HANOI, June 16 (Bernama-Xinhua): The average income of civil servants in Vietnam is 10 million Vietnamese dong (US$422), which is equivalent to 18 per cent of the average public sector wage in Thailand, 34 per cent in Malaysia and 59 per cent in Cambodia, Xinhua quoted a Vietnam News report.
As the base wage for civil servants in Vietnam has been frozen over almost four years, pay growth in the public sector has lagged that for private sector workers.
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Home Affairs, in 2019, the number of people entitled to salaries and allowances from the state budget, including social protection beneficiaries, was about 11 million.
Statistics showed that the average income of a public employee in Vietnam is VND10 million, compared to VND56.7 million, VND29 million and VND17 million in Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia, respectively.
Noting that a fresh graduate working for the public sector earns just a little more than VND3.4 million a month, Vu Thi Luu Mai, deputy chairwoman of the National Assembly's Finance and Budget Committee, said more attention is needed to the wage policy.
Income for employees should be considered an investment in human resources.
"(Our) country does not lack talented people. We do not lack enthusiastic people who want to contribute, but we need better policies to create motivation for employees," Mai said.
This issue has been raised for decades without any efficient solutions, Vietnamnet online newspaper reported.
According to the Ministry of Vietnam Home Affairs, in 2019, the number of people entitled to salaries and allowances from the state budget, including social protection beneficiaries, was about 11 million.
Among them, about 2.8 million are civil servants and public employees receiving salaries and allowances from the state budget. If retirees and other people receiving salaries and subsidies are included, this number can be up to 7.5 million, accounting for 8.3 % of the country's population. - Bernama-Xinhua
