A hitch in Vietnam welfare plan
A curious contradiction has surfaced in Vietnam's new $400 million
programme
to encourage redundant workers to leave state-owned firms and find jobs
in
the private sector. In addition to such incentives as cash pay-outs and
pensions, the exit package includes a stipend for six months of
vocational
training in the worker's field of choice. But to muster the skills to
cope
with the market economy, such workers won't be free to enrol in private
training institutes--they must sign up at state-run vocational centres.
The
restriction arose due to lobbying from the Ministry of Labour, War
Invalids
and Social Affairs, despite the preference for private-training rebates
expressed by the World Bank, which is helping to fund the scheme. The
problem is that the state-run centres have been criticized for offering
outdated instruction and falling prey to graft. But the urgency of
getting
the programme off the ground precluded more protracted negotiations, say
bank executives. The first batch of redundant workers is slated to
receive
exit packages by mid-October.
The Far Eastern Economic Review - September 26, 2002.
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