Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reiterated the need to ensure that economic growth must go hand in hand with social progress and equality. 

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs a working session with the Ministry of Labor,
Invalids and Social Affairs, Ha Noi, May 19, 2021. Photo: VGP

The Government chief emphasized the guideline during his working session with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on Wednesday.

He ordered the ministry to pay greater care for poor and vulnerable people and mobilize resources to rebuild dilapidated houses in poor districts.

Pham also tasked the ministry to design proper solutions to overcome the consequences of ageing population – one of the four biggest challenges facing Viet Nam. The other challenges are depletion of national resources, climate change, and traditional and non-traditional security matters.

According to Dao Ngoc Dung, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, budget spending on social welfare amounted to 21% of GDP, the highest in ASEAN.

Viet Nam has been widely recognized by the international community as a success story in poverty reduction with the poverty rate dipping to 2.75 percent in 2020 from 70 percent in 1990.

Viet Nam is also one of 10 countries with the lowest unemployment rate and the proportion of trained labor rose to 64.5 percent from 51.6 percent in 2015, Dao said./.