Regional conference on productivity and inclusive growth held in Ha Noi

The event consisted of three discussion sessions namely (i) Boosting Productivity in Southeast Asia; (ii) Integrating ASEAN Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) into Global Value Chains; (iii) and Inclusiveness-the Social Agenda.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said improving productivity and inclusiveness are pressing needs of ASEAN countries during the process of building the ASEAN Community.

Viet Nam always strives its best to promote integration and narrow the development gap within ASEAN, he affirmed.

ASEAN countries should focus on creating more jobs with high productivity, good preparation on institutions, infrastructure and human resources to take advantage of opportunities stemming from regional economic integration, efforts to narrow the gap of development and education, Deputy Minister Son proposed.

For his part, OECD Deputy Secretary-General Doug Frantz said that despite maintaining optimistic economic growth after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the ASEAN countries are now facing with challenges, including productivity slowdown, increasing social inequality and the risk of falling into the "middle income trap”.

ASEAN countries should increase investment in education and training, improve skills of workers, enhance the business environment, support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to integrate into global value chains as well as ensure social welfare in order to tackle these above issues, Mr. Doug Frantz said.

Speaking at the event, Japanese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Masakzu Hamachi affirmed Japan commits to supporting ASEAN to improve productivity growth and inclusiveness. Japan will continue to cooperate with the OECD to deploy the Southeast Asia Regional Program (SEARP) in the coming time, he added.

By Viet Cuong