Finalization of the Viet Nam Employment Strategy Rationale and Justification The increasing attention of Vietnamese institutions on employment issues is rooted in the need to insure that not only the country continues to grow, but also move towards a development path which is equitable and sustainable. The Viet Nam Employment Trends report, launched by Ministry Of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) last January, reveals that labour market performance is one of the key determinants of socio-economic objectives and shows that unemployment and under-employment are but the tip of the iceberg, as over two thirds of Vietnamese women and men are engaged in the informal economy. Most of workers in Viet Nam can not afford to be out of work, and the Poverty Assessment (Vietnam Academy o f Social Sciences, VASS, November 2010) raises attention on different forms of vulnerabilities; some of them already well known to policy makers, such as non productive employment in low productivity economic activities, whereas some others are new vulnerabilities brought by socio-economic changes. All this needs to be taken in to account in planning policies for the next ten years and relating institutional reforms (See Box 1 below). The Government of Viet Nam has set high level political commitments in fostering employment and decent work in all economic and social policies affecting the labour market. Several strategies and plans are being finalized reflecting the importance of employment at the core of social and economic development. These include the general Social and Economic Development Strategy (SEDS) 2011-2020, and the associated Viet Nam Employment Strategy (VES) for the same period. The draft VES, developed by the MOLISA, adopts an approach with two main lines of actions: firstly, it describes ways to re-orient the quality of growth to promote full and productive employment in a balanced way to target both rural and urban Viet Nam. Secondly, it looks at creating an environment for current and future workers to benefit the most for the opportunities brought about by the transition to middle-income levels through policies which range from human resource development to social policies and labour market governance. Accordingly, the scope of the VES includes labour market, education, vocational training, investment and other socio-economic and anti-poverty policies, so as to cater for the diverse needs of the different types of workers and enterprises, both by increasing the coverage of labour market institutions and by strengthening the degree of protection of formal workers. Finally, new policies have been adopted to address women’s empowerment in the world of work — together with other at-risk groups, such as youth, low-skilled workers, the disabled and persons belonging to ethnic minorities. The technical co-operation project “Better Information for creating jobs and developing skills in Viet Nam” (LM project) established a comprehensive Labour Market Information System (LMIS) and started to support MOLISA in the designof the Viet Nam Employment Strategy (2011 – 2020), which was developed by the Bureau of Employment with the assistance of the ILO. In particular, all results produced in the LM information component helped increase the system of information produced, analyzed and disseminated for policy makers and users, whereas the LM Project Output 1.4 was aimed to distil policy implications from the analysis of the information system and improve design of policies through evidence based measures and employment services targeted to workers’ and enterprises’ needs. As a result, the inter-ministerial tripartite Working Group on Employment Policies was established and operational at the time of preparation of this proposal. Figure 2 represents in a diagram format the research clusters set up by the LM Project and fed in to the draft VES, as well as the institutional set-up which was adopted by MOLISA and which is being implemented for the formulation of the VES.Good planning