ILO and Viet Nam collaboration
ILO Director-General meets Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister
The ILO Director-General and the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister held talks about cooperation on key work issues, including decent work, social protection, and the transition from the informal economy to the formal economy.
Expressing appreciation for ILO’s financial and technical support with initiatives to promote decent work and social justice in Viet Nam, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that Viet Nam always attached importance to cooperation with the ILO, including the implementation of the Decent Work Country Programme, 2022–26.
Director-General Houngbo praised Viet Nam’s record of rapid economic development and expressed his appreciation for the country’s ratification and implementation of ILO Conventions. He called on Viet Nam to ratify Convention on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 1948 (No.87).
To date Viet Nam has ratified 25 ILO Conventions - nine out of ten fundamental Conventions and 16 governance and technical Conventions. Regarding the remaining fundamental Convention, No. 87, Deputy Prime Minister Quang said that there would deliberations at the Vietnamese National Assembly before the end of this year and there were plans to submit a proposal for ratification to the National Assembly session in May 2024.
During the meeting, on Tuesday 28 February, Director-General Houngbo also shared his hopes for Viet Nam’s participation at the forthcoming International Labour Conference in June 2023, where the launch of the Global Coalition for Social Justice would be discussed. He further underlined the invitation to Viet Nam to become a pathfinder country for the UN Secretary-General’s initiative, the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions.