Technological transformation to increase labor productivity

Labor productivity of Vietnam is far lower than other countries in the region, at an alarming rate, only by 7.2% compared to Singapore, about 37.4% compared to Thailand.etc

However, according to a practical study, Vietnamese workers working abroad are highly productive. Because other countries apply supporting science and technology, filter out the excess operations, this will be to increase labor productivity.

Distance backward

Comparing labor productivity of Vietnam with some Southeast Asian countries in 2017 shows that Vietnam’s labor productivity is only 7.2% compared to Singapore, 18.4% compared to Malaysia, 37. ,4% compared to Thailand, 43.1% compared to Indonesia, 57.2% compared to the Philippines and even with Laos, we only equal 89.1%. With this figure, the labor productivity gap of Vietnamese people is a step back from other countries in the region and the world.

30 years ago, Vietnam’s labor productivity was on par with South Korea and China, now Korea and China are far ahead. And also according to the comparisons and assessments of experts, in addition to labor attitude, in countries with high labor productivity, they have a lot of creativity and application of science and technology in the production process. For example, if the production line and machinery are standard, people joining the line, even if they have a lazy labor attitude, that cannot. In addition, machines will support workers in the correct stages, contributing to higher labor productivity. Not only in industries, today in agriculture there is also an automatic irrigation and fertilizer system, which helps reduce the labor force and increase labor productivity.

The application of science and technology to increase labor productivity is the indispensable development rule in the industrial age 4.0. In Vietnam, many businesses create products of high economic value thanks to the application of new science and technology. Specifically, the project “Researching and extracting pure coconut oil by non-heating technology” with a budget of VND 7 billion from the National Technology Innovation Program has helped Luong Quoi Coconut Processing Co., Ltd. (Ben Tre province) ) successfully studied the process of extracting pure coconut oil with high productivity, up to 3,000 liters/lot of production. This production process meets the international standards of the Asia-Pacific Coconut Association. Pure coconut oil is produced according to the new process with a commercial value 4 times higher than products manufactured by the old refining technology, contributing to improving the value chain of coconut trees in the locality. Or Rang Dong thermos bulb company (Hanoi) successfully created specialized lighting system to save energy, suitable with the biological development cycle of some flowers and fruit trees to control flowering time, fruiting, even flowering trees, bearing fruit out of season.

Accelerate the application of science – technology

Looking back in Vietnam, in recent years, technology innovation has not been paid much attention by businesses. The main problem is that businesses often have difficulty in capital when they want to innovate technology. However, in recent years, national programs and development funds for science and technology have focused resources to support enterprises in applying science and technology, helping Vietnamese enterprises have opportunities to access to the public. new technology. The national also creates many sources of capital to support enterprises in technological innovation, increase production productivity, and be ready in the process of international integration.

Up to now, there have been many national science and technology programs approved by the Government to support enterprises in technological innovation such as the National Product Development Program to 2020, the National Program for Public Development. high technology to 2020, National Technology Innovation Program to 2020, Supporting Program for Development of Science and Technology Enterprises, Foreign Search and Technology Transfer Program to 2020.etc

In addition, there is the National Technology Innovation Fund with a budget of thousands of billion. The Fund has the function of lending with preferential interest rates, loan guarantees, capital support for enterprises to research, transfer and renew technologies. The Fund has received more than 1,000 ideas for technological innovation, mainly from small and medium enterprises in the supporting, startup, hi-tech and hi-tech agriculture groups. The Fund also advises businesses on successful initial construction of nearly 300 tasks; selected 85 topics and projects with a total investment of about 3,674 billion. In particular, capital invested by enterprises is about VND 2,639 billion (accounting for 72%), support from the state budget is about VND 1,035 billion (accounting for 28%). According to the initial assessment, the growth of businesses will reach 12% – 18% / year after the implementation of technological innovation.

Ministry of Finance also said in addition to funding from the state budget and the Science and Technology Development Fund, enterprises also set aside their own science and technology development funds. In 2017, there were 31 state corporations and corporations setting up a science and technology fund with the amount of about VND 2,276 billion, the amount of money used in the year was nearly VND 1,500 billion. This is a signal that businesses are increasingly interested in technological innovation to improve competitiveness, especially in the context of the 4th industrial revolution.

Productivity and Quality Office