At the event, participants focused on reviewing commitments on labour and social affairs in FTAs, particularly the EVFTA, while giving assessment on the impact of these commitments in the field of labour and social affairs.
They discussed projected amendments to Vietnamese labour regulations in implementing new generation FTAs, problems faced by businesses when Vietnam joins FTAs and perspectives from labour inspection for labour law compliance in enterprises.
According to the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs under the MoLISA, in the field of employment, when consenting to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Vietnam is expected to see an increase of about 7.5 million jobs by to 2025, equivalent to 0.83 million jobs per year.
When joining the EVFTA, it is expected that labour in the mining sector will increase by 3.41% a year and the textile sector by 1.53% a year, however, the fashion industry will decrease slightly, about 0.38% a year. Several other sectors may see higher annual growth rate in labour, such as water transport (3.7%), metal production (2.65%), and uncategorised machinery and equipment manufacturing (2.49%).
Wages are expected to increase in five categories from 2020 to 2035, of which the highest rate is expected for low-skilled workers, according to the World Bank.
Delegates also argued that joining the EVFTA would lead to a rise in domestic labour migration, in addition to creating "pressure" on the education and training system to innovate, causing harm to occupational health and safety and environmental protection if there is no reasonable strategic import policy of machinery, equipment, and technologies, as well as and foreign direct investment attraction.
To better contribute to the successful implementation of FTAs in the fields of labour, the MoLISA has submitted to the government its plans to amend related projected laws, especially the projected Law on Amendments to Some Articles of the 2012 Labour Code.
Currently, the ministry has drafted a final report reviewing the three year implementation of the Labour Code with consultation from local authorities, businesses in all sectors, worker’s associations and experts.
By January next year, the MoLISA will have revised, completed and submitted its plan to the Government for consideration and approval. It is expected that the projected Labor Code (revised) will be submitted to the 14th National Assembly for comment during its 3rd session and passing in the next session in July 2017.
The next-generation EVFTA between Vietnam and the EU’s 28 member States, along with the TPP are considered the two FTAs with the widest and highest commitment from Vietnam to date.
On December 1, 2015, Vietnam and the EU officially ended negotiations and on February 1, 2016, the written agreement was announced. Currently, the two sides are reviewing the agreement’s documents and set plan for signing of the EVFTA in 2016. The FTA is expected to come into force by 2018.
