U.S. Supports Vietnam Industries to Boost Relations

Vietnam and the U.S. signed Aug 5 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the assistance project to implement the labor law and boost harmonized relations among industries in the Southeast Asian country. Under the MoU, the U.S. government will fund $2 million via the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to help Vietnam train inspectors of labor, raise the awareness on rights of laborers and carry out communications on laws and policies for all employees, employers and the public. The one-year project starting in Oct will benefit the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; the Vietnam Labor Confederation and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Tien Phong newspaper reported Aug 5. The project comes right when Vietnam has already amended the laws on labor and trade union, American Ambassador Michael Michalak was quoted as saying at the signing ceremony.    
“We feel it is encouraging to see the Vietnamese government pay more concerns in implementing the law on labor and building harmonious relations among industries,” the U.S. diplomat.
An American senator, Tom Harkin, said in his recent tour to Vietnam that the country should pay more attention to the issue of labor rights, worker rights, freedom of organization if it wants to liberalize trade with the U.S. The U.S. remains currently the biggest importer of Vietnamese goods and ranked the sixth among 91 nations and territories investing in Vietnam with $15.67 billion as of July 20.