Society
Hanoi boosting housing development
Hanoi has set a target of developing 44 million sq m of housing, with capital of VND437 trillion ($19 billion) required. The per capita housing area is to be 29.5 sq m in the 2021-2025 period.
Society
Many localities seeking capital for social housing investment
A range of social housing projects have been planned by localities and are calling for investment, especially in cities and provinces with many industrial parks. Three localities - Ho Chi Minh City, southern Binh Duong province, and the Mekong Delta’s Long An province - have projects to build a million social housing properties.
Society
Labor market to recover by Q2 2022
An estimated 70-75 per cent of businesses and employees have now returned to work around Vietnam, with some localities seeing a rate of over 90 per cent. If the pandemic is controlled and the vaccination campaign is sufficiently widespread, between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter of 2022, labor and employment is likely to have recovered to a level similar to before the outbreak.
Private sector employees hit hard by Covid-19
Covid-19 has had a significant impact on employees in Vietnam’s private sector, such as reduced employment, reduced income, and poorer mental and physical health, according to Ms. Kelly Wyett, Senior Economist at Abt Associates, Australia. Service industry employees have suffered the most.
Unemployment insurance contributions cut
Vietnam Social Security will reduce the contributions to unemployment insurance funds by 381,925 businesses, with a total amount of over VND7.6 trillion ($334.1 million). More than 7,400 employees have received support payments from the Fund, totaling over VND20 billion ($879,350).
$675 mln in support provided
As of October 1, Vietnam had provided VND15.3 trillion ($674.83 million) in support to 18.32 million people affected by Covid-19 and more than 156,300 tons of rice to 2.4 million households in 30 cities and provinces.
Many jobs to fill in HCMC to year’s-end
Ho Chi Minh City is expected to need 43,600-56,800 new employees in the fourth quarter of 2021, when many businesses start to reopen. Demand is concentrated in four key industries and nine major services.
Plastic waste a pressing issue
Vietnam’s investment in waste management infrastructure has not kept pace with waste discharge. Nearly 70 per cent of the material value of plastic is not re-used, equal to $2.2-$2.9 billion each year.
Capital must continue to go to social policy bank
Localities must continue to prioritize the allocation of capital from their budget to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), in order to supplement capital sources for the poor and other policy beneficiaries to access loans.