ILO, Viet Nam join force to promote international labour standards and decent work for all

Viet Nam plans to ratify 15 more ILO Conventions, including a core convention on freedom of association, during the 2021-30 period.

Press release | 20 May 2021
HANOI (ILO News) – The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Vietnamese Government have inked a Memorandum of Understanding to push the promotion of international labour standards in Viet Nam over the next 10 years.

The document for the 2021-30 period was signed on 20 May 2021 in Hanoi by representatives of ILO Viet Nam and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

Both sides agreed to work together to promote the ratification and implementation of international labour standards in Viet Nam through a cooperation framework between the MOLISA and ILO Viet Nam, and ensure the participation of representatives of workers and employers in the entire process.

The cooperation includes raising awareness of the international labour standards, applying the ILO Conventions ratified by Viet Nam to Vietnamese laws, promoting the national capacity to implement and report the implementation of the ratified Conventions, monitoring the implementation, and developing proposals for ratifying further ILO Conventions.

“The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is a significant first step marking a new development period in the cooperation between MOLISA and ILO Viet Nam in promoting international labour standards and improving the national labour legal system. It also affirms Viet Nam’s deepening international integration as the world is witnessing lots of changes, including those in labour and employment,” said MOLISA Minister Dao Ngoc Dung at the signing ceremony. 

ILO Viet Nam Director, Chang-Hee Lee, agreed, noting that the event shows Viet Nam’s commitment to modernizing its labour and social law in line with universal principles enshrined in international labour standards of the ILO.

If all goes as planned, Viet Nam will become a leading country among the ASEAN member states in promoting international labour standards."

Chang-Hee Lee, ILO Viet Nam Director
“If all goes as planned, Viet Nam will become a leading country among the ASEAN member states in promoting international labour standards. I believe that it will lead to social upgrading which is required for Viet Nam to move towards becoming an upper middle income country,” he said.

Viet Nam has ratified 25 ILO Conventions to date, including seven out of eight fundamental conventions covering the areas of collective bargaining, non-discrimination, child labour and forced labour. According to the Memorandum of Understanding, the country plans to ratify 15 more ILO Conventions, including core Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, in accordance with the national needs and socio-economic conditions.

Since 1919, the ILO has maintained and developed a system of international labour standards aimed at setting out basic principles and rights at work. In today's globalized economy, international labour standards are an essential component in the international framework for ensuring that free trade comes with the protection of basic workers’ rights enshrined in the 1998 ILO Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

International labour standards are drawn up by the ILO constituents – governments, employers and workers in the form of Conventions (or Protocols) which are legally binding international treaties once ratified by Member States, or Recommendations, which serve as non-binding guidelines.




 


 
*This press release is a product of the European Union-funded ILO project on Promoting the application of ILO Fundamental Conventions under the framework of EU – Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.