Ms Doan urged IP and EPZ trade unions and local authorities to pay more attention to further improving workers’ living conditions, especially issues related to salary, housing and kindergarten services. Ms Doan stated that although HCM City has a developed economy, the workers’ living standards in the IPs and EPZs are not as good as those in the southern provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai.

Currently, the City has built seven accommodation complexes for workers and expects to build an additional nine later this year. The figure remains modest, as the City now has nearly 260,000 labourers working in IPs and EPZs.

On the same day, the State Vice President held a working session with HCM City’s Labour Confederation to discuss the “Capital Aid Fund for Employment of the Poor” (CEP). She highlighted the CEP model which has contributed to reducing poverty in Vietnam.

The fund was established to provide poor people with a loan of maximum VND30 million at a low interest rate. The fund has helped many people escape poverty and improved their living conditions.

Vietnam is one of the two countries which have fulfilled the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on poverty reduction five years ahead of schedule.