong) has been associated with the field. Chung's family grows vegetables such as kohlrabi, cabbage, cauliflower, gourd, squash, melon and others, with an average output of about 2 tons per acre and yield VND7-8 million ($300-400) per acre each year. As Hai Duong was under isolation, the transport of farm produce from Hai Duong to other provinces was affected. Earning his living by cultivating vegetables for many years, Chung complained that he has never faced such difficulties. In previous years, he harvested 4 tons of cabbage and earned VND14-16 million from two sao (1 sao = 360m2) of cultivation area. But he cannot find buyers and is not sure if he can earn VND2 million from each sao. Mr. Phung Danh Ut, the owner of Ut Them organic melon garden in Gia Loc district, was …

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More than 70 per cent of Việt Nam’s working-age women are in the labour force. Photo ILO Vietnam HÀ NỘI – With a remarkably high labour market participation rate, women in  Việt Nam face multiple and persistent labour market inequalities, and carry a disproportionate double burden of work and family responsibilities, researchers have revealed. A new research brief by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Việt Nam shows the COVID-19 pandemic has not only exacerbated existing inequalities but created new gender gaps. More than 70 per cent of Việt Nam’s working-age women are in the labour force, compared to the global level of 47.2 per cent and an average of 43.9 per cent in Asia and the Pacific. While the gender gap in labour force participation is narrower in Việt Nam than in the world, it has still stood at 9.5 percentage points (men’s rate higher than women’s) over the last decade. According to the research brief 'Gender and the labour market in Viet Nam: An analysis based on the Labour Force Survey' , uneven distribution of family responsibilities in Việt Nam’s society could be the reason for the disparity. Nearly half of the women who were not economically active in the 2018 Labour Force Survey made this choice because of “personal or family-related reasons”, compared to only 18.9 per cent of inactive men. The research also indicated that the high labour force participation of women in Việt Nam should not be interpreted as an indicator of equal opportunity. “Before the COVID-19 pandemic, both women and men had a relatively easy access to jobs, but the quality of such jobs was on average lower among women than among men,” said Valentina Barcucci, ILO Việt Nam Labour Economist, lead author of the research. Female workers were overrepresented in vulnerable employment, particularly in contributing to family work. They earned less than men (by 13.7 per cent on monthly wages in 2019), despite comparable working hours and the …

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The Hanoitimes - Vietnam rushes to prepare manpower in a goal of training 2 million people at vocational schools. The US plan to place tariffs on additional US$300 billion worth of Chinese goods has sparked the relocation of multinational companies from China to Vietnam, and such relocation plans raise the question of what Vietnam acts to accommodate influx of companies in the unpredicted trade conflicts between the world’s largest economies. Textile workers. Illustrative photo The Vietnamese government has a goal of training 2 million people in vocational schools to meet the growing demand for technical skills among multinational companies, according to CNBC. More than 90% of students trained in technical skills, such as welding or making electronics, can get hired, Professor Nguyen Quang Huy told CNBC, adding that it’s very easy to get a job, and a lot of companies need more people. The country’s middle class is growing to reach around 44 million by 2020, and the figure will be more than doubled by 2030. In addition, more than a million people are added to the workforce annually, giving the country a “golden population structure”, according to Singapore-based private holding company Kusto Group. Engineers. Illustrative photo Meanwhile, beneficial firms in Vietnam, mostly apparel and shoe makers, are starting to grow to meet higher requirements. Textile firm TNG Investment & Trading told CNBC that it’s never seen an expansion like this before. Last year, the firm hired 3,000 employees, bringing its total to 15,000. The expansion has required TNG to build an apartment complex to accommodate the additional employees. The company needs to build a home for the people than actually building a factory to retain high-skilled workers for long strategies, according to TNG’s Linh Nguyen. The aforementioned moves are part of preparations for the upcoming demand. In fact, multinational companies are …

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