VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong and ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Ms.Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa

During the working session between Mr. Pham Tan Cong, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Ms. Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, Director of ILO Asia - Pacific, the two sides discussed about the important role of VCCI as a long-term partner of the ILO in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as promoting cooperation programs of the two sides in the field of labor and employment in the coming time.

The ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific has highly appreciated the effective cooperation programs between the ILO and the VCCI over the years. According to Ms. Miyakawa, in the role of an organization representing employers in Vietnam, the serious and sincere efforts of VCCI in promoting the implementation of international commitments have contributed to promoting the priorities of the employers related to labor issues and social policy.

In addition, Ms. Miyakawa said that in the coming time, the two sides need to continue to promote cooperation in developing skills for employees in the post-COVID-19 period. At the same time, the Director of the ILO Asia-Pacific region also said that Vietnam has signed FTAs with many regions and major economies, this will be a good opportunity for Vietnam to improve the quality of its labor activities in the business, thereby participating more actively in the global supply chain.

Notably, Ms. Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa informed more about the ILO and UN's "Global Acceleration Program on Employment and Social Security towards Equal Transformation" initiative.

Specifically, this is an initiative developed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations with the aim of creating more sustainable jobs, with a focus on green jobs, green economy, digitalization of care services, expansion of coverage, etc. social security government, changing the existing labor market to a fairer labor market.

VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong took a photo with the ILO delegation led by Ms. Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, ILO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

Agreeing with ILO Asia-Pacific Regional Director Miyakawa, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong said that the ILO's support and policy advice, capacity building and technical cooperation are not only meaningful with VCCI members, but also with the business community in continuing to ensure compliance with labor laws, enhance skills development, and promote industry and business dialogue.

Cooperation projects between VCCI and ILO over the years such as Better Work Program, In Business Soft Skill Program on soft skills training for young workers in enterprises... have been deployed to many enterprises and received high appreciation for supporting capacity building for enterprises.

In the coming time, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong proposed that the ILO continue to support VCCI in implementing programs to support the private sector, promote decent work and practice responsible labor when participating in the global supply chain. At the same time, improve the capacity of the employer in social dialogue to build a harmonious, stable and progressive labor relationship at the enterprise.

In particular, in 2023, VCCI is gathering opinions from businesses in the process of developing the Law on Social Insurance (amended). This is an issue that is focused on by VCCI and would like the ILO's support in implementing this process.

Moreover, the President of VCCI said that currently, four provinces and cities: Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen are located in the key economic region of the Red River Delta and own a transport infrastructure system and logistics is the best developed in Vietnam, economically connected by the Eastern highway and owns international airports and leading seaports in Vietnam.

With abundant human resources and the prospect of becoming an economic growth pole in the North of Vietnam, the VCCI Chairman said that this will be an area to "attract" domestic and foreign businesses to invest in the future. 

Therefore, the Chairman of VCCI suggested that the ILO cooperate with VCCI to focus on building support programs on vocational skills improvement, social dialogue and other labor issues to improve labor capacity in the businesses, contributing to promoting VCCI's initiative to connect 4 provinces.