Social Justice

Will EVFTA Help to Increase Real Wages for Vietnamese Workers?

The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), effective on 1 August 2020, is one of the first two “new-generation” free trade agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has joined. EVFTA promises to bring many benefits to Vietnam across areas ranging from trade, services, and investment to intellectual property, public procurement, labour, and the environment, among others. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, wages of Vietnamese workers will be approximately one percent higher in foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises than in domestic firms.

Even if the forecast of social benefits is a modest one, can a three percent wage increase by 2025 be achieved as expected? This is a question that should be studied thoroughly in order for policy-making to achieve the predicted benefits from EVFTA in practice.

Phạm Thị Thu Lan is an outstanding expert in the field of workers’ rights and trade unions in Vietnam. She has more than 25 years of experience in the field, and now works as deputy director of the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour.

Information

Publisher: Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

Author: Pham Thi Thu Lan - she is an outstanding expert in the field of workers’ rights and trade unions in Vietnam. She has more than 25 years of experience in the field, and now works as deputy director of the Institute for Workers and Trade Unions of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour.

Date: 2020-02

Pages: 7

Download: EN

Hashtags: Social Policy

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