A reporter from Radio the Voice of Vietnam interviewed Le Manh Hung, head of the General Statistics Office, about the general census.

Reporter: Can you brief us on the meaning of the general census?

Mr Hung: This is one of the three big censuses in the national census system. They include a census of population, a census of rural, agriculture, and aqua-culture, and a census of economic and administrative organizations.

Statistics from the census of economic and administrative organizations will provide an overall picture of the country’s non-agricultural socio-economic activities and help policy makers better plan and build development plans for each region.

The census will also present a clear view about the country’s labour quality, structure, and professionals, helping implement the national plan for human resource development.

Reporter: With the significance of the census, how will the third general census be different from the two previous censuses?

Mr Hung: The first census was conducted in 1995, and the second in 2002. We drew a lot of lessons and experiences from these two occasions. Therefore, we have carefully prepared for this year’s general censuses and hope that the application of effective methods will produce good results.

The scale of this general census is not as large as the two previous ones but related to all economic sectors. Apart from agro-forestry and aquatic industries, which were surveyed in 2006, this census will be conducted in 17 other sectors including mining industry, processing industry, trade services, hotels and restaurants. In addition, this census will be conducted not only in the areas of economics, administration, civil-related issues, national defence and security but also in State agencies, religious organizations and State and private-run businesses. The important thing is how to make people fully aware of the significance of the census in order to provide accurate information about economic activities.

Reporter: How many units will be surveyed in the census?

Mr Hung: Around 4.3-4.5 million units will be surveyed this time, up by 1.5 million compared to the previous censuses.

Reporter: What do you expect to find from results of this census?

Mr Hung: We wish to collect the best information so that we can make accurate plans at the national level and provide necessary information for each locality in order to use our database effectively.

Reporter: Thank you very much.