Vietnam Television recently broadcasted an income report of the employees in industrial parks.
Workers in industrial parks resort to asking loan-sharks, with high interest rates of up to 20 percent a month, to afford transportation and commodities for family in the country.
Although the government is successful in controlling inflation prices, employees in industrial parks are earning poverty-level wages.
Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper held talks with deputy head of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, Nguyen Duc Kien, and Tran Du Lich, a National Assembly delegate. Both experts claim that poverty levels are due to several factors -unrelated inflation.
The cause is transparency in price adjustment, said Nguyen Duc Kien. When the price of petroleum increases, companies mislead the cause due to loss of subsidies.
For instance, when price of petroleum increased, the concerned agencies explained that the adjustment is unavoidable to subsidize the loss. Consumers set up a query for Dung Quat Oil Refinery. The concerned agencies say that the refinery still has to import crude oil for processing.
Laborers are unable to make ends meet with their small income, said Tran Du Lich. The country is dependent on cheap labor costs and a long-lasting insourcing industry. The government should encourage local enterprise to produce hi-tech accessories, Lich said.
Lich also believes there is a need for a roadmap to increase education and medical service fees.
