Social dialogue to next phase

Impressions of a special advisor

In October we visited Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The main goal of our mission: implementation of Social Dialogue as a business model.

First we flew to Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon. It is the largest city in Vietnam and with 7 million inhabitants very important for the Vietnamese economy. Together with the trainers club we visited NBC, a large garment factory. We were given the opportunity to first talk with the management about business economics, about labour relations and in particular about the relationship between the two. The company underlined, on the advice of our trainers, the importance of developing the social dialogue. Certainly with the ratification of FTAs in 2019 a current and urgent theme.

It is the explicit intention of DECP to encourage the trainers club to play a stimulating role in implementing the social dialogue in Vietnam.

In Hanoi, we discussed with our partner, the country's most important employers' club, how they could play a role in 2019 in advising their members on the Implementation of Labour Law revision planned in 2019. Here, too, the DECP trainers' club can play a catalysing role.

A visit to the Dutch embassy made it clear that they too can and want to play a role in promoting the social dialogue in Vietnam. We observed the same intention during a consultation workshop on Industrial Relations with participation of representatives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (Molisa), the Trainers Club and representatives from universities.

The last part of our trip was one of the outdoor category: after 7 years of being a country manager Dirk Joosse said goodbye. Our partners organized an unforgettable farewell party: not only warmly and emotionally, but also with a great appreciation of all the advice and experiences that brought the social dialogue in Vietnam a big step further. The photos testify to the length of years.