MoLISA believes that reducing working hours would bring positive socioeconomic impacts, so they have asked for the idea to be fully researched on a scientific and practical basis to ensure feasibility, when adding the policy in the amended Labour Code.

According to experts, to reduce working hours, there is no other way than to also improve productivity, increase wages and ensure workers’ living standards.

But, in Việt Nam, manufacturing enterprises are mainly small and medium ones, operating based on cheap labour and not investing in modern machinery and technology, so productivity remains low

.Looking at countries that have achieved outstanding productivity levels such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, to maintain productivity growth, they have undergone strong structural changes such as investing in technology and increasing production efficiency and product quality.

Ensure stable income

Associate professor Đinh Trọng Thịnh, senior lecturer at the Academy of Finance, said that reducing working hours to 44 hours, on the way to 40 hours, was in line with the general trend of different countries in the region and the world.

It creates favourable conditions for workers to improve their health, regenerate labour power as well as improve professional skills and have time to participate in other social activities. Therefore, the proposal is worth considering and putting into practice.

Under Thịnh's analysis, increasing labour productivity has been implemented by businesses for many years, but it cannot be achieved after a short time. Thịnh said that if reducing working hours, businesses needed to have certain solutions to stabilise or increase labour productivity first. The most fundamental solution is improving workers' qualifications and capabilities so that reduced working hours still ensure wages as well as employees' contributions to the businesses and society.

-analysis:phan tich

-implemented: thuc hien

The Vietnam Food Association said importers in other countries are insistently asking Vietnamese businesses to ship rice, and are willing to pay $20-40 per ton more than the pre-ban prices. China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Turkey, and Chile are reportedly competing to buy 40% to several dozen times more rice than previously from Vietnam. Vietnam's exports could reach 7.5 million tons, 6% higher than last year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sought government approval to increase exports.

Ensuring domestic supply

According to the ministry, the El Nino phenomenon, saltwater intrusion and drought has affected global production, but not in Vietnam, where output this year is expected to top 43 million tons.

But the director of a rice export company in the southern Hau Giang province said this year El Nino and flooding have affected some rice-growing areas in the Mekong Delta.

The heavy rains brought by Typhoon Talim recently destroyed 3,000 hectares of ripe summer-autumn rice.

He assumed output would decrease, and said prices could spike.

According to many exporters, the number of new orders increased by 20-30% compared to the previous month, but they did not dare sign new contracts because they are worried about fulfilling existing orders after prices shot up.

Dinh Ngoc Tam, deputy general director of Co May Company, explained that most exporters had signed contracts when rice prices were low, and the soaring prices now mean higher purchase costs for them, which threaten to cause them losses on exports.

Only businesses that sign new contracts and have rice in stock would benefit from the rice export bans of India, Russia and the UAE, he said.

Most lack the resources to stockpile the grain, he added.

Do Ha Nam, the vice president of the Vietnam Food Association, acknowledges that there are opportunities for Vietnamese rice to increase in price, but he also warns about potential risks.

Many businesses have already signed year-long contracts before the recent price hike, and they are currently focused on fulfilling them, he said.

However, as prices continue to rise, there may not be enough Vietnamese rice to meet all the demands from buyers, he warned.

Meeting the strict criteria set by buyers, such as adhering to food hygiene and safety standards, high quality and being free of pesticide residues, is also crucial for exports, he said.

"The association maintains the view that Vietnam should only export 6.5 million tons of rice this year."

Historically, exports from Vietnam have been around 6.1-6.3 million tons annually.

Although last year saw a record seven million tons of exports, the country had to import certain rice varieties from India and Cambodia.

With imports from India no longer possible, the volume it buys from Cambodia might not be enough.

Additionally, some rice-growing areas in Vietnam may see reduced output due to natural disasters.

This, combined with higher prices for certain varieties in the domestic market, is encouraging many firms to focus on selling locally for better profits.

The price of fragrant rice in the domestic market is VND14,000-16,000 per kilogram, equivalent to $650 per ton, while the export price is only $630.

The director of the Department of Crop Production, Nguyen Nhu Cuong, said the rice crops in Vietnam were good in the first seven months of this year, but warned that possible storms in August and September could have an adverse effect on output.

The government has a plan in place for this year, including growing rice on 7.1 million hectares with an expected output of over 21 million tons.

"We always allocate up to 70% of the total output for domestic consumption," Cuong said.

Food security is a paramount issue in Vietnam, and so authorities always have contingency plans when there are fluctuations in output and prices.

The General Department of State Reserves said there is always an annual plan to buy a sufficient amount of rice to stockpile. In early June it had bought 220,000 tons of the grain.

Authorities are working to address the damage caused by heavy rains and flooding in the Mekong Delta, which affected around 3,000 hectares of paddies.

paramount[ˈper.ə.maʊnt]:tối quan trọng

STOCKPILE[ˈstɑːk.paɪl]:dự trữ

paddies[ˈpæd.i]:cánh đồng lúa

approval[əˈpruː.vəl]:sự chấp thuận

insistently[ɪnˈsɪs.tənt.li]:nhất quyết

jeopardize[ˈdʒep.ɚ.daɪz]:gây nguy hiểm