Reap fruits of labor

It also rejected a demand to make the raise on July 7 every year instead of January 1. Both were proposed by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor at a meeting with the government late last year. In a statement the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said now is not the right time for a wage hike since the pandemic had a severe impact on the economy last year and many companies are still facing difficulties. "More than 101,700 businesses have either temporarily suspended operations or shut down and are waiting to complete dissolution procedures, almost 14 percent more than in 2019." The unemployment rate was 2.48 percent, a 10-year high, while the average income of workers stayed at VND6.62 million ($290) per month, marginally down from the previous year, it said. Currently the monthly minimum wage is divided into four levels, depending on region: VND4.42 million ($191.52) for region 1, VND3.92 million for region 2, VND3.42 million for region 3, and VND3.07 million for region 4. Last year they were hiked by an average 5.5 percent. The figures reflect the cost of living in each area. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are in region 1, while rural areas are in region 4. The ministry said even if the rates are kept unchanged in 2021 workers "could manage a minimum standard of living". Covid-19 continues to rage around the world and it is not possible to say when it would end or predict the extent of its impact on Vietnam’s socio-economic development this year, it said. "Therefore, the minimum wage should not be increased for now to help businesses recover and ensure workers keep their jobs." Earlier the National Wage Council, which advises the government on the minimum wages, had said the rates should remain unchanged this year. The minimum wage rates act as a basis for businesses in the formal sector to negotiate salaries with employees. They are arrived at by multiplying the minimum rates with a coefficient determined by an employee’s …

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The Hanoitimes - Health declaration is now required for everyone coming to Vietnam from South Korea. Vietnam started to apply preventive safety measures to all passengers from South Korea as of 3:00pm on February 23 at all border gates, according to the Ministry of Health. Due to the complicated evolution of the Covid-19 epidemic in South Korea, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health on Sunday held a meeting with relevant ministries and agencies to analyze the situation in South Korea and proposed measures to prevent the disease from spreading through arrivals from the Northeast Asian country. Illustrative photo Health declaration is now required for everyone coming from South Korea, according to a Health Ministry regulation issued yesterday. Those with symptoms like high fever, coughing and breathing difficulties will be put in quarantine. Besides, following the Vietnamese government’s instruction, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urgently adopt measures to protect Vietnamese citizens in South Korea. The Vietnamese embassy in South Korea has set up an emergency telephone line for citizen protection which is +82 106 315 6618 and available 24/7. The Vietnam Overseas Labor Office in South Korea has also made public an emergency number which is +82 103 248 6886 for Vietnamese workers to contact when they need assistance. There are currently about 200,000 Vietnamese citizens studying and working in South Korea, including 8,285 people in Daegu city, 18,502 people in Gyeongsangbuk province and 333 people in Cheongdo district, South Korean localities hardest hit by the pandemic. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, South Korean tourists coming to Vietnam have been booming in recent years. Last year, 3.16 million South Korean visitors arrived in Vietnam, an increase of 46.5% year-on-year, making South Korea the second largest international tourist source for, just behind China. According to the data analysis page of …

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Harder to make a living with sugarcane The harvest of sugarcane in sugarcane growing-areas in Ninh Xuan and Ninh Tay communes in Ninh Hoa Town was quite subdued. Many sugarcane fields are stunted and unhealthy because farmers neglect to invest in care. Interlaced between stunted sugarcane fields is vacant land. The sugarcane growing-areas in Ninh Hoa no longer show the lush green of the heyday of sugarcane. Even in the harvest season, the gloomy atmosphere hovers over sugarcane fields. According to local sugarcane farmers, the current price of material sugarcane purchased by local sugar refineries ranges from VND920,000 to VND950,000 per ton for sugarcane with 10 percent of commercial cane sugar. This is considered a high price compared to those in recent years, but farmers are not as excited as the time when sugarcane helped them to make a fortune. For instance, in Ninh Tan Commune, five years ago, sugarcane helped many farmers to escape poverty and become well-off, thanks to large-scale sugarcane cultivation. However, in recent years, sugarcane has no longer brought them a prosperous life anymore. Visiting the 1.5-hectare sugarcane field of Vo Thi Hau Phuong, a farmer in Trung Village in Ninh Tan Commune, whose sugarcanes are of high quality in the area and are being harvested to sell to the factory of Vietnam Sugar Company, she said that in this crop, sugarcane yield was about 40 tons per hectare, with commercial cane sugar percentage at above 10. It is because her family invested and taken care of their sugarcane field carefully. Meanwhile, many surrounding stunted sugarcane fields will undoubtedly give very low productivity. Despite high yield, high commercial cane sugar percentage, and high sugarcane selling price in this crop, she reckons that the profit is small. Le Minh Tuan's household in Bac Village in Ninh Tan Commune has more than 3 hectares of sugarcane. With nearly 20 years of experience in growing sugarcane, he estimated that the total …

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