Hanoi (VNA) - Measures to improve the quality and working efficiency ofemployees working in foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in line withVietnam’s foreign investment attraction orientation were discussed at a seminar in Hanoi onJune 19.

Jointlyheld by the Ministries of Planning and Investment and Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs, the event focused on multi-dimensional views of labour statusin foreign-invested enterprises.

Addressingthe workshop, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vu Dai Thang stressedthe need to review and evaluate the overall situation of labour in the FDIsector in recent time, thus rolling out appropriate and breakthrough solutions tobetter the quality of human resources working in FDI firms.

Thisaims to optimise FDI flows which tend to go to Asian countries, including Vietnam,he said.

Dr. Le Van Hung from the Vietnam Institute of Economics highlighted that FDIplays an important role in the productivity growth of countries that receive investmentas it helps shift the structure of labour from the low-productivity industries tothose with higher productivity.

In addition, investment recipients expect that FDI enterprises with theiradvantages of technology, market and management, will have higher labourproductivity than domestic firms, he noted.

Linkages between domestic and FDI firms promote the transfer of advancedtechnologies, he said, adding that the presence of FDI companies raise competitionpressure, forcing domestic businesses to improve their ability andcompetitiveness.

Hung said that Vietnam's labour productivity growth has improved gradually, reaching5.5 percent per year in the 2014 - 2016.

Amongeconomic sectors, the FDI sector always has the highest absolute labourproductivity because it concentrates mainly on processing industry, while thedomestic firms majorly operate in agricultural and unofficial fields, which havelow absolute labour productivity.

However, Thang also pointed out shortcomings in the FDI sector, saying that foreignfirms have yet to establish close links with Vietnamese peers to jointly participatein value chains and promote the development of support industry in Vietnam.

Thetransfer of technology and management experience has not been as expected, henoted, adding that there are phenomena of transfer pricing, tax evasion orviolations of regulations on environmental protection.

Toimprove the efficiency of labour productivity in FDI firms, Vietnam needs to payattention to the quality of FDI flows instead of quantity, Hung said.

FDIattraction should be closely linked with the national development strategy,with priority given to a number of sectors and areas with comparative advantagesby region, especially those operating in deep-processing, high technology andnew energy.

ViceChairman of the Bac Ninh provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Phong emphasisedthe need to take measures to support labourers working in FDI firms.

Meanwhile,Vice Director of the Department of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs of DongNai province Pham Van Cong recommended the pilot formation of ecological industrialparks, which will attract only FDI and domestic firms operating in the same fieldand those have linking with and supporting each other.

“For example, industrial parks for coffee and rubber processing enterprisescould be formed in the Central Highlands, while those for processing productsrelated to fruit and rice should be built in the Mekong Delta region”, Hungsaid.-VNA