Despite the development of industrial zones, there is still a shortageof housing for workers in these areas, which is mostly due to limitedlocal budgets and lack of preferential policies to attract privateinvestment in such projects.
Nguyen Van Quyen, headof the northern Bac Giang province's Industrial Zones Management Board,said five industrial zones in the locality had attracted 30,000workers. Among them, three zones had plans to build housing for workers,but only one project has been completed, providing accommodation for6,000 people.
A large proportion of labourers haveto rent houses in neighbouring areas at prices ranging from300,000-500,000 VND (14-23.8 USD) per room per month. The rooms are verysmall at 2-3sq.m each, creating difficult living conditions andinadequate hygiene conditions.
The rapid increase inthe number of workers in industrial zones, especially migrant workers,led to the soaring demand for houses, Quyen said. Meanwhile localbudgets are insufficient for building worker housing and policiescalling for private investment were also not attractive enough to lureinvestors, he added.
Deputy Minister of ConstructionNguyen Tran Nam admitted that enterprises were not eager to buildhouses for workers in industrial zones because of the shortage ofpreferential policies.
According to currentregulations, enterprises which develop housing construction projects areonly exempt from land usage tax, and corporate income tax reduction wasonly applied in 2009.
Preferential financialsources such as the Housing Development Fund and the local Investmentand Development Funds are hard to assess, he added.
From 2009 to 2012, only 62 projects worth a total of VND1.8 trillion(85.7 million USD) nationwide were put into use, providing houses toabout 100,000 workers.
On the other hands, thesepreferential policies were only applied to projects that allowed workersto rent houses, rather than buy them. Therefore, it was necessary tocreate favourable conditions for housing companies to invest in projectssatisfying those who had demand to buy apartments.
Additionally, under the current regulations, workers who are eligible torent a house must be those working in concentrated or large-scaleindustrial zones, Deputy Minister Nam said.
However,in fact, there are a large number of migrant people working infactories or production establishments outside the industrial zones alsoin need of stable accommodations. Thus, the regulations' scope ofapplication must be enlarged to avoid discriminatory treatment ofworkers, he said.
It is also necessary to issueregimes to encourage households or individuals in these localities tooffer houses for rent, then the State would be able to control rentingprices on the basis of a determined price frame.
The DeputyMinister stressed that his ministry has proposed amendments to the draftdecree on social housing development and management to the Governmentfor approval.
According to the Ministry of Planningand Investment, so far there are a total of 2.1 million workers employedin industrial and processing zones located in 61 cities and provinces.-VNA
Nguyen Van Quyen, headof the northern Bac Giang province's Industrial Zones Management Board,said five industrial zones in the locality had attracted 30,000workers. Among them, three zones had plans to build housing for workers,but only one project has been completed, providing accommodation for6,000 people.
A large proportion of labourers haveto rent houses in neighbouring areas at prices ranging from300,000-500,000 VND (14-23.8 USD) per room per month. The rooms are verysmall at 2-3sq.m each, creating difficult living conditions andinadequate hygiene conditions.
The rapid increase inthe number of workers in industrial zones, especially migrant workers,led to the soaring demand for houses, Quyen said. Meanwhile localbudgets are insufficient for building worker housing and policiescalling for private investment were also not attractive enough to lureinvestors, he added.
Deputy Minister of ConstructionNguyen Tran Nam admitted that enterprises were not eager to buildhouses for workers in industrial zones because of the shortage ofpreferential policies.
According to currentregulations, enterprises which develop housing construction projects areonly exempt from land usage tax, and corporate income tax reduction wasonly applied in 2009.
Preferential financialsources such as the Housing Development Fund and the local Investmentand Development Funds are hard to assess, he added.
From 2009 to 2012, only 62 projects worth a total of VND1.8 trillion(85.7 million USD) nationwide were put into use, providing houses toabout 100,000 workers.
On the other hands, thesepreferential policies were only applied to projects that allowed workersto rent houses, rather than buy them. Therefore, it was necessary tocreate favourable conditions for housing companies to invest in projectssatisfying those who had demand to buy apartments.
Additionally, under the current regulations, workers who are eligible torent a house must be those working in concentrated or large-scaleindustrial zones, Deputy Minister Nam said.
However,in fact, there are a large number of migrant people working infactories or production establishments outside the industrial zones alsoin need of stable accommodations. Thus, the regulations' scope ofapplication must be enlarged to avoid discriminatory treatment ofworkers, he said.
It is also necessary to issueregimes to encourage households or individuals in these localities tooffer houses for rent, then the State would be able to control rentingprices on the basis of a determined price frame.
The DeputyMinister stressed that his ministry has proposed amendments to the draftdecree on social housing development and management to the Governmentfor approval.
According to the Ministry of Planningand Investment, so far there are a total of 2.1 million workers employedin industrial and processing zones located in 61 cities and provinces.-VNA
