HCM City, ILO to improve business performance, working conditions

Dương Anh Đức, deputy chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, meets director of ILO Việt Nam, Ingrid Christensen, on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Khu

HCM CITY — HCM City will partner with the International Labour Organisation to improve the business performance and working conditions, a city leader has said.

With the pandemic brought under control, the city quickly implemented social protection measures and provided relief packages to migrant workers, Dương Anh Đức, deputy chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said.

More than 98 per cent of businesses in the city had resumed operations partly thanks to these timely support packages, Đức told ILO Việt Nam director Ingrid Christensen at a meeting on Monday.

The city would continue to improve social welfare, security and working conditions for workers in the years to come, he assured.

“ILO’s projects are crucial to improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses in the global market and protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers,” he said.

He said the city would strengthen co-ordination with the ILO to address challenges that hinder their joint projects.

HCM City and the ILO are implementing two projects: Technical Support for Enhancing the National Capacity to Prevent and Reduce Child Labour in Việt Nam, and Developing a New Industrial Relations Framework in Respect of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

Christensen noted the fact that HCM City is a metro that attracts many people from rural areas and other provinces who come to live and work, making it difficult for the city to ensure effective labour market governance.

The ILO would work with the city to safeguard workplace rights and ensure better working conditions, she said.

It was focusing on three strategic areas, labour market governance, employment and sustainable enterprise development and social protection and social security, she added. —VNS