Prime Minister receives ILO Director-General

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave a reception in Hanoi on June 30 for Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Gilbert F. Houngbo, saying that it is the first visit of the ILO Director-General since Vietnam joined the organisation in 1992.

PM Chinh thanked ILO for its assistance to Vietnam over the past years, particularly in building the first Labour Code in 1994, and its subsequent amendments in 2012 and 2019.

The ILO’s technical support for projects related to occupational safety, social insurance, labour relations, child labour reduction and gender equality promotion has been highly effective, playing a crucial role in Vietnam's social development process, he said.

He told his guest that Vietnam places people as the centre, target, driving force and resources of development. It does not trade progress, social justice and the environment for mere economic growth.

Vietnam is committed to innovation towards balancing and harmonising economic and social development, increasing labour productivity, expanding and strengthening the social security system, reforming the labour market institution and labour law, and ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of labourers, he said.

According to him, Vietnam has a relatively large labour market with 52.3 million workers, with their quality increasingly improving. Vietnam has achieved significant progress in labour and trade union affairs, with an increasingly refined legal system for labour and social security and more effective labour market management.

Houngbo, for his part, said the United Nations and the ILO in particular regard Vietnam - a socialist country as a model of effort and development for other nations to learn from. He believed that Vietnam would keep thriving to have more resources for social welfare spending.

Informing the host about his successful working sessions with the Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, Houngbo vowed to continue assisting Vietnam in all labour and employment-related issues.

He suggested Vietnam continue actively joining ILO’s labour and employment initiatitives, and wished to collaborate with Vietnam to follow ILO and UN’s initiatives for promoting global employment, particularly by combining the advantages of both sides to foster the balanced development in terms of economy, society and environment.

In reply, PM Chinh affirmed that Vietnam supports the ILO and UN’s initiatives. He proposed that ILO continue helping Vietnam consider the possibility of joining initiatives in line with appropriate pathways to achieve the goals of social justice and progress, and sustainably ensure the legitimate rights and interests of workers.

He also sought the ILO’s assistance in improving the labour legal system, undertaking comprehensive reforms in the social security system and wage policies to foster harmonious, stable and progressive labour relations. Additionally, he emphasised the need to continue with technical projects that assist Vietnam in coping with the rapidly changing global landscape in sci-tech, and the increasing non-traditional challenges.