(VOVworld) – Ensuring social security and improving people’s living conditions are top priority tasks in the Government’s socio-economic management plan for 2014. Besides flexible monetary management, tight fiscal policy, and boosting the equitization of state-owned enterprises, the government will pay special attention to social security. The government aims to reduce the poverty rate to between 1.7% and 2%, generate 1.6 million jobs and improve access to basic social services.
(photo: tuyen giao.vn) |
Ensuring social security is one of the 9 key tasks in the government’s socio-economic management plan this year. It will cover poverty reduction, job training and generation, and improving access to basic social services.
Coordinated measures to generate jobs, reduce poverty
In order to obtain this year’s poverty rate between 1.7% and 2%, Vietnam will review, adjust, and implement corporate policies and measures, especially in poor districts and remote, isolated ethnic minority communities. The government will gradually reduce direct assistance and increase investment in agro-forestry and fishery production through incentive policies on land and credits, and through vocational training.
Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, Nguyen Trong Dam, says: “The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs and other relevant ministries will review poverty reduction policies to adjust regulations to match the future demand. We’ll identify poverty criteria from multiple aspects including income and access to social services. We’ll resolve the problems depending on the conditions of specific groups and localities but not a large region or the whole nation. The people will be encouraged to strive to escape poverty by themselves.”
Vietnam aims to generate jobs for 1.6 million people. The number of trained workers will grow by 52%. This goal requires further reform in vocational training and collaboration between training centers and companies. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said: “Vocational training centers and enterprises should cooperate to ensure trained workers have places to work. The Ministry of Labor has to work with provinces to identify vocational training demand. Labor export should be a spearhead sector.”
Ensuring minimum access to basic social services
Improving access to social services including healthcare, education, and housing is a key task in 2014. Nong Thi Bich Lien, member of the National Assembly’s Council for Nationalities, says: "We’ll concentrate investment on under-constructed hospitals, replacing make-shift classrooms with concrete buildings, paving roads in the centre of border communes, and building reservoirs in the northern mountain region and areas extremely short of fresh water.”
Vietnam will draft a law on Social Insurance and expand the categories of social insurance and unemployment insurance holders.
Social security will lay a firm foundation for socio-economic stability and generate momentum for growth. The Vietnamese government performs this task to meet the people’s aspiration, gain people’s trust, and balance economic growth and social equality.