Rapid growth fails to generate jobs in Attapeu
Rapid growth fails to generate jobs in Attapeu
Although Attapeu province has experienced booming economic growth driven by the inflow of foreign investment recently, it has not generated employment opportunities for local people as was anticipated.
Labour officials have said Lao people are mostly employed in low-income jobs including farming, grass c utting and other garden maintenance jobs as investors claim that Lao people are unskilled and unsuitable for employment on their projects.
A senior official from Attapeu Provincial Department of Labour and Social Welfare Mr Souksamer Sengkanya told Vientiane Times on Tuesday only a small number of Lao people are being employed as staff or in high-paying roles for investment projects in the province.
Some foreign investors have used the excuse of unqualified local employees as a reason to import labourers from their own countries despite pre-project concession agreements signed with Lao authorities stipulating that investors must train lo cal people and employ them.
Mr Souksamer said the enforcement of the concession agreement related to the labour issue is insufficient and the department has announced it will work harder to ensure investors employ more Lao people.
Local residents are paid based on individual tasks rather than a monthly rate. For instance, a person cutting one hectare of grass or sugar cane is paid 50,000 kip and those tapping rubber are paid 500 kip per litre.
Currently about 6,000 hectares of the total 23,000 hectares of rubber in Attapeu province are being tapped, but the employment opportunities granted to Lao people remains limited.
Mr Souksamer said the Attapeu Provincial Department of Labour and Social Welfare is committed to encourage investors to up skill Lao people through training; meanwhile the department will work on improving Lao people's attitude to respecting workplace regulations in regards to observing official holidays.
According to the provincial report, the average economic growth in Attapeu province over the past three years reached 16.9 percent, which is higher than the annual target plan set at between 13.5-14 percent from 2011-15.
The economic growth rate reached only 8.6 percent in 2010-11 fiscal year, but jumped to 30.7 percent in 2011-12 before declining to 11.5 percent.
The economic growth is mainly being driven by direct foreign investment in the province, which has reached 1,600 billion kip (US$200 million) over the past 3 years, equating to 71 percent of the province's five-year socio-economic development plan for 2011-2015.
The inflow of foreign investment contributed to boosting infrastructure development in the province with new roads, hotels, restaurants and other facilities established. However if local people do not benefit from the development projects it is questionable whether they have proven effective.
The authorities are aware of the need to produce skilled workers to supply development projects as Laos pursues a path towards modernisation and industrialisation.
It is important for the sectors responsible to cooperate in identifying how many people and what kind of jobs are needed, and how to actually supply the market and meet actual workforce demand.
vientiane times
