1.7m Vietnamese workers in need of housing

There are some 2.8 million workers in industrial parks and processing zones across Vietnam, around 1.7 million of whom are in need of housing, said Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) representative on Wednesday.

The VGCL unveiled the statistics at a national conference on social housing held in Vietnam's capital Hanoi.

According to the confederation, the country has tried to solve housing demand of 8-10 percent of the 1.7 million workers. The remaining of approximately 1.5 million workers have to rent houses of local people with "very low living standard," reported Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA.

Vietnamese Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha said at the conference that so far, Vietnam has put 3.7 million square meters of social housing into operation in urban and industrial areas, contributing to solve accommodation for nearly 500,000 low-income people.

However, so far, as many as 179 social housing projects, or 71,150 apartments, have been constructed, accounting for 28 percent of the target set in the national housing development strategy by 2020, which plans to create 250,000 apartments, said Ha.

In his address at the conference, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc assigned the ministry of finance and the central bank to provide credit and tax solutions, and to exploit social medium and long-term resources on developing social housing.

At the same time, in any urban zone, a necessary rate at possibly 50 percent of its total apartments is proposed to be offered for workers to buy in social housing form, Phuc said.

Source: Xinhua